Maeve Hammond

Sex & Betrayal: Renaissance Taboo

VanWagoner
8 July 2014
The Taboos of Tis Pity Shes a Whore:
Communities of Violence in the Jacobean Era






















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Introduction: The Significance of Violence in Jacobean Communities
John Fords Tis Pity Shes a Whore is a scandalous, thought-provoking, and dark
tragedy. Fords work follows in the footsteps of Jacobean contemporaries, including Thomas
Middleton, Cyril Tourneur, and John Webster, who employ the drama of risqu plotlines and the
shock-factor of purposeful or justifiable acts of extreme violence in their plays (Infoplease,
2005). In many cases, violence in plays is used as a means to an end: they are taboo subjects
veiled with acts of aggression. The darkness of violence portrayed in period pieces equally
ominously shadows the taboo subjects concealed within main plot points. In fact, significant acts
of vengeance and retribution are reminiscent of the influence religion once held and micro-
aggression represents past cultural differences, inequality, or prejudice and discrimination.
Aside from violent acts portrayed in Jacobean plays are the communitys responses to
such violence. Communal reactions to violence interpreted in plays are crucial to understand the
authors full intent: deconstruction reveals what the culture and people during the era of the play
thought, believed in, justified, and condemned. The setting of Tis Pity Shes a Whore is very
significant: the English author of the play, John Ford, surprisingly set his play in nobility-and-
power-clad Parma, Italy. However, careful scrutiny of Fords play reveals it is more call-to-
action than actual representation of Jacobean-era Italians. Ford twists the responses of
community to violence in order to reflect Jacobean-era taboos through supposed Italian culture.
Revenge and Religion: Giovanni Playing God
A critical character in Tis Pity Shes a Whore is Giovanni, the son of a wealthy
noble. After returning home from University, Giovanni is confronted with and recognizes his
loveor, perhaps, infatuationfor his sister, Annabella. Giovanni immediately consults his
tutor and confessor, Friar Bonaventura, to ask for what cure shall give [him] ease in these
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extremes (I.i.42) of incestuous lust. The friar rejects Giovannis wish and recommends
repentance and sorrow for this sin[an] unrangd almost blasphemy (I.i.43-45).
Giovanni endures mental, physical, and emotional self-harm through repentance, in
which he wearied Heaven with prayers, dried up/The spring of my continual tears, even
starved/My veins with daily fasts (I.ii.148-150). However, his penitence proves to be
unsuccessful: Giovanni begins an incestuous sexual relationship with Annabella. Giovanni
breaks moral code: he blatantly lies to Annabella with the line, the holy Church/...tells me I may
love you (I.ii.236-237). By uttering those damning words, Giovanni shades himself in shame
and forgoes Christianity.
As the darkness of Giovannis incestuous relationship weighs upon him, he justifies his
most despicable act of violencethe murder of Annabellaby introducing another taboo:
declaring and then devoutly following his own religion, wherein he plays God. Annabella even
foreshadowed her death with the line Love me, or kill me, brother (I.ii.250). Giovanni creates
a twisted religion based on fate: before murdering Annabella, he declares, I hold fate/Clasped in
my fist, and command the course/Of times eternal motion (V.v.10-12). He calls on Nature
(V.v.59) and Destinies (V.v.62) as the creators and makers of the world, instead of Christian
figures. Giovanni kills his sister for a swift, repinning wrath (V.v.47) against Soranzo, the man
who married and planned to kill Annabella. Giovanni does not murder Annabella for romance or
love, but solely for control and revenge. By taking Annabellas virginity, Giovanni thinks
himself God to her post-virgin creation; he rationalizes only he can end her (V.v.100-106).
Giovanni justifies this horrifying act as vengeance for Soranzo stealing his sister (V.vi.10-14).
In Act V, Scene vi, he mercilessly parades Annabellas heart on a sword as a final act of self-
vindication in the face of Parma.
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Giovannis violence has cultural significance for 1630s Europe. Fords addition of
Giovannis failed repentance is symbolic of the failed reformation from Catholicism to
Protestantism in early 1600s Italy. Henry VIII had already split from the Roman Church and
formed the Anglican Church, and in the 1630swhen and where Tis Pity Shes a Whore was
publishedProtestants were gaining momentum in the country. Giovannis line Im still the
same (I.ii.153) perfectly sums up Italys dedication and reversion to Catholicism after the failed
Protestant influence. Lastly, Giovannis affront to God in creating his own personal religion
could be Fords criticism of Italians choosing Catholicism and putting tradition and culture over
religious popularity oras Protestants considered itpropriety.
Micro-Aggression and Domestic Violence: Madonna-Whore Complex
Sigmund Freud, the twentieth century psychoanalysis, published many ground-breaking
