John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore

Lisa Hopkins (Sheffield Hallam University)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

John Ford's

'Tis Pity She's a Whore

was first published in 1633 but so close are its affinities with Jacobean revenge tragedy that critics have often wondered whether it had not in fact been written much earlier; there is, however, no firm evidence for this. The “whore” of the title is a young woman called Annabella who lives in Parma, Italy, with her brother Giovanni and her father Florio. Her mother is dead and Annabella's sole source of moral guidance is her “tut'ress”, Putana, whose name ominously translates as “whore”. When the play opens, Annabella's brother Giovanni has just returned from his studies at the renowned Italian university of Bologna (it was particularly famous for its classes in anatomy, which may be of some interest given what transpires). He is…

1292 words

Citation: Hopkins, Lisa. "'Tis Pity She's a Whore". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 December 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8367, accessed 19 March 2024.]

8367 'Tis Pity She's a Whore 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.