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Act 5, Scene 2
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
Giovanni enters in a good mood, musing that he thought his and Annabella’s love would die when she married, but that he enjoys having her just as much as when she was a virgin.
Unlike Annabella, Giovanni has clearly remained unrepentant for his sins, and even confirms that they have continued their sins following Annabella’s marriage as he continues to lust after her.
Themes
The Friar enters, bearing Annabella’s letter. Giovanni reads it and turns cold. The letter is written in Annabella’s blood, and she writes to him that they have been discovered. Giovanni turns to the Friar, believing it is he who has revealed them.
Annabella’s letter demonstrates the true nature of her repentance, as she turns to violence against herself in order to tell Giovanni that they have been discovered and should discontinue their affair.
Themes
Vasquez enters and invites Giovanni to Soranzo’s birthday feast, telling him that Florio will also attend. Giovanni agrees to come. Vasquez questions him several times, but each time Giovanni assures him that he will be in attendance. Vasquez is satisfied with this response and leaves.
Giovanni’s affirmation that he will attend the party rather than immediately striking out against Soranzo demonstrates a level of restraint that the audience rarely sees from Giovanni, but he quickly reveals that he has his own plans for vengeance.
Themes
The Friar asks Giovanni if he actually intends to go. Giovanni is resolute, telling the Friar that he will go, and resolves to strike against Soranzo as Soranzo is surely plotting against him. The Friar says that he has no wish to take part in what is about to come, and exits to return to Bologna.
Giovanni sets his sights on revenge, and the Friar will have no part of it. Even as he exits, he remains the moral center of the play, and he leaves Parma unscathed as a direct result of his religious piety. His exit thus also marks a final departure of Christian values from the characters themselves.
Themes
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Giovanni, once again alone, begins to formulate a plot. He asks for the courage to have a glorious death. He compares himself to an oak tree that, when falling, can crush several bushes so that they perish with him.
Giovanni becomes the final character to turn to revenge, following Hippolita, Grimaldi, and Soranzo in their pattern of feeling lust that descends into bloodlust. The final two scenes of the play trace the path from sin to inevitable destruction.
Themes
