The Jew of Malta is a revenge tragedy—a form of tragic narrative structured around the central character's quest for revenge. Narratives within this genre will often explore the corrupting or corrosive effects that revenge can have on a person, up to and including the extreme warping of that character's initial moral principles. The revenge narrative Marlowe presents in The Jew of Malta contains multiple layers: on a surface level, the story follows Barabas's efforts to seek revenge for his mistreatment at the hands of the Maltese government. Ensconced in this narrative are individual acts of revenge Barabas feels he must perpetrate in the course of his quest, the most tragic being the murder of his daughter as punishment for converting to Christianity.
The overarching revenge narrative, however, goes deeper than Barabas or any individual character, reaching back to the crucifixion of Jesus. Antisemitic sentiment amongst Christians is often based in resentment for the treatment of Jesus at the hands of the Jewish community, of which he was part. Antisemitic Christians frequently justify their discrimination by claiming it as retaliation for the events leading to Jesus's crucifixion. In this context, the actions taken by the Christian government of Malta are also revenge: as is, on a meta level, Marlowe's antisemitic characterization of Barabas.