analyses of mans sexual identity. One of his most famous philosophical models is the
Madonna-whore complex, which theorizes men only view women as a Madonna-esque
immaculate virgin or a debased whore; in Freuds words, it is "where such men love they have
no desire and where they desire they cannot love (Freud, 1912). Although the Madonna-whore
complex is a misogynistic theory dating 400 years after Ford, it can be attributed to the
misguided reasoning of the violence toward female characters in Tis Pity Shes a Whore.
The play introduces one of the most violent taboos, the incestuous affair, almost
immediately in the first act. Giovanni first uses religious metaphors and parallels to describe the
seemingly angelic, immaculate Annabella who is bathed in the light of virginity and
chastity. Giovanni says Such lips [of Annabella] would tempt a saint; such hands as
those/Would make an anchorite lascivious (I.ii.197-198). He remarks Annabellas heavenly
powers, now double all that virtue in [his] tongue (I.ii.160), and he would like to make [their]
love a god, and worship it (I.ii.146). Although some of Giovannis remarks seem nearly
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sacrilegious, with them he reinforces Annabella holds the same status in his mind as religious
figures solely because of her beauty andperhaps lack ofher sexual identity.
However, Giovannis attitude towards Annabella alters sharply when she is married to
another man, Soranzo. Giovanni can no longer own Annabellas sexual statushe must share
Annabella physically and emotionally with another man. Giovanni says Annabella is called a
faithless sister (V.iv.9) because of her marriage with Soranzo. Additionally, Giovanni shows
his obsession with Annabellas sexual affairs when he asks her, What, changed so soon? Hath
your new sprightly lord/Found out a trick in night-games more than we/Could know in our
simplicity? (V.iv.1-3). Changed so soon refers to Annabellas sexual identity, whichto
Giovanni transitioned from a rose-colored glasses saint and his property to a whorish status.
Annabellas mental evolution from Madonna to whore is represented physically by her
pregnancy. She is forced to exhibit a public declaration of her private life. Although Annabella
is still the same person, she is regarded completely differently by all of the characters in Tis Pity
Shes a Whoreespecially by her husband, Soranzo. He goes from marveling the look from
Annabeland her diviner cheeks (II.ii.16-17) to calling Annabella a strumpet, famous
whore...harlot, rare, notable harlot (IV.iii.1-4) after her pregnancy is revealed. Soranzo even
asks her, Was there no man in Parma to be bawd/To your loose, cunning whoredom else but I?
(IV.iii.6-7); Annabellas label as the Whore of Parma is irrevocable. The death of Annabellas
child at the hands of Giovanni reverts her back to the immaculate sister she was once considered.
This same pervasive, blatant misogyny is depicted within the community of Tis Pity
Shes a Whore. Soranzo and Hippolita had a secret affair while Hippolita was married; the news
of their affair is known throughout the community of Parma. Hippolitas reputation is stained
with her promiscuity, while Soranzo is still held in high regard: Hippolita even says to Soranzo,
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Thy sensual rage of blood hath made my youth/A scorn to men and angels (II.ii.28-29). The
vicious taboo of misogyny continues, as just like Soranzo, Giovanni is not persecutedor even
recognizedfor his premarital affair while Annabella is alive. Annabella takes all of Parmas
scorn; she laments, O Giovanni, that hast had the spoil/Of my modest fame (V.i.17-18).
The domestic violence towards Annabella following her public scorning is based on her
public identification of being a whore in Parma. In Act IV, Scene iii, Soranzo viciously confines
Annabella to her chambers in order to make no show/Of alteration (IV.iii.142-143), meaning
change of sexual identity; he plans to murder her to make this concealment permanent. In fact,
the only communication she has outside of her chambers is by sending letters written in her own
blood. When Friar Bonaventura hears of Soranzos planned murder, he visits Annabellanot to
save her from deathbut to bless her and to ensure she asks for forgiveness for her sins, in order
to live to die blessed (V.i.57). Additionally, when Hippolita is poisoned by Vasques as an act
of micro-aggression, her death is commended as wonderful justice (IV.i.85) by Parma.
Fords inclusion of a Madonna-whore complex and its cause of violence represent 1630s
Europe. Consequences of domestic violence and micro-aggression due to characters promiscuity
can be inferred as Fords call-to-action against Italys liberalism towards sexual freedom (Smitha,
2014). In addition, Ford shines a light on gender inequality through his characterization of
Annabella, as Freud would offer, as a Madonna-whore. These two types of violence also
represent the strong religious influences of the 1630s: Parmas neutral-to-positive responses to
the death of Annabella and Hippolita mean the community was willing, and even eager, to wipe
out sinners. Following the religious mindset of the time, the taboo of murder becomes an act of
cleansing Parma and benefitting its citizens.

