'Tis Pity She’s a Whore was written by John Ford in the early 17th century and was published in 1633. The play is set in the streets and homes of an Italian city, Parma, and it is contemporary to the time in which it was written. Ford crafted this drama in early modern England, specifically during the Caroline Era, named for the reign of King Charles 1 (1625–1649). This period (along with the preceding Jacobean era) was rife with political, religious, and social discord that often resulted in conflict between the king (and his Royalist Party) and his Parliamentarian opposition.
Some developing issues relevant to Ford’s contemporary society included the rapidly shifting economic and social divides that resulted from increasing colonial activity, and shifting expectations for women in the domestic sphere. Religious doctrine was a particularly fraught subject, as the Anglican Church of England was still a relatively new invention and therefore actively being shaped by the king and his government (to some Scottish resistance). Ford’s choice to set the conflict of his play abroad in a Catholic-led location rather than at home in England reflects the religious contentions and prejudices of his time. By negatively portraying Catholicism rather than exacerbating the conflict between varying factions of Protestantism, Ford provides his audience with room to fully immerse themselves in the fictional depravity and tragedy of the plot.
