The Context of Religion

The contemporary religion of Ford has great prominence in his play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, and in order to understand the play, it is necessary to gain an understanding of religion in Ford's time and the influence it had on his play.

1517 - Martin Luther's ‘Wittenberg Theses’ began the Protestant Reformation, which lead to breaks with the Catholic Church

1534 - Henry VIII himself broke with Rome (the seat of the Catholic Church), primarily because of the Pope's failure to annul the king's childless marriage to Catherine of Aragon

1534 - Act of Supremacy - Henry VIII Historical Context 32 declared himself the head of the English Church

Religion remained a divisive issue, though, as Henry's son Edward VI continued England's move toward Protestantism (this trend was violently reversed by the Catholic Queen "Bloody" Mary)

Protestantism vs. Catholicism was a divisive issue, and it explains Ford's negative representations of the Catholic Friar and Cardinal

Religion itself—about which different people may hold different beliefs—fails to offer any absolute standard of ethical conduct

Sexual Regulation in Renaissance England

This was sustained through religious tenor

In the Consecration of marriage, the priest would tell Renaissance couple that holy matrimony was ordained by God for three reasons:

1. Procreation & education of godly children

2. Avoidance of fornication

3. Mutual company and comfort of spouses

After the Reformation, marriage replaced celibacy as “the ethical norm for the virtuous Christian” – sexuality was regulated by granting legitimate sex through marriage. In addition to perpetuating the Christian church, marriage was also a device for restraining man’s free use of his flesh.

Ford and Religion

Ford was baptised at Islington Church, Devon and the son of a parish. His play seems to reflect the religious and political conflicts which were prevalent throughout his life. There are not exact historical sources that can be identified as sources for Ford's characters.

But the anxieties about

   - marriage and power

   - religion and ethics

   - the nobility and the wealthy bourgeoisie

And other increasingly controversial issues of his day play significant roles in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore

This suggests that his context informs and moulds his writing (and this is linked to Marxism).

King Charles & William Laud

He was suspected of converting to Catholicism from Protestant movement and believed he was appointed by God to govern. Married French Catholic (Henrietta Maria), he was a protestant (generated anxieties). There was concern over religious preferences - King Charles appreciated ornate, decadent designs & wanted this in his churches, however the decoration of a church symbolised faith & thus they appeared Catholic.

Arch Bishop of Canterbury (William Laud) was chosen, much like a Catholic (his account of religion was very different from mainstream Protestantism of the time - believed in order, ceremony & ritual, refurbished churches - very decorative) - many parishioners were concerned (appeared very Catholic). The use of decoration, ritual and enforcing obedience all increased the worries of Puritans.

Laud's theology was influenced by the teachings of the Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius (1560-1609), who emphasised free will over predestination and an acceptance of ordered and uniform practices of worship. Laud's love of ceremony and harmonious liturgy—the "beauty of holiness"—was favoured by King Charles because it encouraged obedience to the King's authority as head of the church. Laud believed that he was restoring discipline and order to the Church of England according to the rules laid down in the earliest days of the English Reformation. However, his attempts to force uniformity of worship ran contrary to all shades of Puritan opinion, and his Arminian doctrines were regarded as dangerously close to Roman Catholicism.

Direct Links to the Play

The Cardinal arguably fits perfectly with the contemporary Protestant assumptions about the Roman Catholic Church (As the main surviving man of authority at the end of the play, he speaks for part of the Caroline audience in his orthodox condemnation of ‘incest and murder’ (5:6,161), a religious rather than a merely Catholic position.)

Ford wasn’t even necessarily hostile to Catholicism in all its forms. Research by Lisa Hopkins has shown that he had close contacts among the English Catholic gentry.

The deaths in the end of the play link to the idea of Catholic view of incest as a sin - punishment (Ford must punish characters, through death, in order to keep with social rules of the era). Alternatively, the lack of punishment for the incest may also be seen as a satyr of the church. incest was a religious crime so the church was supposed to enforce punishments, however the Friar fails to bring the relationship out into the open, fails to get Giovanni to repent and in the end flees and leaves both Giovanni and Annabella unpunished.

Friars - including Shakespeare’s Friar Laurence and the sharper Friar Francis in Much Ado About Nothing - have a generally benign image on the stage at this time compared with other Catholic clergy. The two main groups of Friars, Franciscan and Dominican - Bonaventure is named after a thirteenth-century Franciscan saint  - emphasised preaching and charitable involvement with the community, not the prayerful seclusion favoured by some religious orders.

Crystal Spears writes in her work: Incest and the Grotesque in John Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore

'a much more strict religious, political, and economic era under James I'

'Religious life had become more and more constrictive as James made citizens sign declarations that the king was closer to God than the common man and that the Pope had no power over the monarchy.'

'The patriarchal power structure that kept men at the head of both household and state was believed to be instated by both God and nature. Ford's era was rife with cultural conditions and historical changes in English culture that were reflected in his dramas.'

Louise Fordham

•       With regards to the beginning of the play: 'According to A. P. Hogan the use of nature, reason and religion as justifications are not sustained in the rest of the play as, "Ford gradually and inexorably shreds the grande alliance which his hero has so laboriously built up" '

•        'The myth of Jove and Leda portrays an unnatural coupling between a mortal and a god in the form of a swan, thereby paralleling the "unnatural" union of brother and sister.'

•        In the death and marriage-bed scene Giovanni plays god by taking her life, an action which he subsequently proclaims to be a "rape of life and beauty“

Bill Levy

•       'Ford was very close to his religious mother. Ford biographer Tag Gallagher declares that Ford inherited the religious fervor of his childhood from her.'

•       'Robert Parrish's quip about John Ford, 'He was a cop hater by religion''

And that's about it for religion in 'Tis Pity She's A Whore! This would be an ideal exam topic if, like me, you are comparing it to William Blake.