Love's Sacrifice
Encyclopedia
Love's Sacrifice is a Caroline era stage play, a tragedy
written by John Ford
, and first published in 1633
. It is one of Ford's three surviving solo tragedies, the others being The Broken Heart
and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
.
as the most likely year. A mention of "woman antics" in Act III may refer to the performance of Walter Montague's masque
The Shepherd's Paradise
by Queen Henrietta Maria
and her ladies in waiting in January 1633. (The production of that masque was innovative in that the aristocratic women in the cast performed spoken parts, rather than merely appearing in or dancing in the masque, which had been common for two generations.)
was published by the bookseller Hugh Beeston. Ford dedicated the play to his cousin John Ford of Gray's Inn
, "my truest friend, my worthiest kinsman." This second John Ford had been one of the dedicatees of Ford's The Lover's Melancholy
(1629
), and wrote commendatory poems to the dramatist's works. The 1633 quarto contains prefatory poems, including one by James Shirley
. The title page of the quarto states that the play was acted by Queen Henrietta's Men
at the Cockpit Theatre
, and was "received generally well."
, Prince of Venosa
, who murdered his first wife Maria D'Avolos after catching her with her lover. Ford probably drew upon Henry Peacham
's The Compleat Gentleman as his source.
wrote that it is "disfigured by all the faults of which Ford was capable," while Ronald Huebert called it "not a great play, but...a fertile one," and "Ford's most typical play." The play is, one one view, "the most puzzling of Ford's works," and in another, "a botched mess."
, has accidentally caught sight of a beautiful young woman named Bianca, the daughter of a Milanese
gentleman, while he was hunting. Caraffa falls in love with her, and marries her. Yet the Duke's close friend Fernando also falls in love with the new duchess; she rejects him at first, but eventually acknowledges similar feelings for him. Fiormonda, the widowed sister of Caraffa, has long suffered an unrequited passion for Fernando; she perceives the attraction between Fernando and Bianca, and informs her brother. Through her sycophant, the Machiavellian villain D'Avolos, she works upon her brother's feelings of jealousy and outrage until he precipitates the final scene's violence that leaves both lovers dead ("lovers," though the affair between Fernando and Bianca is in fact never consummated physically). Caraffa joins them by taking his own life.
Love's Sacrifice, like most of Ford's plays, employs a three-level plot structure. The secondary plot yields a serio-comic treatment of the romances of Ferentes, a profligate courtier. The comic third-level subplot concerns the character Mauruccio, and provides a mirror-image portrayal of love as sham and pretense.
Critics have seen an obvious influence from Shakespeare's
Othello
in Ford's play. D'Avolos is a version of Iago; Bianca champions the cause of a courtier named Roselli, as Desdemona champions Cassio.
----
The poet Richard Crashaw
refers to two of Ford's plays in a couplet in his Delights of the Muses (1646
):
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
written by John Ford
John Ford (dramatist)
John Ford was an English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet born in Ilsington in Devon in 1586.-Life and work:...
, and first published in 1633
1633 in literature
The year 1633 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*On May 21, Ben Jonson's masque The King's Entertainment at Welbeck is performed....
. It is one of Ford's three surviving solo tragedies, the others being The Broken Heart
The Broken Heart
The Broken Heart is a Caroline era tragedy written by John Ford, and first published in 1633."The play has long vied with Tis Pity She's a Whore as Ford's greatest work...the supreme reach of his genius...."...
and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
'Tis Pity She's a Whore is a tragedy written by John Ford. It was likely first performed between 1629 and 1633, by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. The play was first published in 1633, in a quarto printed by Nicholas Okes for the bookseller Richard Collins...
.
Date
The date of the play's authorship and first performance is uncertain, though some scholars cite 16331633 in literature
The year 1633 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*On May 21, Ben Jonson's masque The King's Entertainment at Welbeck is performed....
as the most likely year. A mention of "woman antics" in Act III may refer to the performance of Walter Montague's masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
The Shepherd's Paradise
The Shepherd's Paradise
The Shepherd's Paradise was a Caroline era masque, written by Walter Montagu and designed by Inigo Jones. Acted in 1633 by Queen Henrietta Maria and her ladies in waiting, it was noteworthy as the first masque in which the Queen and her ladies filled speaking roles...
by Queen Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria of France
Henrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I...
and her ladies in waiting in January 1633. (The production of that masque was innovative in that the aristocratic women in the cast performed spoken parts, rather than merely appearing in or dancing in the masque, which had been common for two generations.)
