Submitted By: Mazhar Abbas

Roll No : ENGL62S21S036
Topic : Comparison Between jew of Malta and The Merchant
of Venice
Submitted to : Prof Qamar Hussain

Shakespeare and Marlowe were both influenced by the anti-Semitic ideas of the society they
lived in. Hence, Shylock from the Merchant of Venice and Barabas from the Jew of
Malta is portrayed as a typical Jew, which was stereotyped in the Elizabethan times. In
both plays, a victimized Jew tries to seek revenge against a Christian, but then
eventually fails on the threshold of triumph.
Shylock and Barabas are both rich Jewish men, who are representatives of the same faith.
From the start of each play, both protagonists are portrayed as men to be despised.
Churches forbade Christians from engaging in money lending because they believed that it
endangered the Christian’s soul. However, since the Christians regarded the souls of Jews
lost,
“My gold, my fortune, my felicity. Strength to my soul, death to mine enemy, welcome
the first beginner of my bliss” He refuses to acknowledge her presence making the
audience believe that he would pick his money over his daughter.
Similarly, in the Merchant Of Venice, Shylock is portrayed to be confused about which of
the two; his daughter or his money, is more important to him. When Jessica, his daughter,
runs away, steals all of his money and elopes with Lorenzo, a Christian, Shylock mostly
worries about regaining his wealth and not his daughter. “My daughter, O my ducats,
O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! Justice, the law, my
ducats! ”
Money is one of the greatest indicators of how Shylock and Barabbas have confused their
priorities, focusing on unimportant things. The audience doesn’t know whether money or
love (their own daughters) play a more significant role in their lives. Thus, the two
characters are similar because they are both driven by money and thus, portraying them
to be heartless. The audience also believes that the fact that they are both Jewish may
have something to do with their evil.
Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare wrote plays in England during a time when
Jews were banned from the country, making it unlikely that Jewish characters in their
plays would amount to more than anti-Semitic stereotypes. Both Marlowe’s Jew of Malta
and Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice are easy to read as anti-Semitic plays due to their
vengeful Jewish characters. The playwrights may, however, have been taking advantages
of their audiences’ anti-Semitism to promote their own messages. While Marlowe’s
antagonist Barabas is greedy and murderous, the play’s Christians are no different,
suggesting that Marlowe uses Barabas as a mirror to reflect Christians’ greed and
violence which they hide under the performance of religion. This commentary may,
however, be lost on audiences due to the stereotypical nature of Barabas. Shakespeare, in
his later play Merchant of Venice, parallels Marlowe’s play, but makes his Jewish
antagonist Shylock more sympathetic. Shakespeare shows how Shylock’s vengeful nature
is cultivated by the discrimination he faces in a Christian society, making Shylock not
only a mirror reflecting Christian hypocrisy, but a mirror reflecting an image imposed
onto him. This offers a better explanation of his and Barabas’ motives. Shakespeare also
represents Christians in a better light, showing them to be hypocritical at times, but
ultimately practicing what they preach, unlike in Marlowe’s play.
From the beginning, he is described in the stereotypical terms of a greedy Jew gaining money
dishonestly. However, Marlowe leaves the way the audience should view Barabas
ambiguous; Machiavel says “grace him as he deserves, / And let him not be entertained
the worse / Because he favors me” (Prologue 33-5). This could either mean that he
wishes the audience to have pity on Barabas and not judge him too harshly, or that
Barabas deserves their judgement for more than following Machiavelli’s teachings. The
rest of the play, though, makes it seem that Marlowe is suggesting the latter, as it
becomes difficult to pity Barabas even when he is wronged by Christians. After
 poisoning an entire nunnery, killing most of its inhabitants including his daughter, for
instance, he seems to deserve the painful death he gets in the end, even if he was wronged
by Christians.
Jessica and Abigail both have a variety of different similarities and differences. Both are
from wealth obsessed, single parent families that are controlling and manipulative. Their
fathers are seen as protagonists throughout both the plays and similarly are both from a
Jewish background. This makes the audience prejudge them as inferior characters with
possible sinful traits. On the other hand, both are accepted by the remaining characters in
which believe in the Christian religion.
Role of Jessica and Abigail
As well as similar backgrounds and basic character personalities they also portrait the
stereotypical Jewish actions towards situations. In Elizabethan times Jews were
discriminated and prejudged in the status focused society. They were accused for
stealing, adultery and other Christian sins. In the play, both the father-dependent
daughters commit the sin of stealing. Abigail steals from the nunnery to retrieve her
fathers’ misplaced wealth. ‘Thus father shall I much dissemble…then father here receive
thy happiness.” She describes the money as her fathers ‘happiness.’ This indicates that
her reason for completing the sin was to fulfill her fathers’ desire. This shows dramatic
purpose because it allows the audience to experience the revelation of loyalty between
herself and her father Barabas. A Shakespearean audience would interpret this scene as a
negative development of Abigail’s character. She is disrespecting the law and the
Christian religion.However, this interpretation will occur because of the betrayal of law
rather than the disrespect towards the Christian religion. Jessica also steals in Act 2 Scene
6. As well as betraying her father by eloping she additionally steals a large amount of
ducats from her fathers strongly admired money.Both Jessica and Abigail converted to
christianity.
So we can say there is a lot of similarities and differences between characters of both plays.