The Selected Plays of John Ford

This selection contains the three finest plays of the Stuart dramatist John Ford. The Broken Heart is a classical tragedy of suffering; ''Tis Pity She''s a Whore Ford''s best-known play and one still frequently performed is a tragic story of limitless ambition and social rivalry expressed in sexual terms; Perkin Warbeck is the last great successor to the history plays of Shakespeare. Together they exemplify the unique tone of Ford''s drama in which passion and gravity are united by a playwright with a poetic sense of theatre. This is the only one-volume selection of Ford''s plays now available. The texts are modernised and equipped with notes explaining unfamiliar language and historical references. A general introduction gives a brief biography and bibliography; individual introductions deal with the sources and stage history of each play. Longer notes at the back of the book discuss points of staging and interpretation and there is a full textual apparatus which makes this edition useful for the scholar as well as the student.