“Though capable of admirable and positive emotions, human relationships readily collapse under pressure into discord and tension.” Discuss issues of positive and negative in human relationships.
The collapsing of various relationships and the formation of them respectively, stand as prevalent issues in both Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost book IX’ (1667/74) and John Ford’s play ‘‘Tis Pity she’s a Whore’ (1629). In the latter, Ford, in particular, draws focused attention to the different relationships, both positive and negative. The positive; (Friar & Giovanni, Putana & Annabella, and at one point, Giovanni & Annabella) all show the potential to have compassion and be at one in harmony, exhibiting positive traits in humanity. However, Ford’s Carolean play encapsulates the twisted fates of relationships that turn for the worst. Giovanni and Annabella’s relationship is seemingly distorted by tension and pressure of being both discovered and therefore ‘judged,’ for their ‘lust.’ Serving, as Geoffrey Sensabaugh puts it; “tragic figures,” Annabella and Giovanni cause each other to lose their wits, resulting in their death. Milton similarly makes no qualms about expressing his pessimistic view of the relationships that disintegrate within mankind through Adam and Eve, who engage in what he calls a ‘vain contest of mutual accusation.’ By paralleling Adam and Eve to the extra-terrestrial characters such as God and Satan, Milton is able to fabricate the themes such as tension and trust that are of such high importance within relationships. Whilst Ford’s play illustrates more varieties of relationships being put under pressure (agape, friendship, marital etc), Milton follows Ford’s ability to capture the sense that relationships of any sort can easily collapse, be it a romantic or platonic relationship.
In ‘‘Tis Pity,’ Ford highlights the intensity of Giovanni and Annabella’s relationship from the outset through hyperbolic language and personification through Giovanni; ‘It...