Stevie Croisant & Kylie Eaton THE JEW OF MALTA

CONTEMPORARY AND PUBLICATION HISTORY DURING MARLOWE’S TIME Marlowe was a successful playwright and eclipsed Shakespeare during his lifetime. The play was written in 1589,1590, or 1591 Edward Alleyn is said to have played Barabas on stage The Queen’s company also presented The Jew of Malta at court in or before 1633 PUBLICATION HISTORY Quarto of 1633 is derived from Marlowe’s ‘foul papers’ There is not proof that the text was revised

Earliest reference of the play was in Henslowe’s Diary which records plays mostly performed at the Rose theatre The character of Barabas is very similar to a historical Jew It is speculated that Marlowe was one of the first to use “Machiavel” on the English stage SOURCE MATERIAL FOR THE JEW OF MALTA

THE JEW OF MALTA AND RELIGION IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE Henry III and Queen Elizabeth The battle between Catholics and Protestants Edmund Campion and Robert Parsons – William Elderton, ballad-writer: Theyle make you beleue that white is fayre backe. Except by strong faith ye put them quite backe; Th’ effecte is playne treason against God and our Queene, As by these late Traytours well tried hath beene. Malta a Christian island with victories over Islam

Machiavel Prologue - Stereotype Barabas Barabas’ betrayal of all – Machiavel’s idea that one must be feared. – Continue no matter who is in the way. MACHIAVELLI IN JEW OF MALTA

Arata Ide: “’The Jew of Malta’ and the Diabolic Power of Theatrics in the 1580s” – Theater as a complex idea – Barabas as playwright, actor, and audience – Manipulation through theatrics – Barabas changes as a character, but only through his use of theatrics Sara Munson Deats and Lisa S. Sparks: “’So neatly plotted, and so well perfom’d’: Villian as Playwright in Marlowe’s ‘Jew of Malta’” – Theatrical motif clarifies Barabas’s motives which lack credibility – Exploitive playwright, manipulation – Fear of discovery, desire for revenge – Rotating wheel of fortune – Provides pattern for revenge tragedies starring villain as playwright METATHEATRICS WITHIN THE JEW OF MALTA

Emily C. Bartels: “Christopher Marlowe” A companion to Renaissance Drama – “Each play ends with the character as much as the character ends with the play” – Marlowe’s protagonists don’t have desires, they perform them. – Deception depends on display. MORE METATHEATRICS

G. K. Hunter: “The Theology of Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta – Barabas parody's Job. Loss of wealth physical disaster Recover prosperity by buying and selling. – Patriarchal prayers – Theology allows us to “rejoice with the Jew at the destruction of ‘Christians.’ Ana Beskin: “From Jew to Nun: Abigail in Marlow’s ‘The Jew of Malta’” – Marlowe sets Abigail up as victim and Barabas as “evil Jew” – Abigail embodies Christian ideals, other characters do not – Abigail as an “inlaw” feminine character – Opportunity to write Abigail as a worthy Jew in death, converts her to Christianity and keeps Barabas a Jew RELIGION IN THE JEW OF MALTA

Stevie Simkin: “Marlowe: The Plays” – Particular emphasis on Barabas’s “Jewishness” – Victims identify as Christains – “We are villains both/ Both circumsiz’d, we both hate Christains” – Play seems to reflect Anti-Semitic ideas MORE RELIGION