To the truly noble, John, Earl of Peterborough,
Lord Mordaunt, Baron of Turvey.
My Lord, |
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Where a truth of merit hath a general warrant, there love is but a |
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debt, acknowledgment a justice. Greatness cannot often claim virtue |
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by inheritance; yet in this yours appears most eminent, for that you |
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are not more rightly heir to your fortunes, than glory shall be to your |
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memory. Sweetness of disposition ennobles a freedom of birth; in |
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both, your lawful interest adds honour to your own name, and mercy |
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to my presumption. Your noble allowance of these first fruits of my |
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leisure in the action, emboldens my confidence of your as noble construction |
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in this presentment; especially since my service must ever |
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owe particular duty to your favours, by a particular engagement. The |
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gravity of the subject may easily excuse the lightness of the tide; otherwise |
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I had been a severe judge against mine own guilt. Princes have |
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vouchsafed grace to trifles, offered from a purity of devotion; your |
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lordship may likewise please to admit into your good opinion, with |
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these weak endeavours, the constancy of affection from the sincere |
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lover of your deserts in honour, |
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JOHN FORD. |
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The Persons of the Play ed. (Q’s list of ‘The Actors’ Names’ appears in the Appendix.) For details of the names’ direct literary sources, see the Introduction, p.5.
ANNABELLA The dialogue indicates that her hair is blonde (II.v.52–3), which was considered exceptionally beautiful in the period.
GIOVANNI The name is pronounced with four syllables (rather than three as in modern Italian).
PUTANA From the sixteenth-century Italian word puttana, defined in World as ‘a whore, a harlot, a strumpet, a quean’.
FRIAR BONAVENTURA Named after the philosopher and theologian, St Bonaventure (1221–74); he became head of the Franciscan order in 1257, in succession to John of Parma (c. 1209–57), and became a Cardinal in 1273. If the character is portrayed as a Franciscan like his namesake (and like most other friars in English Renaissance drama), then his habit will be grey; the other possibilities are black (Dominican) or white (Carmelite).
VASQUES His name ‘indicates that he is the only Spaniard’ (Lomax).
GRIMALDI Perhaps the name draws associations from the Italian word grimaldelli, defined in World as ‘a kind of darting weapon’.
DONADO The dialogue indicates that he is bearded (II.iv.22).
POGGIO Named after the Florentine scholar and historian, Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459), who was the subject of a sardonic epigram (1.20) by Jacopo Sannazaro.
HIPPOLITA Named after two characters in classical mythology: Hippolyta the Amazon queen conquered by Theseus, and Hippolyte, the lustful Queen of Iolcus who fell in love with Peleus and, when he refused to enter an adulterous relationship with her, avenged herself by accusing him of trying to seduce her.
PHILOTIS From the Greek word philotes (= love, affection). Ford had made extensive use of significant Greek names in The Broken Heart, probably written soon before ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore.
Parma A city in Lombardy, about 220 miles north of Rome. It had been an independent state since 1545 (see note to I.ii.77), and in Ford’s time was known as a flourishing mercantile centre; compare The Fatal Marriage (1620s), 972–3: ‘a richer treasure …/ Than Parma’s custom comes to by the year’.