The Jew of Malta: A Great Tragedy by Christopher Marlowe

Hareshwar Roy,
The Jew of Malta: A Great Tragedy by Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta is a dark and cynical play that explores the depths of human evil. It is about revenge, greed, religious hypocrisy and the ruthless pursuit of power. Set on the island of Malta, it follows the downfall of a wealthy Jewish merchant named Barabas.
The play begins in Malta. The governor of Malta, Ferneze, has a problem. The Turkish fleet demands a large tribute from this Christian governor. To pay the tribute, Ferneze decides to seize half the estates of all Jewish people on the island.
Barabas, the inhabitant of Malta, is an incredibly wealthy Jewish merchant. He has ships, gold and treasure. He loves his money too much. He is very proud of his wealth. He refuses to pay. He protests this unfair law. At this Ferneze becomes very angry. He seizes everything Barabas owns. He converts his house into a nunnery. Barabas is left with nothing. He feels betrayed and swears revenge. He develops anger against the Christians who ruined him.
Barabas has a secret stash of gold and jewels hidden under the floorboards of his former home. He cunningly retrieves that hidden stash of treasure from his old house. Barabas has one daughter named Abigail. He still loves her. He asks her to pretend to become a nun, so she can secretly get back some of his gold hidden in the house. Abigail obeys and recovers the gold. With his wealth restored, Barabas buys a Turkish slave named Ithamore, who hates Christians as much as he does. Together, they begin cruel plans against Christians who wronged him. With the help of Ithamore, Barabas begins a murderous plot against his enemies. He starts using tricks, poisons, and lies for his purposes.
Meanwhile Abigail falls in love with a Christian named Matthias. Ferneze’s son Lodowick is his bosom friend. Lodowick is also captivated by Abigail’s beauty. He approaches Barabas to seek her hand, unaware that Barabas harbors a murderous hatred for his father. Barabas grows more violent. He uses their love to his advantage. Barabas tricks these two young men into a jealous rage. He sets up a duel between them. They kill each other in that duel. He laughs at the chaos he causes.
When Abigail discovers her father's treachery she feels guilty about her father’s actions. She is heartbroken. She truly becomes a nun and refuses to help him anymore. When Barabas learns this, he becomes angry. Enraged by her betrayal, Barabas sends a pot of poisoned rice to the nunnery, killing all the nuns, including his own daughter.
The local friars realize Barabas is behind the deaths. To silence them, Barabas and Ithamore strangle one friar and frame another for the murder. The second friar is executed for a crime he didn’t commit. Barabas's schemes grow more and more complex. He and his slave, Ithamore, become a murderous team. In the meantime Ithamore falls in love with a greedy prostitute, Bellamira. Along with her friend, she starts blackmailing Barabas. She threatens him to reveal his crimes unless he sends them gold. To stop them, Barabas disguises himself as a French musician and uses a poisoned flower to kill the blackmailers and Ithamore.
The corrupt governor, Ferneze, betrays the Turks. The Turks became very angry and attacked Malta. Barabas, seeing an opportunity, allies himself with the Turks and helps them conquer Malta. The Turks conquer the island and make Barabas the new Governor. But Barabas knows his power is unstable. He decides to switch sides again and offers to destroy the Turkish leaders for the former Governor, Ferneze, in exchange for a large sum of money.
He sets traps to kill both Turks and Maltese. He prepares a huge boiling cauldron in his home to trap the Turkish leader, Calymat and the former governor of Malta, Ferneze. He plans to drop them into it during a banquet. However, Ferneze sees through Barabas's plan and tricks him. He plays the final card. Just as Barabas is about to spring the trap, Ferneze cuts the cable himself. Barabas falls into his own boiling cauldron. He is boiled alive. As he dies, he curses the Christians. The Christians regain control of Malta. Barabas is destroyed by his own plots. In short it is a tale of greed, revenge, and self-destruction.
Barabas's character is a memorable figure of revenge. He is undeniably evil. His violent pursuit of revenge is a response to the injustice and greed he faces. The play suggests that he is a product of a world that values money and power above all else. At the same time the play also highlights the hypocrisy and corruption of the Christian and Turkish characters.
Location: B-37, City Homes Colony, Jawahar Nagar Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India
Currently Dr. Roy is working as Professor of English at Govt. P.G. College Satna, Madhya Pradesh. He is the author of the following books: (1) Diasporic Articulation in the Novels of M.G. Vassanji (2) A Study of M.G. Vassanji 's Novels (3) Varieties of Indianity in the Works of M.G. Vassanji & Rohinton Mistry (4)Diaspora & Indian Diaspora: A Brief Study (5) Short Notes of English Literature - I (6) Short Notes of English Literature - II (7) हमार पहचान ह भोजपुरी - भोजपुरी कविता संकलन (8) हमरा प्यार हो गइल - भोजपुरी गज़ल संकलन (9) भोजपुरी कविताएँ

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