Jew Of Malta

Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe
born in 1564 in Canterbury, England
son of a shoemaker
he gained a scholarship to Corpus Christi

College Cambridge at the age of sixteen

early interest in drama
awarded his B.A. in 1584
Elizabeth I's Privy Council secured him
with an M.A in 1587

Machiavelli

Marlowe based his prologue character, Machevill, on the

basis of a real philosopher, Machiavelli
Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy at a time when
the country was in political upheaval .
Machiavelli's greatest work is The Prince, written in 1513
and published after his death in 1532.
The work immediately provoked controversy and was
soon condemned by Pope Clement VIII.
Its main theme is that princes should retain absolute
control of their territories, and they should use any
means of expediency to accomplish this end, including
deceit.
Some readers initially saw The Prince as a satire on
absolute rulers such as Borgia

Jew of Malta
.

Staging

Notice that this play actually has actors

talking aside to the audience

The Renaissance theater is dealing with
the complexity of symbolic locations that
would allow for the crossing of
imaginary boundaries ( extending out
from the nebula to the 'Platae' of the stage
area)
Notice the development of fresh
interactive strategies for actors
(whispering and conspiracy)
We begin to dissect inner qualities in the
characters of this play.

Barabas

The

He is:

protagonist
of the play.
He is a Jewish
merchant who
only cares for his
daughter Abigail
and gold.
His scheming for
revenge lead to
many deaths
including
Abigails.

He

is marked as an outsider in
Maltese society because of his
religion and attitude (seen as
Machevallian).

He

is very honest about being the

villain and doing these terrible
things. He never attempts to
justify his actions by religious
doctrine. (Porrex- Gorboduc)
Very driven by HATE!

Remind us of anyone

from a famous
Shakespeare History
Play???????????

Richard III

Richard and Barabas

Love to hate them

Hate to love them
Vices who are simultaneously sympathetic
and detestable
Their characters are intriguing, and the
most interesting character to want to
followdo we REALLY see him as such a
villain?
In the end, they both send out the same
message: To be goodis boring!

A Few Fun Facts!

It is a Tragicomedy:

satire of religious
hypocrisy and Machiavellian scheming
It was written in 15891591, London
Publisher - Nicholas Vavafour, London
It was set during the 1565 Turkish siege
of Malta, an island in the Mediterranean
Its themes are Religion; vengeance and
retribution; and Machiavellian strategy
The dramatic climax was when Barabas'
plot to kill Calymath backfires, and
Barabas dies in a cauldron. AGREED?

?My Final Ponderings?

Is

Barabas truly
evil?
What role does
Abigail play
within the text?
(innocent?
Fathers pawn?)