Tis a Pity Shes a Whore Phila Review
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The Lover's Melancholy
Much of the humour revolves around cross-gendering and the antics that ensue from the various confusions. At that place are a few themes that stood out to me, though they could have been adult more powerfully. Ane was Palador's aversion and distrust of his beloved Eroclea, whose disappearance caused his dreadful melancholy, after due south
The introduction is excellent. The Anatomy of Melancholy is also on my reading listing for this year, so I appreciated seeing the event it had on Ford.The Lover's Melancholy
Much of the humor revolves around cross-gendering and the antics that ensue from the various confusions. There are a few themes that stood out to me, though they could accept been developed more powerfully. I was Palador'due south disfavor and distrust of his beloved Eroclea, whose disappearance acquired his dreadful melancholy, later on she returns and reveals herself to him. The paranoia that grips him, making him think information technology is zip but a 'seductive counterfeit' to meet his long-lost Eroclea before him, is a very relatable human trait. Nosotros oft do not permit adept things to pass through our beat, considering the disappointment that hope inevitably engenders is so much worse than a simple and eternal misery. Also, melancholy and despair are not emotions that are chased away past logic or truth.
The grief of Meleander towards his missing daughter, and his complex relationship to his remaining daughter, Cleophila, was very well washed. He was the "insane" character only much of what he said rang truthful and made more sense than the "sane" characters, who all wore masks. The foolish courtiers, the woeful prince, the faux friends, the secretive Eroclea, the random lovers: they all faded into shadows. And then many of them were busy with their doublespeak and petty plots information technology was hard to go swept into their drama. In contrast, Meleander's ranting and honest grief resonated with me. For example:
Meleander: Only I'll outstare 'ee all; fools, desperate fools!
You are cheated, grossly cheated; range, range on
And gyre near the globe to gather moss,
The moss of accolade, gay reports, gay wearing apparel,
Gay wives, huge empty buildings, whose proud roofs
Shall, with their pinnacles, fifty-fifty reach the stars.
Ye work and work like moles, blind in the paths
That are bored through the crannies of the world,
To charge your hungry souls with such full surfeited
Every bit being forged once, make 'ee lean with plenty.
And when ye have skimmed the vomit of your riots,
Y'are far in no felicity but folly;
Then your last sleeps seize on 'ee. Then the troops
Of worms clamber circular and banquet; good cheer, rich fare,
Overnice, succulent——John Ford, The Lover's Melancholy, ii.2.83
The reunion of Meleander and Eroclea, every bit pointed out in the introduction, pales in comparison to that of King Lear and Cornelia. Still, I enjoyed this play and thinking nearly information technology.
The Cleaved Center
Information technology'south interesting how women are portrayed here. I will elaborate further in future edits.
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
This play was great. Highly enjoyable. Ford plays with morality here. It is a form of 'distancing for truth' the way I read it. Incest is a nauseating, reprehensible act. And Ford makes the incestual human relationship cute, consensual, and right. I was rooting for Giovanni and Annabella, just still grossed out past them. And withal, the idea of a "sister married woman" is a common theme in literature and history. Information technology was fascinating how Ford explored that and took it as far as he did. Information technology'southward outrageous and very well done.
The actual line " 'Tis pity she's a whore!" made me feel like I was reading a sitcom and I laughed through a lot of this play.
Perkin Warbeck
What a powerful play. If I hadn't read the introduction I don't call back I would have realized that Perkin Warbeck was a con homo. Even and so, I still plant myself rooting for him.
This play was much tighter than the other 3 in this collection. In that location were no extraneous words. It is a political drama, just likewise a personal drama. What defines Kingship? What defines Love?
Also, I recently read an essay in my handy Portable Renaissance Reader about Henry VII, so information technology was interesting seeing him portrayed from another angle. I hope to elaborate further in time to come edits.
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The L John Ford had non an cantlet of morality. Today, while ethical standards are disappearing, we see his resurrection from a well-merited obscurity. Ford had to struggle in the shadow of Shakespeare. If only he had fallen into his warranted completeness! Instead, he is heralded past an aficionado of antiquated perversity and exposed to the limelight. If y'all read him, yous must endure debauchery and suspend any reference to decent human being beliefs. Possibly there is a hidden agenda behind the editor'due south praise.
The Lover'due south Melancholy
Background before the play begins: king of Cyprus attempts to rape his son'due south intended, she flees, her chancellor father is imprisoned to prevent disclosure, and the king dies. Play begins. New prince depressed because his honey has been missing for two years. (Just, he never tried to detect her where-abouts.) She assumes the aspect of a boy and returns to Cyprus. Diverse members of royalty pursue unrequited dear. Daughter announces render to prince. Joy ensues. Then?
