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.