New directions: The deconstructing 'Tis Pity?: Derrida, Barthes and Ford
Citation
Export citationHoulahan, 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.
Permanent Research Commons link: https://hdl.handle.net/10289/4414
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.
Date
2010Type
Publisher
Continuum
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.