Analysis of Relations and Characters in ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore from the perspective of Turning—taking System

Abstract： Turn-taking， as an important part of conversational analysis， is a new method to study drama stylistic. Based upon previous theoretical framework， this paper examines an excerpt from ‘Tis a Pity Shes a Whore， in order to reveal the power relations and characters and hence predicting the plot development by way of quantitative analysis.

Keywords： Tis Pity Shes a Whore，；turn-taking； relations； characters

1. Introduction：

With its subject and main plot centred on sibling incest， John Fords Tis Pity Shes a Whore， had long been one of the most controversial plays in renaissance period. It was after 20th century did scholars and critics reconsider this play and show great interest in the complexity and weirdness of humanity.The play is set in the aristocratic family of Parma city， Italy， where the siblings Annabella and Giovanni fall in love with each other and they discard secular ethics and christian beliefs to get together. Supplemented by the love and hatred of several minor figures， the play is filled with bloody revenge and ended in

tragedy.

2. Text Analysis

In light of turn-taking system， this paper examines the conversation between Annabella and Giovanni in Act I， scene II. In this conversation， Giovanni makes love confession to Annabella. This conversation is selected for the following reasons：（1）It is the trigger of the tragic end； （2）It reveals the power relations and characters of the two protagonists； （3）It reflects the impact from the social-cultural environment and family on Annabella， that is， to admire and take direction from her male kin. This conversation composes of fifty turns and four subtopics. The table below shows the analysis result.

From the table we can see clearly that in the first subtopic， Annabella initiates the topic and controls it， but when Putana leaves them alone， Giovanni gets the control and uses some strategies to keep it. Though failing to get the response from Giovanni， Annabella no longer continues to initiate but follow Giovannis thoughts. Moreover， Giovannis turn length is obviously much longer than that of Annabellas. The results manifest that， Giovanni， as the brother and the male kin in family， is in a position of power， and Annabella has been used to this condition without much struggling， for she has been taught to admire and respect her male kin.

As for the second topic， Giovanni completely controls the topic， while Annabella falls to the most passive status. Giovanni keeps initiating and uses monologues to control the topic. The long turns used by Giovanni to admire Annabella shows that he is a man of great knowledge and elegance. In contrast， Annabella just uses very short turns to echo her brother. Due to the family background and social convention， Annabella has had little acquaintance with men outside her family and thus has a strong desire to be admired and accepted. （Guo， 22）.When confronted with such intense love confession from a nearly perfect man， Annabella is passive to respond and totally obsessed in Giovanni love.

In the last topic， Giovanni still controls the topic， and Annabella gradually get little control of the topic. Both of them use strategies to get the topic-control. Giovanni employs more strategies to control the topic and keeps it going on. Annabella is so susceptible to Giovannis love and greatly moved by his confession， therefore， she begins to initiate to make sure of Giovannis love.

From the analysis above， we can observe clearly the power relations between Giovanni and Annabella and their characters. Giovanni has a strong desire to control others and he does succeed in controlling his compliant sister in the whole conversation and achieve his purpose at last. Annabella is compliant and susceptible to her brother， for she hardly struggles when her voices are ignored， instead， she echos Giovannis idea and firmly trusts his vows. Though they are determined to be together， manipulation and inequality exist in their relation has never been changed. Taking the context into consideration， we can boldly predict the plot development and Annabellas tragic end： 1）Annabella would succumb to the directions of her father or other authorities under any circumstances； 2） Giovanni would take Annabellas love and compliance for granted and hardly cares about her feelings； 3）Giovanni would go extremes and the two lovers would have a tragic end.

3. Conclusion

In conclusion， in light of turn-taking system， dramatic conversations can be analyzed and interpreted effectively and objectively. Meanwhile， power relation is revealed and characters are reflected by way of quantitative analysis. Based on previous studies， this paper verifies the feasibility of turn-taking model in analyzing dramatic conversation， and suggests a possible way to study the play Tis Pity Shes a Whore.

References：

[1] 郭曉金. 《可惜她是个娼妓》中人物性格的霍妮式解读.云南大学，2016.

[2] 李华东，俞东明.戏剧文体学的话轮转换量化分析方法.四川外语学院学报3（2001）：46-49.Print

作者简介：董青青（1994—），女，汉族，云南昆明人，文学硕士，单位：云南大学外国语学院英语语言文学专业2017级研究生，研究方向：英语语言文学