Good for A level - Rated 
This book is easy to follow and has explanations of words and language on the page. The foreword and introduction is helpful for extra notes as well as revision and there is ample space for annotations. A good book to help you through your english course.
Stark, dark and bloody - Rated 
Writing in the 1620s, well after Shakespeare and Marlowe, John Ford is now little read and rarely produced. Which is a shame as this particular play has a dramatic power and tension that recalls some of the gothic barbarity of Webster, though in much simpler language.
Set in Italy, `Tis pity 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, dark 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 it's own taut and tense spell over the reader. Short but memorable.
Brilliant! - Rated
This play is one of the best I have read in a long time. I'm not usually a fan of classical work, but this kept my interest and left me wishing there was more after each page. A beautifully written and well interesting story for anybody.
This play is especially good for drama students looking for new plays to add to their collection or for audition speeches.
A Great Play - but I wouldn't choose this edition again... - Rated 
'Tis Pity She's a Whore is a play which centres around the incestuous love of its to protagonists - Giovanni and Anabella, brother and sister. The controversy of its topic have been much discussed since it was first performed in the 17th century, with different critics and different audiences taking to it very differently.
I thoroughly enjoyed my read - it is fast moving and has a wide range of characters with a variety of sub plots. I particularly enjoyed the adulterous Hippolita, and her lover Soranzo's servant Vasquez. Indeed, the depth and time given to the supporting cast in some ways brings into doubt which are the main characters in the play. However, the story revolves around Giovanni and Anabella and their love affair. It calls into question religion, society, and of course the taboo itself (although it is doubtful that John Ford was condoning the incestuous relationship, neither are Giovanni and Anabella presented in an unsympathetic light). As a spectacle, there are doubtlessly a wide range of ways to stage the play. I found the language easier than the majority of Shakespeare, and although the plot in parts bares similarity to Shakespeare and perhaps Johnson, I will be looking out for a production. The brutality and intrigue of the play would, I am sure, make for interesting viewing.
This edition I have mixed feelings about. The introduction is good enough - it is easy to read, and gives an overview of themes and past stagings of the production, as well as a good selection of possible extra reading. However the commentary to accompany the text was too sparse for me - although it gives definitions of most of the words you could not find in a dictionary, it gives little context or explanation, and at no point links in with the issues discussed in the commentary.
I must admit I am a fan of the Arden editions of Shakespeare, and because of that have grown used to in-depth explanations, context, wordplay and connotations being noted and brought to my attention throughout the text; this does not happen here. In this way, this Revels Student Edition falls down - perhaps this is because it is expected that for students class work would cover the text in detail.
Jacobean at its Best - Rated
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this play, my first foray into Jacobean literature. Revenge, incest, etc. this play has everything to keep you hooked. I don't as a rule read many plays (Shakespeare excepted) but I thoroughly enjoyed it, now I want to see it on stage it was so good.
|