The Broken Center
Sparta. Somehow Ford ignores the historical notoriety of its two male monarch organization. A hero'southward twin sister, promised to her lover-since-childhood (the protagonist - also the hero'southward best friend) winds up married to a buffoon at the hero's insistence. The heart-ill protagonist retreats to Athens to exist tutored past a philosopher. He returns in disguise to Sparta. The hero confesses love to the affianced simply kid of the king and his love is reciprocated even though the princess is promised in spousal relationship to the king of Argos. The protagonist confronts the hero with his betrayal and the hero confesses his guilt. Meanwhile, the hero'due south sis starves herself to death considering she can't beloved the protagonist. The protagonist traps the hero in a chair – no kidding, a chair – and stabs him to decease. The king dies; the princess becomes queen, orders the decease of the protagonist, doesn't desire to alive without the warrior and kills herself after making certain Sparta is handed over to Argos. Makes sense doesn't information technology?
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
Ford'southward nearly famous drama is the vilest play I have ever read. Incest between a brother and sis, a vengeful adulterous wife betrayed and abandoned by her ex-lover, a loyal maid's eyes gouged out and olfactory organ slit past the ex-lover's servant, the union of the sis with the traitor, disembowelment of the sis by the blood brother, violent deaths by assassins and the well-nigh foul character escapes past a Cardinal'south complicit mercy. Coupled with the editor's continuous, unwarranted disparagement of the Church in the introduction and the footnotes, this play reflects poorly on today's state of drama-appreciation.
Perkin Warbeck
An impostor to the English throne convinces Male monarch James of Scotland to bring together him in fighting Henry VII. Warbeck marries the daughter of a Scottish Lord who harbors resentment at the lucifer fabricated by James. This is and so insipid a play that I need not continue. Ford has a addiction of promoting the abnormal as blessed. Known to history as a traitorous scoundrel, Warbeck is painted with a revisionist's brush. Information technology would be as though some one-half-witted modern playwright ennobled Aaron Burr.
The Lover'southward Melancholy is a wonderful play for people who think that the best thing about Shakespearean one-act is the cross-dressing. There are some express mirth out-loud funny scenes generated by all the gender confusion - for instance, there's a scene where a female character, finding her sexual advances rejected by the heroine (disguised as a boy), berates "him" at length for his lack of manliness. Doubly funny when you lot retrieve that
This collection of four plays by John Ford is a bit of a mixed bag.The Lover's Melancholy is a wonderful play for people who think that the all-time thing about Shakespearean comedy is the cantankerous-dressing. There are some laugh out-loud funny scenes generated by all the gender confusion - for example, in that location'southward a scene where a female character, finding her sexual advances rejected by the heroine (disguised equally a boy), berates "him" at length for his lack of manliness. Doubly funny when you call up that all these parts would have been played past boys pretending to be girls in the first place. Otherwise, the play is pretty forgettable, just if I ever got the chance to see it performed, I call back I'd take it.
I really struggled with The Broken Heart. Part of it is that information technology has a very big bandage of characters, and I simply had trouble keeping track of who was who. (The dramatis personae, which I assume is reproduced faithfully from the first edition, doesn't aid by giving characters rather short and cryptic descriptions. We have characters described equally "blossom of dazzler", "honor of loveliness", "dissonance", "trusty", and "vexation".) 2d, the tragedy of this piece revolves entirely effectually the female characters' disability to command their ain destiny and secure their ain happiness against the wills of their fathers, husbands, and brothers. This is a common thread in Jacobean/Caroline drama, only I institute that Ford never brought the female person characters sufficiently to life for me to really feel sympathy for them. I kept finding myself wishing that they'd take a hint from the heroine of The Lover's Melancholy - run away, come back dressed as a human, and use their counterfeit male privilege to secure a meliorate event for themselves. (Maybe this is a danger or reading the same author's comedies and tragedies in close succession.)
I'thousand willing to bet that I'd similar The Cleaved Heart much better if I actually saw it performed, with good actors to exhale life into the characters. It does take a rather gripping catastrophe, with a rather inventive revenge killing - I'm sure it would phase very well.
