The Jew of Malta

The Jew of Malta: Christopher Marlowe by Stephen Bevington
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a tragedy in name only. Part of the appeal then and now is Barabas’s gleeful plotting to trick and murder anyone who crosses him. The language is clear and pacy, and the bodies pile up very quickly. It’s so cartoonish it’s difficult to take seriously. Shakespeare undoubtedly took that model but pushed it into more unsettling territory with Richard III and Titus Andronicus. The Jew of Malta is a simple black comedy in comparison, with very little depth to Barabas’s character. Yes, Ferneze gets him in the end, and is arguably a more authentically successful Machiavellian, but he’s hardly positioned as the real villain of the piece. The play nods to the prejudice the Jews face, but doesn’t suggest it is a motivating factor for Barabas’s murder spree. Shakespeare’s finely balanced viewpoints are not Marlowe’s style. His heroes are bombastic charismatics who break all the rules and delight audiences in doing so, even if conventional morality demands that they are punished at the end.

View all my reviews