Jew of Malta

Characters

So we are on Malta which is an island in the middle of “the Mediterranean

Sea.” First of all, we’ll talk about Barabas. He is the protagonist who’s marked as
an outsider within his society because he is Jewish and because of his immoral
crafty. He is a Jewish merchant who takes care of his daughter Abigail. Barabas
vows and is enraged in revenge. He is honest about what motivates his murders
and crimes. His intelligent plots lead caused many characters to die, including his
daughter Abigail and the governor's son. Additionally, many of his murders are
driven by hate.

The second character is Abigail who’s the daughter of Barabbas. Her lover is
called Mathias. She discovers that her father is involved in the deaths of Lodewick
and Mathias. Katherine is the mother of Mathias who is identified as the person of
prejudice. Therefore, she converted to Christianity in order to whitewash her sins.
She converted to Christianity through the priest Friar Jacomo, who personifies
hypocrisy in the play. Lodowick also loves Abigail and is misled by her father into
attempting that he will marry her, yet leading to the duel between him and
Lodowick. Her speech within the play could be marked as a moral climax.
Abigail's rejection of her heritage so as to join a hypocritical Christian clergy is
unconvincing. Marlowe intended this action to be ironic which reinforces the play's
ambiguity.

Ithamore is the slave of Barabbas, who vows to make him the inheritor because his
daughter- Abigail converted to Christianity. Ithamore is a cutthroat and thief. The
slave fails his test of loyalty when he confesses to the governor about Barabas's
crimes. On the other hand, Ferneze is the governor of Malta and the enemy of
Barabas. He has a role in bribing Calymath and undermining Barabas and shows
how he uses immoral tactics to his own benefit. Machevill is presented as a kind of
drama filled up with intrigue, irreligion, and duplicity. He’s also shown as a classic
unethical character. Pilia-Borza is crude but not easily deceived. Ironically, he is
poisoned by Barabas before she discovers his role in the death of her son.