SOURCE: "'Tis Pity She's a Whore," in John Ford and the Traditional Moral Order, University of Wisconsin Press, 1968, pp. 95-121.

In the essay below, Stavig contends that Ford wrote 'Tis Pity She's a Whore as a burlesque of the traditional morality play, intentionally adding absurd melodramatic and satiric elements to the play in an effort to minimize his audience's reaction to the theme of incest and the closing spectacle of violence.

After hearing a brief summary of the plot, a Caroline playgoer might expect Tis Pity She's a Whore to be a sensational melodrama with Giovanni portrayed as an all-black villain who outrageously violates all standards of decency. As an atheist, an incestuous lover, a revenger, and a murderer, Giovanni has many of the characteristics of a stage villain; but Ford chooses to develop him in a quite different way. Instead of stressing the villainy, Ford portrays Giovanni...