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Corruption in the Courts: The Death of Bergetto
In Act III, clown character Bergetto is accidentally slain by Grimaldi, one of Annabellas
suitors and Soranzos assassin. Grimaldi is subsequently taken to court for the murder of
Bergetto. Grimaldi pleads guilty to slaying Bergetto and also to his attempted assassination and
intended vengeful violence towards Soranzo. However, the cardinalacting as judge in this
courtdismisses Grimaldi of all charges, justifying he is no common man, but nobly born/Of
princes blood (III.ix.56-57). Grimaldi is even received into his Holiness protection
(III.ix.55) by the cardinal. Grimaldi, although a murderer, is regarded higher in the eyes of the
cardinal than the rest of the characters in the case: the cardinal even remarks they should learn
more wit, for shame (III.ix.59). In this case, the community of Parma present at the court case is
outraged. They dispute the misdeed of the cardinal, asking, Is this a churchmans voice?
Dwells Justice here? (III.ix.62) and remarking, Justice is fled to heaven and comes no
nearer...theres no help in this/When cardinals think murders not amiss (III.ix.63-67).
The communitys infuriated reaction to the cardinals dismissal of Grimaldis mistaken
murder of Bergetto and intended violence against Soranzo has great cultural purpose for 1630s
Italy. Ford made a point to include this plotline in order to raise attention to the corruption in
courts. As patronage remained a central feature of political life at royal courts across Europe
(Buchan, 2012), church and state had expanded to courts. Corruption at the hand of the Roman
Church prevailed in court cases, as mentioned by the case involving the cardinal and Grimaldi.
Conclusion: The Aftermath--How the Community Responds to Violence
The citizens of Parma in Tis Pity Shes a Whore are surrounded by violence and the
hidden taboos shaded by aggression and murder. In the final act of the play, justice for the
wrongdoers seemingly occurs when the orchestrators of violent plotlines, Soranzo and Giovanni,
are murdered. The citizens of Parma remark that this as a strange miracle of justice
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(V.vi.108). However, the characters that actually were related to each act of violence and
aggression, Richardetto and Vasques, are free from any persecution or death. Richardetto plotted
Soranzos death by Grimaldi; Vasquez murdered Hippolita, beat and mutilated Annabellas
tutoress, Putana, involved himself in the violence against Annabella by Soranzo, and killed
Giovanni. Perhaps Ford allowed these immoral characters to live freely in order to relay the
reality of justice: not every criminal is caught or given proper punishment.
Communal and societal values were exhibited by the characters of Tis Pity Shes a
Whore by their reaction to violence. The citizens of Parma were more outraged by the injustice
of Grimaldis trial than the deaths of Hippolita and Annabella. The responses of the community
showed their apathy towards the whorish women: Parma was more concerned with the well-
being of the men involved in the deaths of and violence towards these women than the women
themselves. Soranzo and Giovannis misogyny is brushed aside: their violence towards women is
blamed on their mental conditions. Vasques remarks to Soranzo, why, madman, I knew when
his rage was overpassed/what it would come to (IV.iii.131-132), in order to justify Soranzo
committing verbal and physical violence towards Annabella. Furthermore, after Giovanni
declares he murdered Annabella and parades her heart on a sword, he is called a frantic
madman (V.vi.42); Annabellas condition or death is never questioned or lamented. As seen by
the characters of Tis Pity Shes a Whore Fords exposure of Italian and European culture
occurred through taboo veiled by violence and community response.




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Literature Cited

Buchan, Bruce. 2012. Corruption: Expanding the Focus. ANU E. Press: The Australian National
University. Received 4 July 2014 from
http://press.anu.edu.au/apps/bookworm/view/Corruption%3A+Expanding+the+focus/9901/ch05.
html

Ford, John, and Martin Wiggins. Tis Pity Shes a Whore. 2
nd
ed. London: A & C Black, 2003.
Print.


Freud, Sigmund. 1912. "ber die allgemeinste Erniedrigung des Liebeslebens" [The most
prevalent form of degradation in erotic life]. Jahrbuch fr psychoanalytische und
psychopathologische Forschungen 4: 4050.

Infoplease. 2014. English Literature. The Jacobean Era, Cromwell, and the Restoration.
Received 4 July 2014 from http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/entertainment/english-
literature-the-jacobean-era-cromwell-restoration.html

Smitha, Frank. 2014. Notes on Religion in the 16
th
Century. Sexuality, Sin, and Religious
Conflict. Received 4 July 2014 from http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/atheism-not.htm