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New directions: The deconstructing 'Tis Pity?: Derrida, Barthes and Ford

Abstract
At the famous climax of `Tis Pity, Giovanni enters the last scene of the play and, as he knows, his life, `with a heart upon his dagger', with which he-hearted implement he stabs his enemy and brother-in-law Soranzo, before himself being fatally stabbed in the ensuing melée. The heart, it seems, is Annahella's, removed from her after Giovanni's loving, surgical sacrifice of his pregnant sister/wife in the scene before. The `seems' here is crucial, for at first this is not clear, neither to the onstage audience, waiting for Giovanni to arrive at the banquet, nor to an audience watching the play or those reading it. The eloquent Giovanni exults in providing the explanation to both groups.
Type
Chapter in Book
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Houlahan, M. (2010). New directions: The deconstructing 'Tis Pity?: Derrida, Barthes and Ford. In L. Hopkins (Ed), 'Tis Pity She’s A Whore: A Critical Guide (pp. 136-151). London, UK: Continuum.
Date
2010
Publisher
Continuum
Degree
Supervisors
Rights
This chapter has been published in the book: 'Tis Pity She’s A Whore: A Critical Guide. © 2010 Lisa Hopkins and contributors. By kind permission of Continuum International Publishing Group.