The Jew of Malta

In Short

This Elizabethan stage tragedy tells the story of Barabas, a vastly wealthy Jewish merchant in Malta whose entire estate is abruptly confiscated by the island’s Christian governor to pay off back tribute owed to the Ottoman Turks. Deprived of his fortune, Barabas resolves to wage a relentless, bloody campaign of revenge against his captors, his own family, rival suitors, and eventually the entire governing apparatus of the island, cementing his legacy as one of the early modern stage’s most iconic, uncompromising machiavels.

The Story

The play opens in Malta, where the fabulously wealthy merchant Barabas reflects on his vast commercial empire and global fortune. His quiet accumulation of luxury is shattered when the Ottoman army arrives to demand ten years of unpaid tribute from the island’s Christian governor, Ferneze. Lacking the necessary funds, Ferneze decrees that the city’s Jewish residents must yield half their wealth to pay the debt. When Barabas dares to protest the unjust law, Ferneze seizes his entire fortune and converts his grand mansion into a Christian nunnery.

Determined to retrieve a hoard of gold hidden beneath the floorboards of his former home, Barabas instructs his innocent daughter, Abigail, to feign a spiritual conversion so she can enter the newly established convent as a novice. Abigail successfully retrieves the hidden riches, but Barabas’s fury is far from satisfied. To exact vengeance on Ferneze, Barabas orchestrates a deadly duel between the governor’s son, Lodowick, and another young noble, Mathias, both of whom are pursuing Abigail. By forging fake dueling challenges, Barabas manipulates the two young men into killing each other.

Horrified by her father’s calculated role in her lover's death, a heartbroken Abigail truly converts to Catholicism and seeks refuge in the nunnery once more. Enraged by her betrayal, Barabas hires a ruthless Turkish slave named Ithamore to help him poison a pot of rice, which they send to the convent, murdering Abigail and all the nuns inside. As she dies, Abigail confesses her father’s crimes to a friar. To silence the clergy, Barabas and Ithamore frame one friar for the murder of another, leading to the innocent man’s execution.

Despite their successful schemes, Barabas’s downfall begins when Ithamore falls under the spell of a courtesan named Bellamira and her associate Pilia-Borza, who blackmail Barabas for gold. In response, Barabas disguises himself as a French musician and poisons all three with a fatal bouquet. However, before dying, Bellamira and Pilia-Borza expose Barabas’s atrocities to Ferneze.

Barabas is arrested, but he drinks a sleeping potion to fake his own death. His seemingly lifeless body is thrown over the city walls, where he awakens and promptly allies with the invading Turkish forces led by Selim Calymath. Barabas guides the enemy army into the city through a secret underground vault, successfully overthrowing the Christian garrison. Appointed governor of Malta by Calymath as a reward, Barabas quickly realizes his position is precarious. He decides to double-cross the Turks, offering to trap Calymath and his soldiers in a hidden, trapdoor-rigged gallery above a boiling cauldron in exchange for money from the deposed Ferneze. However, during the grand banquet, Ferneze cuts the rope first, plunging Barabas directly into his own boiling trap, where the unrepentant merchant dies cursing his enemies as Ferneze reclaims Malta.

How It Unfolds

A fortune seized The Ottoman empire demands massive tribute from Malta, prompting Governor Ferneze to confiscate Barabas’s entire estate and turn his home into a nunnery when he objects.

The hidden gold Barabas convinces his daughter Abigail to feign conversion to enter the convent, where she successfully recovers a secret stash of gold hidden beneath the floorboards.

A fatal duel Seeking revenge against Ferneze, Barabas uses forged letters to provoke a duel between the governor's son and a rival suitor, leaving both young men dead.

Poison in the convent Appalled by her father's murderous plots, Abigail genuinely joins the nunnery, leading Barabas and his slave Ithamore to poison the entire convent with infected rice.

Framing the friars When Abigail’s deathbed confession reaches the clergy, Barabas strangles one friar and cleverly frames another for the crime, sending the survivor to the gallows.

Blackmail and disguise Ithamore betrays Barabas to a scheming courtesan, forcing Barabas to adopt a disguise and poison them all with a lethal bouquet before they can ruin him.

The city falls Exposed to the authorities, Barabas drinks a sleeping draught to feign death, gets tossed over the city walls, and leads the invading Turks through a subterranean channel to conquer Malta.

The final trap Named governor by the Turks, Barabas plots to murder his new allies in a rigged gallery over a cauldron, but Ferneze springs the trap early, dropping Barabas to a boiling death.

The People

• Barabas: A extraordinarily wealthy, ruthlessly intelligent Jewish merchant in Malta. He wants total financial security and absolute vengeance against the Christian rulers who stripped him of his estate; his pride and unyielding appetite for deceit ultimately lead to his gruesome execution in his own trap.
• Ferneze: The pragmatic Christian Governor of Malta. He wants to secure funds for the Ottoman tribute and maintain rule over the island; his hypocrisy and willingness to bend moral rules allow him to exploit Barabas and ultimately outmaneuver him.
• Abigail: Barabas’s dutiful, compassionate young daughter. She wants to obey her father, but after he orchestrates the murder of her suitor, her conscience drives her to seek true religious sanctuary, making her a target of her father's wrath.
• Ithamore: A cunning Turkish slave purchased by Barabas. He wants wealth, status, and chaotic cruelty; he serves as Barabas's loyal partner in crime until a courtesan's seduction leads him to blackmail his master.
• Selim Calymath: The resolute commander of the Ottoman forces. He wants to collect Malta's overdue tribute or conquer the island by force; his reliance on Barabas's treachery eventually leaves him captured by Ferneze.

In Its Own Voice

When reflecting on the vast wealth he has accumulated across Europe and the Middle East, Barabas scoffs at the moralizing poverty of his Christian neighbors:

Rather had I, a Jew, be hated thus, Than pitied in a Christian poverty; For I can see no fruits in all their faith, But malice, falsehood, and excessive pride, Which methinks fits not their profession.

Later, when purchasing the slave Ithamore to assist in his schemes, Barabas reveals the dark, deceitful ethos that governs his actions:

First, be thou void of these affections, Compassion, love, vain hope, and heartless fear; Be mov'd at nothing, see thou pity none, But to thyself smile when the Christians moan.

What It's Really About

Beneath its sensational string of poisons, stabbings, and urban betrayals, the play is a fierce critique of religious hypocrisy and institutional corruption. It presents a world where every faction—Christian, Jewish, and Muslim alike—uses spiritual doctrine as a mere cover for avarice, realpolitik, and revenge. Ferneze cites scripture to justify state-sanctioned theft, friars break the sanctity of the confessional for leverage, and Barabas weaponizes prejudice to execute his schemes. The narrative demonstrates how institutional oppression breeds radicalized violence, arguing that in a society governed entirely by greed and power, moral rhetoric is nothing more than a dangerous, performative lie.

Why Read It Today

Readers drawn to dark satire, antiheroes, and fast-paced renaissance drama will find this play magnetic. It offers a fascinating, unsparing window into Elizabethan stage traditions, complete with audacious soliloquies, wild theatrical escalations, and a protagonist who commands the stage with terrifying charisma.

While modern readers must navigate the uncomfortable period stereotypes, archaic vocabulary, and pervasive antisemitic tropes typical of sixteenth-century theater, the text rewards close attention with its sharp, cynical wit. Marlowe creates a world so thoroughly devoid of moral heroes that the reader is left both appalled and morbidly entertained by the sheer speed of Barabas’s schemes. It remains a vital work for anyone wanting to understand the origin of the Elizabethan stage villain and the dark origins of revenge tragedy.