This image is from 1779, which is later than the Renaissance England period ; however, it depicts the filthy body of a whore. She has holes in her stockings and her living quarters are very messy revealing the untidy and unkempt lifestyle of a whore. The cat in the window-sill looks particularly devilish, a common perception of prostitutes during the Renaissance. [33]

Whores were considered to be of such base status that they were easily compared to animals. The portrayal of these women as animalistic suggested an impulsivity and primitive behaviors similar to nature’s beasts. In Thomas Dekker’s The Honest Whore, Hippolyto, a gentleman, shames Bellafront, the Honest Whore, when he tells her, “Oh, you’re as base as any beast that bears…” [9]. At this point in the play, Hippolyto knows very little about Bellafront besides her profession as a whore. Nevertheless, he is inclined to judge her as the basest living thing due to her wicked occupation. Hippolyto’s immediate degradation of Bellafront is characteristic of the common perceptions of whores during the 17th century in England. Women who sold their bodies for money were not only representative figures in the underworld, but they also epitomized the filth and dirt of the city of London [15]. Due to their sexual liberty, whores were commonly infected with pox, or syphilis, a venereal disease contracted sexually and spread across Europe during the sixteenth century [15].

Such a shameful reputation contributed to the low-quality life a whore led during Renaissance England. In a conversation between Hippolyto and Bellafront in Dekker’s The Honest Whore, Hippolyto presumed “Methinks a toad is happier than a whore…You are the miserablest creatures breathing…” [9]. He imagines that the life of a whore is wretched because of the consequences of their sinful actions. They are not only disrespected, but these women are also bearing the physical and psychological burdens of their slavish profession. In London the Wicked City, A thousand years of Vice in the Capital, Fergus Linnane depicts the brutal life of a whore during early modern England. She explains the whores that worked in brothels “couldn't refuse a customer, however obnoxious, drunk or violent he might be, and whatever disgusting demands he might make....they were worn down by the long, irregular hours, the ‘need to be constantly obliging’, the constant drinking, the psychological strain and venereal diseases” [20]. On top of all these strains, the whoremasters would try to cheat the whores of their money, and these women spent a great deal of energy only to be deceived and further exploited by men. [20]. These women were held in very low regard; thus, they were equated to animals.

In order to defend themselves and to maintain any sense of worth, the whore was shielded herself through wit and bawdy behavior. Consequently, prostitutes were distrustful and intimidating for men; therefore, they were often referred to as animals, ranging from being identified as a horse, a cat, mutton, birds, and countless other creatures [15]. “Horse” was a common pun pronounced as “whore” or “whores”. Also, because a horse is an animal used for riding, the use of the word “horse” represented a man mounting his whore to “ride” or have sex with her [15]. Being a mysterious feline, the “cat” depicted the devious nature of the whore. In a dialogue between a suburb bawd, a courtesan and a pimp in 1650, Scolopendra, the courtesan pitied the whores who were persecuted through the increased suppression of prostitution in 1650. The courtesan, referring to whores as “cats” bellows, “Alas, poor women, who are suspended from that priviledge the very Cats enjoy, who play and sport with their Tails, and yet fear no censure for so doing”[10]. “Mutton” and various birds, including the “hen”, the “partridge”, and the “dove” have been used in literature to signify a whore as well.

The Unsound Body

The Disruption of the Household

Chastising 'Bad Women'

'Measuring' Morality

Theater as Sexual Common Ground