Parallel Plots and Ironic Contradictions

1. "The Changeling" shifts back and forth between two plots, one comic and one tragic. Essentially, Beatrice and Isabella are parallel characters, each having two suitors, a lecherous servant pursuing her, and an authority figure. To what effect does the playwright operate within these parallel spheres? What causes one plot to end tragically and the other comically? Given such a direct parallel, what comment can we as readers make on the difference between comedy and tragedy?
2. In Act 2 Scene 1 of ‘"Tis Pity She’s A Whore," Giovanni voices to Annabella the following observation: “I marvel why the chaster of your sex / Should think this pretty toy called maidenhead / So strange a loss, when, being lost, ‘tis nothing, / And you are still the same” (2.1.9-12). The idea that a woman retains her identity and her worth even after the loss of her virginity seems progressive for a time when a woman’s sexual status was of such extreme importance. The following events of the play, however, demonstrate that while Annabella may be the same person, she still will be punished and destroyed for her lack of chastity. She is in fact punished more for her lack of chastity than for her incest (Soranzo and Vasquez are abusive and plotting revenge before they ever even find out the identity of the father.) How does this ironic contradiction work in relation to the play as a whole? How are the fates of each character determined by his/her relationship to sex?