Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Jew of Malta, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God and Machiavellianism
Religious Hypocrisy
Anti-Semitism
Money and Greed
Betrayal and Revenge
Summary
Analysis
Bellamira, a local prostitute, enters and laments the state of her business since the Turkish fleet has blocked Malta’s port. The decreased traffic has forced Bellamira to be “chaste” “against [her] will,” but she is certain that her beauty will not fail her. Pilia-Borza, a thief who often works with Bellamira, enters and hands her a bag of money. Bellamira is disappointed to find the bag full of silver, but Pilia-Borza promises her “the Jew” has plenty of gold. Pilia-Borza broke into Barabas’s counting-house while out walking the night before. A sound scared Pilia-Borza away, and he was only able to grab the silver, but he will go back and get the gold.
Bellamira is “chaste” “against [her] will” because the Turkish fleet has stopped any ships from leaving or entering Malta, and without sailors and merchants, Bellamira’s business as a prostitute is sparse. Like Barabas, Bellamira and Pilia-Borza are both dishonest and conniving, and they have set their sights on Barabas’s gold. The criminal pair is also greedy like Barabas, and they aren’t satisfied with a bag of silver coins when they know Barabas has piles of gold for the taking.
Themes
Pilia-Borza sees Ithamore approach and tells Bellamira not to look at the slave. Bellamira and Pilia-Borza rush off, but not before Ithamore notices Bellamira’s beauty. Ithamore can tell that the woman is a prostitute by the way she is dressed, but Ithamore doesn’t care. He would pay 100 of Barabas’s crowns to win her love. As Ithamore marvels at Bellamira’s beauty, he mentions that he has delivered the letter to Mathias. Now, all that is left to do is wait for Mathias and Lodowick to kill each other.
Not unlike the slaves at the market, Ithamore places a value on human life and determines Bellamira to be worth 100 crowns. Of course, Ithamore doesn’t have any money, so he offers Barabas’s, which suggests Ithamore doesn’t have a problem taking Barabas’s money either. Furthermore, Ithamore is clearly comfortable taking part in Barabas’s conniving and Machiavellian schemes.
Themes
