Tis Pity She's A Whore Sparknotes

The dysfunction and disharmony in ‘Tis pity she’s a whore

In the above stanza, Herbert glorifies that Human being is a perfect creation of God. And he also praises the perfect symmetry of human: the perfect physical proportions of the body and each part of it work well with each other. The parts of the body are so well constructed according to a perfect plan by God. And it provides the most suitable ‘shell’ for human as a whole. So that each part works together and functions as a whole human being. Each part of the body cooperates harmoniously and has their equivalence in the world. Just like your head dominates your mind and your feet dominate your behavior, the parts work well with each other and help human to be functional and harmonious.

Why will this play end in such chaos and disordered way? This is the consequence of discordance of the “proportion” of human being. The incestuous relationship of Giovanni and Annabella, they turn the ordered world into disordered state and break the harmony of the society. The “beastly man” Soranzo and the “madman” Giovanni have a dual character that different from public to private. The revenge of Giovanni, Grimaldi, Richardetto and Hippolita, Soranzo make us feel that the play is full of plot and malice. The injustice nuncio Cardinal to the Pope, the arbitrary father Florio and the taciturn Friar deteriorate the dysfunction into a worse state. In this paper, I will examine the dysfunction of the parts of whole and how it is human incongruous to whole world in ‘Tis pity she’s a whore.

There are several factors that lead to the miserable consequences. From the private side and public side of the characters, the difference faces they show to people prove their deficiency in the harmony and symmetry world. Since “proportions” of a man should be coordinate to the whole. But in ‘Tis pity, the inside and outside are totally different. Firstly, is the

Harmony means to put everything into order and maintain its balance to the whole. Once one part loses it control, the order will be subverted. But why will it be imbalanced situation in ‘Tis pity? Because the order is disrupted by incest, fight, adultery, revenge and pregnancy. And there is no justice at all. All these troublesome meet together that produce such a disorder in this play. The first severe thing is the incest. In Christian church and Christian society, incest is totally wrong in the culture. It is regarded as a serious sin that may lead to death. “Repetence,son, and sorrow for this sin: For thou hast moved a Majesty above with thy unranged blasphemy“(Ⅰ.ii.44-45) It may infuriate God and will get punishment because “For death waits on thy lust”(Ⅰ.ii.59). Family order, social order and religious order will be destroyed by incest. And according to Pallar, “incest is a danger to society at large, a threat to moral, religious, and civil order.”(Pallar,Zack,Hudson,etc,2008). Friar asks Giovanni to pray, to repent. Because when God is angry, the consequence is unpredictable, a disaster will come. As the Friar predict “Heaven is angry, and be thou resolved. Thou art a man remarked to taste a mischief. Look for’t; though it come late, it will come sure”(Ⅱ.v.9-11) Therefore, at the final scene, Giovanni kill his dearest sister in order to save her fame, and he also need to bear the sudden death of his father