The Jew of Malta
Barabas is a monster. That's the point. In this ferocious Elizabethan revenge tragedy, Christopher Marlowe gives us a Jewish merchant whose wealth makes him a target: the Governor of Malta seizes everything he has to pay tribute to the Turks. What follows is a meticulously plotted cascade of betrayal, murder, and political manipulation that would make Machiavelli blush. Barabas engineers the poisoning of nuns, arranges the execution of his own daughter, and plays Christian and Turk against each other with gleeful abandon. Yet the play refuses to let its audience off easy. Marlowe uses Barabas's villainy to expose the hypocrisy of Christian authorities who preach mercy while committing the same atrocities they accuse him of. It's both tragedy and black comedy, a savage satirical piece that skewers religious piety and racial prejudice while delivering rollicking theatrical entertainment. The character of Barabas became the prototype for Shakespeare's Shylock, but this play stands on its own as a disturbing, darkly funny examination of persecution, revenge, and the thin line between victim and villain.
Editions
X-Ray
“I count religion but a childish toyAnd hold there is no sin but ignorance.””
— Christopher Marlowe
“BARABAS: For religionHides many mischiefs from suspicion.””
— Christopher Marlowe
“BARABAS: Why, I esteem the injury far less,To take the lives of miserable menThan be the causers of their misery.””
— Christopher Marlowe
“Infinite riches in a little room””
— Christopher Marlowe
“BARABAS: As for myself, I walk abroad a-nights,And kill sick people groaning under walls.Sometimes I go about and poison wells;And now and then, to cherish Christian thieves,I am content to lose some of my crowns,That I may, walking in my gallery,See 'em go pinion'd along by my door.Being young, I studied physic, and beganTo practice first upon the Italian;There I enrich'd the priests with burials,And always kept the sexton's arms in ureWith digging graves and ringing dead men's knells.And, after that, was I an engineer,And in the wars 'twixt France and Germany,Under pretence of helping Charles the Fifth,Slew friend and enemy with my stratagems:Then, after that, was I an usurer,And with extorting, cozening, forfeiting,And tricks belonging unto brokery,I fill'd the gaols with bankrupts in a year,And with young orphans planted hospitals;And every moon made some or other mad,And now and then one hang himself for grief,Pinning upon his breast a long great scrollHow I with interest tormented him.But mark how I am blest for plaguing them:I have as much coin as will buy the town.””
— Christopher Marlowe
“I count religion but a childish toy, And hold there is no sin but ignorance.””
— Christopher Marlowe
“BARABAS: Things past recoveryAre hardly cur'd with exclamations.Be silent, daughter; sufferance breeds ease,And time may yield us an occasion,Which on the sudden cannot serve the turn.””
— Christopher Marlowe
“BARABAS: A reaching thought will search his deepest wits,And cast with cunning for the time to come;For evils are apt to happen every day.””
— Christopher Marlowe
“For whilst I live, here lives my soul's sole hope,And when I die, here shall my spirit walk.””
— Christopher Marlowe
Link to this book
Add a free, dofollow link to Lex on your blog, forum, syllabus, or reading list.
<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/the-jew-of-malta-65f2c536-793f-4314-8145-6170f75c0bca"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/the-jew-of-malta-65f2c536-793f-4314-8145-6170f75c0bca)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/the-jew-of-malta-65f2c536-793f-4314-8145-6170f75c0bca][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/the-jew-of-malta-65f2c536-793f-4314-8145-6170f75c0bcaCite this book
Reading this edition for a paper or guide? Copy a citation.
Marlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-jew-of-malta-65f2c536-793f-4314-8145-6170f75c0bca.Marlowe, C. (n.d.). The Jew of Malta. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-jew-of-malta-65f2c536-793f-4314-8145-6170f75c0bcaMarlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-jew-of-malta-65f2c536-793f-4314-8145-6170f75c0bca.
