Title: Love’s Sacrifice.
Author: John Ford.
Written: c. 1628-1632.
Earliest Extant Edition: 1633.

Genre: Tragi-comedy.
Language Difficulty Rating: 4 (not difficult).
Setting: Pavia, Italy.

With Love’s Sacrifice, John Ford created a rollicking roller coaster of a play which swings wildly between tragedy, light comedy and farce. Rarely does a play amass such a large collection of scoundrels and immoral characters. On the other hand, Ford does an admirable job of treating the Duke’s gradual mental deterioration and eventual breakdown with somewhat more subtlety than we might expect from our ancient authors. The play also features (spoiler alert!) one of the great blood-lettings of the Elizabethan stage.

Our Story: The Duke of Pavia has fallen in love with, and married, Bianca; the duke’s close advisor, Fernando, has unfortunately also fallen in love with her. The duke’s sister is in love with Fernando. The volatile passions of the characters will not likely lead to a happy ending.

Download Love’s Sacrifice:

FAMILY TREE

On-line Reading:
Annotated Edition, pdf

White Background for Printing:
Annotated Edition, pdf

Theatre Script:
Love’s Sacrifice Script