'Tis Pity She's a Whore reminded me a lot of Middleton's Women Beware Women, a play with which it shares the plot devices of brother/sister incest and an human being trying to ally off a particularly idiotic ward. I think Middleton writes more sympathetic female characters. In 'Tis Compassion, I didn't much care for the rather hapless Annabella, who manages to seem similar a bit of a chump even when she's conceiving a forbidden passion for her own brother. I preferred Hippolita, an older adult female who sets out for vengeance when her lover dumps her to marry the younger and ameliorate socially connected Annabella. Ford doesn't allow her to succeed in her vengeance, merely at least she gets to take an active office in the play.
Perkin Warbeck is an oddity - a history play written in the 1630s, when history plays had long been out of manner. And rather unexpectedly, information technology was probably my favorite play in this volume. Unless you're very up on your early Tudor history, you'll probably want to read this with Wikipedia or a skilful history book on the catamenia shut at hand. Perkin Warbeck was a pretender to the throne of England who claimed to be Richard, the younger of Edward IV'due south two sons. (These ii sons being the "princes in the tower" whose deaths suspiciously paved the mode for Richard III to accept the throne of England.) Warbeck raised a rebellion against Henry VII, which Henry promptly crushed. It makes a skillful story, but the most interesting thing is probably Ford's portrayal of Henry VII. I don't know a lot about the historical Henry VII - whatever monarch who falls between Richard III and Henry Eight actually has to fight for attention. The Henry VII portrayed past Ford is crafty, adamant to hang onto his throne, but as well desperately longing for peace and willing to be merciful nearly to a fault. Information technology'south tempting to think that Ford meant to hold upward Henry VII as a model for his own monarch, Charles I, who faced his own threats to the legitimacy of his rule with less good grace.
...more than
The Broken Heart read 16th May 2021 - 3.v* 'Tis Compassion She's a Whore read 11th May 2021 - 3*
The Cleaved Heart read 16th May 2021 - 3.5* ...more than
Merely on with the plays:
The Lover's Melancholy
Thank goodness for Wikipedia. Given the sheer amount of backstory, I would have been tremendously confused if not for the brief summary posted on Wikipedia. The Lover's Melancholy is a scrap Twelfth Night: The Prozac Edition, with low, women dressing as men (and men as women, in one of the comedic subplots), and star-crossed lovers. It'south a decent play, merely not one that I'll be disappointed if I never see live. All in all, it reads like a bottom fake of some of Shakespeare's all-time works (perhaps explaining later rumors that Ford stole the play from Shakespeare's papers).
The Cleaved Heart
This feels like a different writer wrote this play. The plot, the characters, the story – all are leagues stronger than Melancholy. This, again, is drama with a capital D. There are some great character arcs, and I particularly like the prevalence of interesting female person characters. Penthea is a tragic character, and I'1000 honestly surprised the play isn't amend known for the uncomplicated reason that Penthea would be such a fascinating character to play.
My one caveat is in that location isn't one strong, overarching plot. Rather, this is a play with a unifying theme (encounter the title). Just more theatre groups should perform this play.
Tis Pity She's a Whore
One of the last of the English Renaissance plays before the English Civil War (and the closing of the theatres), one critic referred to this incest-centered tragedy as "effectively closing the coffin chapeau on one of the most macabre episodes of the English stage." That's not an overstatement: this play virtually Giovanni and his incestuous affair with his younger sis includes decadent Church officials, mistaken murders, torture, and vital organ kebabs, to name a few of its perversities. Ford lacks Shakespeare's command of subtext, making the play easier to unpack because the dialogue isn't double (and even triple) layered with meaning. The play does characteristic some lovely turns of phrase, and the first scene between Giovanni and Annabella is wonderfully romantic (and all the more than creepy as a event).
My book club had a blast discussing this play and the diverse commentaries on morality, society, and social constructs (and yes, my book club is a bunch of bibliophilic nerds).
The Relate History of Perkin Warbeck
Definitely a play I need to read once again at some point. Besides, the least twisted of the four plays in this drove (While I know he'due south been dead for centuries, I practise worry virtually Ford'southward mental country). A history play, Perkin Warbeck deals with an infamous pretenders to the English language throne.
Perkin Warbeck hinges entirely on the actor playing the titular character. How he (and the director) interpret Warbeck will inform the remainder of the play – information technology's the keystone to the entire production. To some extent, that's also true of Katherine.
As my familiarity with history plays from this flow didn't expand across Shakespeare prior to reading this play, I enjoyed seeing how another playwright tackled this genre.
I'm glad I finally sat down and finished this collection (it's been over two years since I first read Whore). I come away impressed by Ford'southward interest in the psychology and inner workings of the human mind. He was, in some means, alee of his time. His female characters are especially notable, as they're more fleshed out than many from comparable plays. His writing lacks the depth of Shakespeare (who's doesn't?), simply overall, the stories are riveting. Information technology's a shame they aren't performed more than. Recommended.
