26. John Ford, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (c. 1632)
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Christoph Ehland
Abstract
John Ford’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore is one of the most controversial and mystifying plays in all of early modern drama. The story of two siblings who fall in love with each other and whose short period of bliss is followed by a finale as bloody as it is shocking shows Ford operating at his most paradigmatic as well as his most enigmatic. Long neglected for reasons of propriety, the play has experienced a strong return to the stage over the course of the twentieth century. Oscillating between sensational stage displays and a heightened psychological interest in its protagonists, the ambiguous moral stance of the text has puzzled generations of readers and scholars alike.
Abstract
John Ford’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore is one of the most controversial and mystifying plays in all of early modern drama. The story of two siblings who fall in love with each other and whose short period of bliss is followed by a finale as bloody as it is shocking shows Ford operating at his most paradigmatic as well as his most enigmatic. Long neglected for reasons of propriety, the play has experienced a strong return to the stage over the course of the twentieth century. Oscillating between sensational stage displays and a heightened psychological interest in its protagonists, the ambiguous moral stance of the text has puzzled generations of readers and scholars alike.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1. Editing English Renaissance Texts 27
- 2. Forms of Translation 46
- 3. New Ways of Worldmaking: English Renaissance Literature as ‘Early Modern’ 66
- 4. Theatre and Drama 89
- 5. Life-Writing: Encountering Selves 108
- 6. England and its Others 136
- 7. Literature and Religion in Early Modern England 155
- 8. Renaissance Englishwomen as Writers, Readers, and Patrons 182
- 9. Rhetoric and Literary Theory 203
-
Part II: Close Readings
- 10. John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte (1499?) 225
- 11. Thomas More, Utopia (1516/1551) 244
- 12. William Baldwin, Beware the Cat (1553/1570) 265
- 13. Richard Tottel, Songes and Sonettes (1557) 280
- 14. John Lyly, Euphues (1578/1580) 295
- 15. Philip Sidney, The Two Arcadias (1577–1584) 311
- 16. Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1587) 331
- 17. Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1590/1596) 352
- 18. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (c. 1588–1592) 376
- 19. Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller (1594) 395
- 20. William Shakespeare, Richard II (1595) 411
- 21. Francis Bacon, Essays (1597–1625) 425
- 22. Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) 444
- 23. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610) 464
- 24. Aemilia Lanyer, “The Description of Cooke-ham” (1611) 478
- 25. Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621–1651) 496
- 26. John Ford, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (c. 1632) 516
- 27. John Donne, Songs and Sonnets (1633) 537
- 28. Thomas Carew and Inigo Jones, Coelum Britannicum (1634) 557
- 29. Andrew Marvell, Upon Appleton House (1651) 573
- 30. Margaret Cavendish, Poems, and Fancies (1653) 594
- 31. William Davenant, The Siege of Rhodes (1656) 615
- 32. John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667/1674) 635
- Index of Names 661
- Index of Subjects 683
- List of Contributors 739
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1. Editing English Renaissance Texts 27
- 2. Forms of Translation 46
- 3. New Ways of Worldmaking: English Renaissance Literature as ‘Early Modern’ 66
- 4. Theatre and Drama 89
- 5. Life-Writing: Encountering Selves 108
- 6. England and its Others 136
- 7. Literature and Religion in Early Modern England 155
- 8. Renaissance Englishwomen as Writers, Readers, and Patrons 182
- 9. Rhetoric and Literary Theory 203
-
Part II: Close Readings
- 10. John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte (1499?) 225
- 11. Thomas More, Utopia (1516/1551) 244
- 12. William Baldwin, Beware the Cat (1553/1570) 265
- 13. Richard Tottel, Songes and Sonettes (1557) 280
- 14. John Lyly, Euphues (1578/1580) 295
- 15. Philip Sidney, The Two Arcadias (1577–1584) 311
- 16. Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1587) 331
- 17. Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1590/1596) 352
- 18. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (c. 1588–1592) 376
- 19. Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller (1594) 395
- 20. William Shakespeare, Richard II (1595) 411
- 21. Francis Bacon, Essays (1597–1625) 425
- 22. Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) 444
- 23. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610) 464
- 24. Aemilia Lanyer, “The Description of Cooke-ham” (1611) 478
- 25. Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621–1651) 496
- 26. John Ford, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (c. 1632) 516
- 27. John Donne, Songs and Sonnets (1633) 537
- 28. Thomas Carew and Inigo Jones, Coelum Britannicum (1634) 557
- 29. Andrew Marvell, Upon Appleton House (1651) 573
- 30. Margaret Cavendish, Poems, and Fancies (1653) 594
- 31. William Davenant, The Siege of Rhodes (1656) 615
- 32. John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667/1674) 635
- Index of Names 661
- Index of Subjects 683
- List of Contributors 739