John Ford
John Ford was an English playwright and poet, likely born around 1586, who emerged as a significant figure in the early 17th-century theatrical landscape. He attended Exeter College, Oxford, and entered the Middle Temple, although he did not practice law. Ford's literary career began with an elegy titled "Fame's Memorial," mourning the Earl of Devonshire and honoring his widow, Penelope Devereux. Among his works, several plays remain notable, including "’Tis Pity She’s a Whore," "The Broken Heart," and "Perkin Warbeck," which helped establish his reputation. The first play is often highlighted for its provocative themes, while the second draws connections to Sir Philip Sidney’s works. Unfortunately, many of Ford's early plays are lost, some destroyed inadvertently by a cook, leading to a scarcity of his complete oeuvre. After 1639, Ford's presence in historical records fades, leaving a limited but impactful legacy in English drama.
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John Ford
Poet
- Born: April 17, 1586 (baptized)
- Birthplace: Near Ilsington, England
- Died: After 1639
- Place of death: Unknown
English playwright
Biography
John Ford probably entered Exeter College, Oxford, in 1601; he entered the Middle Temple in 1602, but there is no evidence that he ever practiced law. His earliest known literary composition is Fame’s Memorial: Or, The Earl of Devonshire Deceased, an elegy on the death of the earl of Devonshire that contains a tribute to that nobleman’s widow, Penelope Devereux, the supposed Stella of Sir Philip Sidney’s sonnets.
At least four of Ford’s plays, perhaps including his earliest, are lost. Four are included in the list of plays destroyed by John Warburton’s cook, Betsy Baker, whose unfortunate fame results from her having destroyed a large number of play manuscripts, some unique, by using them as “pie-bottoms” or as fire-starters.
The first two of Ford’s surviving plays were written in collaboration with Thomas Dekker. Of the seven surviving plays by Ford alone, three established his reputation: ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Broken Heart, and Perkin Warbeck. Because of its sensationalism and moral horror, the first of these has frequently been cited as an example of the “decadence” of Stuart drama. The second is interesting for its connections with Sidney’s Arcadia and its use of the theme of Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella for its tragic plot. The third is a worthy, if slightly anemic, descendant of William Shakespeare’s history plays. After 1639 all reference to Ford disappears from the records.
Bibliography
Anderson, Donald K., Jr. John Ford. New York: Twayne, 1972. A general biography and handbook.
Anderson, Donald K., Jr., ed. “Concord in Discord”: The Plays of John Ford, 1586-1986. New York: AMS Press, 1986. Rich in insights into Ford’s dramaturgy and imagery, this well-written study provides a sensitive, balanced understanding of all Ford’s plays and poems.
Champion, Larry. Tragic Patterns in Jacobean and Caroline Drama. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1977. This excellent book on the changing societal values of later Renaissance drama discusses plays by William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Cyril Tourneur, John Webster, Thomas Middleton, and Ford. Readers interested in Ford’s place among his literary peers and in the ways the dramas of the age “effectively capture the spiritual uncertainties of an increasingly analytical age” should consult Champion’s book.
Clark, Ira. Professional Playwrights: Massinger, Ford, Shirley and Brome. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992. Examines Ford in comparison to his peers.
Clerico, Terri. “The Politics of Blood: John Ford’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore.” English Literary Renaissance 22 (1992). Ford’s most famous play is examined.
Dyer, William D. “Holding/Withholding Environments: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Ford’s The Broken Heart.” English Literary Renaissance 21 (1991). A specialized interpretation of an important play.
Farr, Dorothy. John Ford and the Caroline Theatre. London: Macmillan, 1979. Farr studies Ford’s plays and their suitability for the specific theaters where they were first staged, but such a narrow-sounding topic should not deter the general reader. Farr writes effectively about many aspects of Ford’s art.
Foster, Vera. “Ford’s Experiments in Tragicomedy: Shakespearean and Fletcherian Dramaturgies.” In Renaissance Tragicomedy: Explorations in Genre and Politics, edited by Nancy Klein Maguire. New York: AMS Press, 1987. A comparative approach to Ford’s dramatic structure.
Neill, Michael, ed. John Ford: Critical Re-Visions. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Eleven essays cover topics such as stage history, imagery, use of melodrama, the question of decadence, metatheater in Love’s Sacrifice, and gender in Perkin Warbeck.
Sanders, Julie. Caroline Drama: The Plays of Massinger, Ford, Shirley, and Brome. Plymouth, England: Northcote House, in association with the British Council, 1999. Sanders examines the works of Caroline Age dramatists Philip Massinger, James Shirley, Richard Brome, and Ford. Includes bibliography and index.
Sensabaugh, George F. The Tragic Muse of John Ford. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1944. This famous study presents Ford as a modernist in temperament, someone who celebrates “scientific determinism” and “unbridled individualism.”