Publication
The 1633 quartoBook size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
was published by the bookseller Hugh Beeston. Ford dedicated the play to his cousin John Ford of Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, "my truest friend, my worthiest kinsman." This second John Ford had been one of the dedicatees of Ford's The Lover's Melancholy
The Lover's Melancholy
The Lover's Melancholy is an early Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Ford. While the dating of the works in Ford's canon is very uncertain, this play has sometimes been regarded as "Ford's first unaided drama," an anticipation of what would follow through the remainder of his...
(1629
1629 in literature
The year 1629 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*April 6 - Tommaso Campanella is released from custody in Rome, and gains the confidence of Pope Urban IV....
), and wrote commendatory poems to the dramatist's works. The 1633 quarto contains prefatory poems, including one by James Shirley
James Shirley
James Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...
. The title page of the quarto states that the play was acted by Queen Henrietta's Men
Queen Henrietta's Men
Queen Henrietta's Men was an important playing company or troupe of actors in Caroline era London. At their peak of popularity, Queen Henrietta's Men were the second leading troupe of the day, after only the King's Men.-Beginnings:...
at the Cockpit Theatre
Cockpit Theatre
The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was christened The Phoenix....
, and was "received generally well."
Source
Ford largely based the main plot of the play on the life of Carlo GesualdoCarlo Gesualdo
Carlo Gesualdo, known as Gesualdo di Venosa or Gesualdo da Venosa , Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, was an Italian nobleman, lutenist, composer, and murderer....
, Prince of Venosa
Venosa
Venosa is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervasio, Rapolla and Spinazzola....
, who murdered his first wife Maria D'Avolos after catching her with her lover. Ford probably drew upon Henry Peacham
Henry Peacham
Henry Peacham is the name shared by two English Renaissance writers who were father and son.The elder Henry Peacham was an English curate, best known for his treatise on rhetoric titled The Garden of Eloquence first published in 1577....
's The Compleat Gentleman as his source.
Critical responses
Critics have varied in their reactions to the play. T. S. EliotT. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
wrote that it is "disfigured by all the faults of which Ford was capable," while Ronald Huebert called it "not a great play, but...a fertile one," and "Ford's most typical play." The play is, one one view, "the most puzzling of Ford's works," and in another, "a botched mess."
Synopsis
Phillippo Caraffa, Duke of PaviaPavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
, has accidentally caught sight of a beautiful young woman named Bianca, the daughter of a Milanese
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
gentleman, while he was hunting. Caraffa falls in love with her, and marries her. Yet the Duke's close friend Fernando also falls in love with the new duchess; she rejects him at first, but eventually acknowledges similar feelings for him. Fiormonda, the widowed sister of Caraffa, has long suffered an unrequited passion for Fernando; she perceives the attraction between Fernando and Bianca, and informs her brother. Through her sycophant, the Machiavellian villain D'Avolos, she works upon her brother's feelings of jealousy and outrage until he precipitates the final scene's violence that leaves both lovers dead ("lovers," though the affair between Fernando and Bianca is in fact never consummated physically). Caraffa joins them by taking his own life.
Love's Sacrifice, like most of Ford's plays, employs a three-level plot structure. The secondary plot yields a serio-comic treatment of the romances of Ferentes, a profligate courtier. The comic third-level subplot concerns the character Mauruccio, and provides a mirror-image portrayal of love as sham and pretense.
Critics have seen an obvious influence from Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
in Ford's play. D'Avolos is a version of Iago; Bianca champions the cause of a courtier named Roselli, as Desdemona champions Cassio.
----
The poet Richard Crashaw
Richard Crashaw
Richard Crashaw , English poet, styled "the divine," was part of the Seventeenth-century Metaphysical School of poets.-Life:...
refers to two of Ford's plays in a couplet in his Delights of the Muses (1646
1646 in literature
The year 1646 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*March 24 - The King's Men petition Parliament for three and a half years' back pay; this is despite the London theatres officially remaining closed through the middle 1640s...
):
-
- Thou cheat'st us, Ford: mak'st one seem two by art:
- What is Love's Sacrifice but the Broken Heart?