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
Barabas and Ithamore enter to the sounds of funeral bells. Barabas rejoices that the nuns are dead and admits that he was worried his poison would not work. Every year the nuns “swell” but still live, and now they are all dead. Ithamore worries that they will be caught, but Barabas says it is impossible. No one knows what they have done, and if Ithamore talks, Barabas says he will slit Ithamore’s throat. Ithamore suggests they poisons all the monks next, and Barabas tells him to slow down.
Barabas’s claim that the nuns “swell” each year is another dig at the nuns’ supposed celibacy. He claims the nuns “swell” because they are frequently pregnant, an accusation that again underscores religious hypocrisy in the play, and therefore in English society as well. Christian nuns claim purity and piety by way of their profession, yet Marlowe suggests the nuns aren’t so pure.
Themes
Literary Devices
Ithamore asks Barabas if he feels any grief over Abigail’s death, and Barabas quickly says no. He is only sad that she lived as a Christian. Barabas claims to smell Jacomo and Bernardine as they enter. “God-a-mercy nose,” Ithamore says and suggests they leave, but the two friars are already upon them, calling Barabas a “wicked Jew” and telling him he is “damned.” Barabas tells Ithamore that the friars must know about the poisoned rice and have come to expose them.
Again, Barabas is a cold and calculating man devoid of any love or compassion, and his absence of grief over Abigail’s death further reflects this. Barabas’s claim to smell the friars coming and Ithamore’s thankfulness for Barabas’s huge nose again reflects the common anti-Semitic stereotype that all Jews have big noses. Jacomo and Bernardine’s claim that Barabas is a “wicked” and “damned” Jew also reflects this hate. Barabas is wicked and damned because he is a deceitful murderer, but the friars imply he is damned because he is Jewish.
Themes
Bernardine and Jacomo begin talking at once and Barabas keeps interrupting them. When the friars mention Abigail, Barabas orders them not to speak of her. The men then tell Barabas that they know he is guilty. Of “fornication?” Barabas asks. He admits to the sin but says it happened far away and the woman is long dead. Bernardine next asks Barabas if he remembers Lodowick and Mathias, and when Barabas says he does, Bernardine says they died because of a false letter.
Barabas tells the friars not to speak of Abigail because he has disowned her, even in her death. Barabas views Abigail’s conversion as a betrayal, and one he likely won’t forget. Barabas mentions sex (“fornication”) because he believes the friars are guilty of the same sin, again underscoring the priests’ religious hypocrisy.
Themes
Barabas immediately knows that Abigail exposed him in a confession to Bernardine, so Barabas quickly changes his tactics. “Oh holy friars,” Barabas says to Bernardine and Jacomo. Barabas asks if it is too late to convert to Christianity and unburden his soul of his sins. He admits that he has sinned as a Jew, and he is ready to repent. He wants to pray on his knees in Jerusalem, and he is willing to give his entire fortune to the church who accepts and baptizes him.
Barabas doesn’t mean anything he says here—it is simply part of his Machiavellian machinations. He knows the friars can bury him with Abigail’s confession, so he is trying to get on their good side by claiming he wants to convert. He addresses the men as “holy friars,” but this is clearly sarcasm, since Barabas doesn’t believe the men to be holy at all.
Themes
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Jacomo and Bernardine immediately begin to bicker over Barabas. “Oh good Barabas come to our house,” Jacomo says. “Oh no, good Barabas, come to our house,” Bernardine says. Soon the friars are physically fighting over Barabas, and Ithamore begs Barabas to stop them. Barabas tells Bernardine that he will join his church and orders him to go with Ithamore and leave Barabas with Jacomo. Alone with Jacomo, Barabas tells him that he really plans to join Jacomo’s church. Jacomo is glad to hear it, and before he exits, he promises to come back later.
Jacomo and Bernardine’s fight again underscores their religious hypocrisy. They reject and condemn Barabas as a Jew, but they accept him as a Christian because he is rich and comes with a lot of gold, which also reveals their greed. They care little about converting Barabas and bringing him to Christianity—they are more interested in his money. Of course, their disagreement is moot, since Barabas doesn’t really plan to convert.
Themes
Alone, Barabas hatches a plan to kill both Bernardine and Jacomo. Abigail clearly exposed Barabas’s involvement in Mathias and Lodowick’s deaths in her confession to Bernardine, and Jacomo knows all about it. Therefore, Barabas says, both men pose a threat and must die. Ithamore enters and says that Bernardine is sleeping in the next room, and no one will be able to hear him if he cries for help. Barabas orders Ithamore to remove his belt and fashion it into a noose, then they go into the room where Bernardine sleeps.
Again, Barabas is a cold and calculating man who kills indiscriminately without hesitation, and Ithamore is no better. In a span of days, Barabas has been responsible for the deaths of Lodowick, Mathias, Abigail, and countless nuns, and he is planning to add the friars to his list. What began as Barabas’s revenge against Ferneze has become a killing spree, which further highlights the slippery slope of revenge.
Themes
Barabas and Ithamore wake Bernardine, and he knows instantly that the men mean to strangle him. “What, will you have my life?” Bernardine asks. Yes, Barabas says, “you would have had my goods.” After killing Bernardine, Barabas and Ithamore prop Bernardine up on his staff, and leave him standing there for Jacomo to find.
Here, Barabas equates his wealth with Bernardine’s life. As Bernardine was going to take Barabas’s gold upon his conversion, Barabas feels justified in taking Bernardine’s life and considers it a fair trade, further highlighting Barabas’s greed.
Themes
Jacomo enters soon after and finds Bernardine standing alone in the dark. Seizing the opportunity to eliminate his competition and obtain Barabas’s wealth, Jacomo grabs the staff and hits Bernardine over the head. Barabas and Ithamore rush in, and Barabas declares that Jacomo has murdered Bernardine. Jacomo swears he killed Bernardine in self-defense, and since no one knows but Barabas and Ithamore, Jacomo begs them to let him go. Barabas refuses; it would be a sin to ignore the law and withhold evidence in a crime.
This passage, too, underscores religious hypocrisy within the play, as well as Barabas’s Machiavellian machinations. Jacomo is a priest, yet he still plots theft and murder. (He is unsuccessful on both accounts, but the intention is still there.) Barabas’s claim that it would be a sin to ignore the law and withhold evidence is certainly ironic, since Barabas clearly doesn’t care about the law.
Themes
Ithamore asks Barabas if he is still interested in converting to Christianity, since it appears to be a religion filled with murderous friars, and Barabas says Ithamore has a good point. Barabas tells Jacomo that he will remain a Jew after all, and then he tells Ithamore to take Jacomo to the court, which will be in session tomorrow. As the men exit, Jacomo yells at Ithamore not to touch him. “I am a sacred person,” Jacomo cries.
Jacomo’s claim that he is “a sacred person” again reveals his hypocrisy: he claims piety and the moral high ground, yet he easily schemes and sins. In this way, Marlowe not only questions the piety of the Catholics (and other religions as well), he suggests that everyone—even priests—are capable of Machiavellianism.
Themes
