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
Abigail enters with Ithamore, who is laughing. Abigail asks what is so funny, and Ithamore says he is laughing at Barabas and his “bravest policy.” Abigail asks what he is talking about, and Ithamore says he is speaking of the mishap between Mathias and Lodowick. Barabas forged a challenge, Ithamore excitedly tells Abigail. Ithamore delivered that challenge, and now both Mathias and Lodowick are dead. Abigail is shocked. She asks if her father is really to blame, and Ithamore confirms he is. Abigail orders Ithamore to the nunnery to fetch her a friar, but before he goes, Ithamore asks her if the nuns ever have “fine sport with the friars.” Abigail ignores his question, and Ithamore exits.
Ithamore says Barabas has the “bravest policy,” meaning Ithamore believes that Barabas’s schemes are admirable, which further highlights Ithamore’s own Machiavellian tendencies. Ithamore praises Barabas and laughs as men die and Abigail mourns. The reference to “fine sport” is Ithamore’s way of asking if the nuns have sex with the friars, an accusation that is made repeatedly throughout the play that again underscores the religious hypocrisy that pervades the play. The nuns and friars both take a vow of chastity, yet Marlowe suggests this vow is often ignored.
Themes
Alone, Abigail laments Barabas and his “policy.” She admits that Barabas has every right to hate Lodowick for the “sin” of being Ferneze’s son, but Mathias has done nothing to deserve such treatment. Abigail feels as if her father has killed her, too, and she cries that there is no love left in the world. Ithamore enters with Friar Jacomo, interrupting Abigail’s dirges. She dismisses Ithamore and wastes no time telling Jacomo that she wishes to be admitted to the convent as a nun.
Again, Barabas’s “policy” is a reference to his Machiavellian scheming and machinations. Abigail laments Mathias’s death because of her love for him, but she admits her father had the right to hate Lodowick simply for being Ferneze’s son. While Abigail certainly struggles with her morals throughout the play, her contention that Lodowick deserved to die suggests she isn’t so moral after all.
Themes
Literary Devices
Jacomo is confused, especially since Abigail only recently decided that the nunnery was not for her. Yes, Abigail says, but certain events have caused her to see things differently, and now she is convinced the nunnery is the place for her. Jacomo asks what is weighing so heavily on her soul, and Abigail says that it is “[her] father’s fault.” Jacomo asks how Barabas can possibly be to blame, but Abigail refuses to give him any details. In an aside, Abigail admits that her father does not deserve her loyalty, but she will never betray him, and Jacomo leads her off to the nunnery.
Abigail takes zero responsibility for her own role in Lodowick and Mathias’s deaths. She blames only Barabas, but at any time, Abigail could have refused to play along with her father’s schemes. Of course, Abigail’s willingness to obey her father is another sign of her loyalty to him, which she will not break even after he has betrayed her so badly and engineered the death of her love.
Themes
