Passion, Lust, and Bloodlust Theme Analysis

The characters of ’Tis Pity are plagued with excesses of passion—both sexual lust and violent bloodlust—that overcome their rational judgment. As the play shows, both of these sorts of passion can easily overwhelm even the most seemingly noble characters and compel them to act in ways that deviate starkly from societal expectations, including incest and murder. Not only do these passions lead the characters to sin, they also lead them to their own destruction.

The play’s central couple, Annabella and Giovanni, most clearly demonstrate the pitfalls of passion, as the brother and sister are drawn into an illicit and incestuous affair against their better judgment and the advice of others. Ford emphasizes the changes passion brings out in Giovanni in particular. Giovanni starts the play as a promising student and noble gentlemen to whom the Friar is devoted. In keeping with his good character, Giovanni initially seeks the Friar’s counsel in an attempt to escape from the incestuous passion he feels for his sister. But he is unsuccessful in his struggle, and by the end of the play he has become murderous and mad with lust. Meanwhile, Annabella is inflamed with an equally strong desire for Giovanni. She is at first struck with a pity for his heartbreak that quickly becomes a deep and abiding love for him. Despite repenting for her sinful lust for her brother in the final act of the play, she still allows Giovanni to kiss her in her marriage bed, which is what allows Giovanni to kill her mid-embrace.

Annabella’s husband Soranzo embodies another excessive passion: rage. Like Giovanni, Soranzo is highly regarded by respected characters in the play, such as Annabella’s father Florio. However, when Soranzo discovers that Annabella is pregnant by Giovanni, he is consumed with rage against her and her lover. His pursuit of revenge leads to the climactic fight with Giovanni that results in Soranzo’s death. Soranzo’s desire for blood is fulfilled when Giovanni kills Annabella and the Banditti ambush Giovanni, but his rage becomes self-destructive when his plan leads Giovanni to wound Soranzo himself.

The supporting character Hippolyta further demonstrates how excessive passion can lead to rage and senseless violence. Before the play begins, Soranzo tempts Hippolyta to betray her marriage vows. Like Annabella, she pities Soranzo’s longing for her and gives in to his pleas, beginning a sexual relationship with him. Her sympathy becomes romantic love—but even these more positive emotions turn into bloodlust when Soranzo’s attention turns to wooing Annabella. Hippolyta’s pursuit of revenge leads to her death when Vasquez tricks her into drinking the poison she had intended for Soranzo. In choosing revenge over repentance, Hippolyta turns her excess of love into rage and accidentally brings about her own death. Vasquez, by contrast, is the play’s most even-tempered character. Although no more moral than the other characters, his self-control and foresight make him different from the more passionate characters in the play, so his survival at the end of the play serves to further underscore the dangers of excessive passion. Although Hippolyta believes she can use her sensuality and riches to lure Vasquez to her side and make him betray his master Soranzo, Vasquez betrays Hippolyta instead. Vasqeuz’s emotional detachment enables him to resist Hippolyta, which in turn allows him to act in the way that ultimately enables him—unlike Soranzo, Hippolyta, Giovanni, and Annabella—to survive the play.

The play condemns unbridled passion as the downfall of noble people, as the play’s morally good characters are powerless against lust, whose all-consuming power corrupts and destroys them. This might suggest that even-tempered moderacy is the only way to thrive (or even survive) in the world, but it is only the play’s less moral characters (like Vasquez) who escape unharmed. This suggests an even more cynical outlook: perhaps only those who are immoral have the emotional distance to escape the destructive force of passion, leaving only the least human characters of all in control of the world.