Not Necessarily Feminism: The Challenge of Categorizing 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore' Sophia Simon-Bashall College

John Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore is an ambiguous play regarding its position on gender, which makes it particularly fascinating. It certainly utilises the inherited categories and assumptions about female behaviour which were prevalent in the Jacobean and Carolinian eras, but it also somewhat challenges the social subordination of women. The title of the text, and it’s closing line, appear satirical and indicative of societal attitudes rather than the play’s itself. However, to refer to it as feminist text – or to Ford as a feminist playwright – would be to ignore the intricacies of both the text and of the definition of feminism.

The character of Hippolita may not be at the centre of the play, but how she acts is significant in examining the text’s treatment of women. Her presence serves as a reminder of the double standards common in Jacobean and Carolinian society, and she refuses to let that go ignored. In Act 4 Scene 1, she appears in the Masque ‘[with garlands of willow]’. This costume implies that she believes that she has been mistreated, as willow was associated with forsaken women – in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the innocent and unfortunate Ophelia drowns after falling from a willow tree, whilst in Othello the...