‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore
Comments(6) There are a few things going on in the first two acts of John Ford’s “‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore.” In the note from Thomas Ellice to the author, found at the beginning of the play, we learn very quickly that there will be some sort of love affair between Giovanni and Annabella. Ellice is clear in naming Annabella the whore and referring to her infamy, while allowing Giovanni to remain “in his love unblamed.” While this quick note, on its own, seems like the consequence of an average love affair gone awry where one partner is the culprit and the other free from blame, we learn in the first act of the play that Giovanni and Annabella are brother and sister and that the affair is therefore much more complicated. In Giovanni’s discussion with the friar, he questions what society might say about his feelings for Annabella: “Shall then, for that I am her brother born, / My joys be ever banished from her bed?” (I.i.36-37). The friar, hearing and understanding full well Giovanni’s confession of this incestuous love, directs him to do penance, to lock himself in his room and spend seven days “cleansing the leprosy of lust” three times a day and three times each night.
As the play progresses, it becomes obvious that Annabella is the most coveted young woman around. She discusses her various prospects with her servant, Putana, but they are interrupted by Annabella’s brother, Giovanni. Putana leaves the pair alone. While it would seem normal that Giovanni’s affections for his sister would be unrequited, we soon learn that Annabella feels the same for him. This presents a dilemma that is a bit difficult to resolve. The two confess their love for one another, focusing on the “naturalness” of it. This struck me as a bit odd, but Giovanni seems to have rationalized their affections: “Wise Nature first in your creation meant / To make you mine: ‘else’t had been sin and foul / To share on beauty to a double soul. / Nearness in birth or blood doth but persuade / A nearer nearness in affection.” (I.ii.226-230). These lines highlight their obvious connection as brother and sister, and Giovanni uses this link to claim that they have been “persuaded” by nature to this affair. In Act II, it appears that the brother/sister pair have consummated their relationship, and they then talk of marriage. When they part, Annabella faces the relative of one of her suitors, and she admits that she will not do to be his wife. Her father relays this information to Giovanni a bit later, and the scene ends with Giovanni jealously requesting that Annabella take off the jewel she was given by Signior Donado, whose relative she rejected. At this point, Giovanni has already returned to the Friar and confessed all, explaining that his sister loves him back. The two have a discussion about nature, virtue, and sin, and it appears that they cannot and will not come to an agreement about the love affair between Giovanni and Annabella. The Friar exclaims that “a pair of souls are lost” (II.v.69).
Another interesting thing that I noticed about the play until this point is the association of age with wisdom. It comes up during the Friar and Giovanni’s first discussion, where Giovanni states that the Friar’s age “distils the life of counsel.” I wonder whether this is something that Giovanni really believes in or whether it is a ploy to sweet talk the Friar a bit before hearing his the penance that he will be assigned to complete.
What I’d like to know most, at this point at least, is when exactly the lady becomes a “whore.” Why does Ellice only blame the affair on Annabella’s infamy in his note to Ford? Where is Giovanni’s role in this?
Well, at this point I thought that Annabella wasn’t the “whore” necessarily. To me, the real whore was Hippolita, who just until end of act 2 already affiliated with 3 men : her husband, whom she led to death, then Soranzo, and then she charmed Vasques. Putana also called her a “lusty widow”. I think there will be more surprises from her in the play!
I thought that it was interesting that all the characters think that Giovanni is studying too hard. I think he has actually been in his room, thinking about his sister, and considering how problematic his desire is, driving himself insane. That is probably why he looks sickly and why the other characters are worried about him.
It is apparent that at the end of the play the characters lay blame for the affair at Annabelle’s feet. She becomes the “whore,” the seductress who tempted Giovanni and forced him to commit sin, as Eve did to Adam. This perception of women as either virtuous or tainted is a centuries old perception of female character that was as much a part of Elizabethan society as it was in its earlier stages. Yet Annabelle’s behavior does not entirely fall in to either one category. Although she may have committed a heinous crime, she retained her virtue in her unwavering faith and loyalty towards Giovanni. She becomes a character that the audience can sympathize with, despite her sins. Furthermore, as mentioned in the previous post, when compared to the other female characters of the play, Annabelle’s “purity” shines more brightly. Whereas Hippolita has deceived her husband and cheated on him, Annabelle remains continues to revere Giovanni, despite her marriage to another. Moreover, where Putana’s speech and thoughts are vile and repugnant, Annabelle refrains from such behavior even though she is constantly in Putana’s company. In the end, the use of the label “whore” becomes a tool used to control the behavior of women. Those who show defiance or step outside their boundary are branded with this label, regardless of who is truly at fault, as Eve was blamed for man’s “original sin.”
Harpreet, you illustrate a fantastic point. Reputations are maintained through a dynamic social process, pivotal to which are ‘webs’ of approval. By designating behaviors as revolting (or immoral, or on the flip side, ambiguously moral/ethical, as in business), controls are established that beckon/filter behavior. From the undefined ‘word bank’ of possible behaviors (natural possibilities), some are now literally defined as reprehensible (through social constructs). As intended, social constructs stemming from the world’s first best seller imposed the first social constructs–‘thou shalt not kill’ and thy women shalt not be free.
The title of the play is “‘Tis Pity She’s a whore.” The question that comes to mind isn’t so much why she’s a whore, but why it is a pity. I think the answer to the first question relates to what Sorin said, that Giovanni has been “studying too hard.” On the one hand Giovanni is twisted and should be reprimanded for his incestuous desires, on the other hand, he has become an Absalom-esque character that has simply lost sense with certain elements of reality. However, Annabella has no such excuse for her infatuation and should have the decency to control her desire. Instead she succumbs to it. If we assume women were viewed as either chaste or tainted it was based on whether or not they refrained from whorish activity. Therefore, she is a whore.
The reason “‘Tis pity”I think relates to otherwise ideal love the two lovers possess towards one another. If it wasn’t for this looming, disturbing variable it would be a comedy but because it is wrong, it is a tragedy.