3 h 0 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 0 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a man robbed by the state turns his cunning into a weapon?
In Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, Barabas, a rich Jewish merchant, loses his fortune to Malta’s Christian rulers. Governor Ferneze seizes Jewish wealth to meet a Turkish demand for tribute. Barabas wants his riches back, but his anger reaches beyond money. His loyal daughter Abigail helps him recover hidden gold as he begins to plan revenge.
This blank-verse tragedy mixes bloody schemes, black humor, and ruthless politics. Machevil, the ghost of Machiavelli, opens the play with a prologue about power and cunning. Harsh anti-Jewish stereotypes shape Barabas’s portrayal, while Marlowe also exposes greed and deceit among the Christians and Turks around him. Here, cruelty is not confined to one faith or one side.
What you’ll discover
- A fortune under threat Follow Barabas as the seizure of his wealth turns loss into a dangerous hunger for revenge.
- A daughter caught between worlds Meet Abigail, whose loyalty to her father draws her into his struggle over hidden riches.
- Power without clean hands Watch rulers and schemers pursue their interests in a Malta steeped in greed and deceit.
- Laughter with a cruel edge Discover how sharp comedy sits beside bloody revenge, making the play’s cruelty all the more unsettling.
- Verse full of swagger Experience the force and music of Barabas’s speeches, even when his boasts reveal his worst impulses.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy revenge plots, sharp villains who talk to the audience, and Renaissance drama full of schemes, disguises and black comedy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A ghost, a fortune and a cruel decree
- Abigail walks into a nunnery to save the gold
- Barabas buys a servant and plans two deaths
- Abigail learns the truth and the nuns pay
- A false conversion sets a trap for the friars
- Ithamore falls for a courtesan and blackmail begins
- Faith and money show every side of hypocrisy
- How the play is built: asides, disguises and black comedy
Who’s who
- BarabasA rich Maltese merchant whose fortune is taken by the governor, and who answers with cunning revenge against everyone who wrongs him.
- AbigailBarabas's only daughter, who obeys her father's plans for a while but loves Mathias and longs for a life of faith and peace.
- FernezeThe governor of Malta, who seizes Jewish wealth to pay the Turkish tribute and later chooses to fight rather than pay.
- IthamoreA Turkish slave bought by Barabas, a quick and cheerful rogue who becomes his accomplice and heir, and wants gold and love.
- MathiasA young Maltese gentleman in love with Abigail, son of the widow Katharine, who trusts what Barabas tells him.
- LodowickFerneze's son, who is eager to meet Abigail and thinks the rich merchant is ready to give her to him.
- BellamiraA courtesan whose trade has dried up during the siege, and who sets out to win money from Ithamore.
- Selim CalymathThe son of the Turkish ruler, who comes to Malta to collect ten years of unpaid tribute and threatens war.
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L'ebreo di Malta
by Christopher Marlowe · 1633
A merchant stripped of his fortune by his rulers plots a revenge that pulls in lovers, nuns and friars.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readItaliano
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In short
Picture a merchant counting heaps of gold, calm and proud as his ships sail safely into harbour. His rulers demand half his estate, then seize everything after he refuses their decree.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A ghost, a fortune and a cruel decree
The play opens with a ghost. Machiavel, the spirit of the Italian thinker Niccolo Machiavelli, says people curse his name yet keep reading his books. He promises to show the tragedy of a Jew who smiles over bags crammed with money.
Then Barabas appears in his counting-house with heaps of gold before him. He prefers jewels, because one fine stone can ransom a king. When his ships come safe into Malta road, he is proud, shrewd and sure that every merchant knows his name. He scorns Christians who preach faith but practise malice. He loves one person only, his daughter Abigail.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1633
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 1 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Marlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-jew-of-malta.
Marlowe, C. (2026). The Jew of Malta. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-jew-of-malta (Original work published 1633)
Marlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-jew-of-malta.
@book{marlowe2026jew,
author = {Marlowe, Christopher},
title = {The Jew of Malta},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-jew-of-malta},
note = {First published 1633}
}
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What is The Jew of Malta about?
It follows Barabas, a wealthy merchant on the island of Malta whose fortune is taken by the governor to pay a Turkish tribute. He answers with a series of schemes of revenge that draw in his daughter, young gentlemen, nuns and friars.
Who is Machiavel in The Jew of Malta?
Machiavel is the ghost of the Italian thinker Niccolo Machiavelli, who speaks the prologue. He stands for ruthless self-interest and cunning, and he sets the tone by presenting Barabas as his follower.
When was The Jew of Malta written and is it a true story?
Marlowe wrote it in the early 1590s for the London stage. It is fiction, set on Malta in a time of Turkish threat, though it draws on real fears of the Ottoman fleet and on Renaissance ideas of policy.
The author
Christopher Marlowe
1564–1593 · English playwright and poet
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator born in Canterbury in 1564. He studied at Cambridge and later lived in London. He wrote plays in the late 1580s and early 1590s, including Doctor Faustus and The Jew of Malta. He died in Deptford in 1593.
More by Christopher Marlowe
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