John Ford and Jacobethan and Caroline Drama

Ford: 'Tis Pity She’s a Whore

In this course, Professor John Lennard explores John Ford’s 17th-century tragedy, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. The course begins by thinking about john Ford himself, about whom we know very little, and his literary output, before moving on to explore the structure and language of the play itself. In the fourth module, we focus on the central theme of the play—that of incest—while in the final module, we think about attitudes towards Ford’s play—and incest more generally—today.

John Ford and Jacobethan and Caroline Drama

In this module, we look at John Ford himself, and the times in which he was writing. In particular, we think about his life in the Middle Temple (where he stayed for forty years as an occasional poet, pamphleteer, and latterly dramatist) as well as his literary output—including the last great history play, Perkin Warbeck, and two major tragedies, The Broken Heart and ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore.