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Act 5, Scene 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Passion, Lust, and Bloodlust
Desire vs. Duty
Injustice
Religious Piety vs. False Idols
Female Sexuality vs. Social Expectation
Summary
Analysis
Vasquez enters, expressing his shock to Soranzo at what has come to pass: first Soranzo married a whore who threw herself onto him, and then Annabella laughed at cuckolding him.
While Annabella did marry him as a pregnant women, it is a particularly harsh judgment to call her both a whore and to say that she laughed at making him a cuckold. She tried to avoid marrying him and causing him shame, but it would have been ruinous to be discovered pregnant as an unmarried woman. Additionally, Florio brought about her marriage; at no point did she express interest in marrying Soranzo. Thus, in many ways she is a victim of the men around her.
Themes
Soranzo begins to develop another scheme. He says that he will bid Annabella to dress in her bridal robes, and then asks Vasquez if the Banditti are ready to wait in ambush. Vasquez vaguely assures him that they are. Soranzo commands Vasquez to invite the dignitaries of Parma to his birthday feast, including Florio and Giovanni. He confesses that his blood is boiling with a need for revenge.
