Summary
In the city of Parma, the Friar and Giovanni are having a heated discussion. The Friar urges Giovanni to stop their conversation, as he has given himself over to sin. Giovanni argues that he should be able to love as any other man would, and explains that what he feels for his sister is true, genuine, and good. The Friar laments how far Giovanni has fallen from his school days, when he was a promising student. The Friar warns Giovanni that pursuing such a relationship with his sister will only bring about death.
At Florio's house, Grimaldi, a solder, and Vasquez, a servant, are fighting. They are soon interrupted by Florio, Donado, and Soranzo, Vasquez's master.
Soranzo explains to Florio that he had asked Vasquez to challenge Grimaldi to a fight because he (Soranzo) and Grimaldi are rival suitors of Florio's daughter, Annabella. Florio assures Soranzo that Annabella has already chosen him, and there is no need for competition.
On the balcony above, Annabella and her guardian, Puttana, look on at the men, unseen.
Annabella and Puttana discuss the situation, and Annabella admits to being uncomfortable with the competition among the men. Puttana describes all of Annabella's suitors, favoring Soranzo. Bergetto, another suitor, enters, and Annabella and Puttana secretly make fun of how idiotic he is.
Then, Giovanni enters. Annabella goes to him and he invites her to go for a walk. He admits his feelings for his sister and she reciprocates. They vow to love each other and, if one stops loving the other, to kill each other.
Meanwhile, Donado – Bergetto's uncle – attempts to help Bergetto woo Annabella. He decides to write a letter to Annabella on Bergetto's behalf and enclose a jewel in the letter to win Annabella's affections.
Analysis
The first act of the play is largely dedicated to exposition, situating the audience within a conflict that has begun before the events of the play take place. The first scene, in which Giovanni is speaking with the Friar, piques the audience's interest by presenting Giovanni as plagued by some internal struggle while the Friar urges him to forget about it. Ford does not leave the audience in suspense for long, as it is soon revealed that the struggle facing Giovanni is his sexual desire for his sister, Annabella. From the outset, then, the play thrusts viewers and readers into uncomfortable territory.
Despite the vast differences between societal expectations of the contemporary period and the early modern period, incest was still considered a sinful if not damning phenomenon. To begin the play with an admittance of incestuous desire therefore suggests that the events to follow will deal heavily with secrets and illicit behavior.
Giovanni's confession to the Friar also introduces one of the central themes of the play – the contentious relationship between individual desire and societal expectation. Giovanni is convinced that his strong desire for his sister must be true love, as he is so overwhelmed by his emotions. The Friar, however, reminds Giovanni that giving into his desire is akin to idolatry, suggesting that individuals can sometimes become so blinded by what they want that they dispense with ethical behavior entirely.
While many early modern plays take up the notion of incest in a peripheral way, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore places this conflict at the heart of the play's plot. It is also unique in that it entertains the idea that the relationship between Giovanni and Annabella might, in fact, be one of true love. When Giovanni confesses his feelings to Annabella, she immediately reciprocates, and the two vow to love each other or to kill each other. Disregarding their roles as brother and sister, this exchange follows much the same trajectory as other famous early modern romances (think, for example, of the fast love formed between two other doomed lovers, Romeo and Juliet).
That the play presents the incestuous pairing of Annabella and Giovanni as a happy culmination of long-harbored secret emotion is unsettling to say the least. This cannot, however, be read as a straightforward endorsement of incest. Instead, the play seems to delight in the discomfort it creates, using incest as an exaggerated metaphor for the conflict that arises between personal desire and societal duty. Nor is the play entirely discreet about what is to come for the participants in the incestuous coupling: in expressing their "love or death" commitment to one another, Giovanni and Annabella suggest that the Friar's prediction – that incest will only bring death – will indeed come to fruition.