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The highlight of this collection is 'Tis Pity She'south a Whore: set in Italy, it tells the story of incestuous love betwixt Giovanni and Annabella, brother and sister, and the sexual jealousy that ensues when she is forced into spousal relationship. Stark, d
Writing in the 1620s, well after Shakespeare and Marlowe, John Ford is at present fiddling read and rarely produced. Which is a shame as his plays have a dramatic power and tension that recall some of the gothic barbarity of Webster, though in much simpler language.The highlight of this collection is 'Tis Compassion She'south a Whore: ready in Italia, it tells the story of incestuous love between Giovanni and Annabella, brother and sister, and the sexual jealousy that ensues when she is forced into marriage. Stark, night and bloody, this builds to a predictable but still shockingly visual climax.
With intertextual references to Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and classical literature such as Ovid's Metamorphoses, this weaves its own taut and tense spell over the reader. Short but memorable.
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This is really delightful. Written in 1633 (virtually 17 years afterwards Shakespeare's decease), this bawdy play deals with a brother and sister who fall in dear with tragic consequences. There's nothing quite like Jacobean invective, and Deed Four Scene three is an absolute delight. Surprising in its open handling of the themes, given the time catamenia. Highly recommended.
The Lover's Melancholy: 3
Also good but not quite as not bad. At that place is some pretty striking gender-angle that goes a
This is actually delightful. Written in 1633 (about 17 years after Shakespeare'due south death), this earthy play deals with a brother and sis who fall in dearest with tragic consequences. There's nothing quite like Jacobean invective, and Human activity IV Scene three is an absolute please. Surprising in its open treatment of the themes, given the time period. Highly recommended.
The Lover's Melancholy: 3
Also expert but non quite as great. There is some pretty hitting gender-bending that goes a step further than Shakespeare ever got.
Ford left home to report in London, although more specific details are unclear — a xvi-year-old John Ford of Devon was admitted to Exeter College, Oxford on 26 March 1601, simply this was when the dramatist had non yet reached his sixteenth birthday. He joined a
John Ford (baptised 17 Apr 1586 – c. 1640?) was an English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet built-in in Ilsington in Devon in 1586.Ford left home to study in London, although more specific details are unclear — a 16-year-quondam John Ford of Devon was admitted to Exeter College, Oxford on 26 March 1601, but this was when the dramatist had not even so reached his sixteenth altogether. He joined an institution that was a prestigious law school but also a center of literary and dramatic activity — the Center Temple. A prominent junior member in 1601 was the playwright John Marston. (It is unknown whether Ford ever really studied constabulary while a resident of the Middle Temple, or whether he was strictly a gentleman boarder, which was a common arrangement at the time.)
It was not until 1606 that Ford wrote his first works for publication. In the spring of that year he was expelled from Middle Temple, due to his financial problems, and Fame's Memorial and Honour Triumphant soon followed. Both works are clear bids for patronage: Fame's Memorial is an elegy of 1169 lines on the recently-deceased Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire, while Honour Triumphant is a prose pamphlet, a verbal fantasia written in connection with the jousts planned for the summertime 1606 visit of Rex Christian IV of Kingdom of denmark. Information technology is unknown whether either of these brought any financial remuneration to Ford; however past June 1608 he had enough coin to be readmitted to the Middle Temple.
Prior to the start of his career as a playwright, Ford wrote other non-dramatic literary works—the long religious poem Christ's Bloody Sweat (1613), and two prose essays published as pamphlets, The Gilded Mean (1613) and A Line of Life (1620). After 1620 he began active dramatic writing, first every bit a collaborator with more experienced playwrights — primarily Thomas Dekker, merely too John Webster and William Rowley — and past the later 1620s as a solo artist.
Ford is all-time known for the tragedy 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1633), a family drama with a plot line of incest. The play'southward title has often been inverse in new productions, sometimes being referred to as simply Giovanni and Annabella — the play's leading, incestuous brother-and-sister characters; in a nineteenth-century piece of work information technology is coyly called The Brother and Sis. Shocking as the play is, it is still widely regarded as a archetype slice of English drama.
He was a major playwright during the reign of Charles I. His plays deal with conflicts between individual passion and conscience and the laws and morals of society at large; Ford had a potent involvement in abnormal psychology that is expressed through his dramas. His plays frequently prove the influence of Robert Burton's The Beefcake of Melancholy.
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