Reviews for The Jew of Malta

The average rating for The Jew of Malta based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-05-22 00:00:00 Lee Robinson This is a profoundly subversive black comedy which shows its contempt for the practitioners of each of the three major religions, all of whom Marlowe sees as being motivated by nothing save avarice and (occasionally) lust. Barabas the Jew of Malta--aided by his psychopathic Muslim slave Ithamore--plots the destruction of both Christians and Muslims and eventually falls into a boiling cauldron he has prepared for his remaining enemies, but not before contriving half-a-dozen murders, poisoning an entire community of nuns, and blowing up a Turkish occupying army quartered in a confiscated monastery. Compared to Barabas and the other charming denizens of his world, Machiavelli--who delivers the play's prologue--is probably the most sympathetic character. "The Jew" is not to everyone's taste, but it is filled with great blank verse, great theatre, and great fun.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-02-27 00:00:00 Shawn Steuer If you haven't read Marlowe, I recommend him. He's more lurid and over the top than Shakespeare, and nowhere near as subtle - well, not subtle at all, if we're being honest - and he's not as good, but then it's a little uncool to compare anyone to Shakespeare. He is good. Sucks to be this guy, really. He was very popular in his time, and then along came Shakespeare and whammo, he's a footnote. It's not Marlowe's fault he was the guy right before The Guy. Anyway, if you want to see how the two compare, a perfect way to do it is to read this play and then The Merchant of Venice, which is a retelling of the same story. Merchant gets you inside Shylock's head, making you sympathize with him, trying to get you to understand how he ends up acting the way he does (more or less). This play? Not so much. Here, Barabas the Jew is just a cackling, scheming villain. No character development whatsoever: just dastardly deeds all the way. And let's not dodge the elephant: it is terribly anti-Semitic. Merchant of Venice is fairly anti-Semitic, but it does show you how unjust the world was for a Jew of the time. Jew of Malta is not as interested in that. So brace yourself, there. Or don't read this play at all; I wouldn't blame you. But you do root for both Barabas and Shylock, because they're both super fun. They capture your interest. And Barabas, with his infernal machines and traps and poisons, is a highly entertaining villain. So what you'll get here is, from Shakespeare, a nuanced look at how society (and general villainy) conspire to produce a villain, and from Marlowe, woo! Murder! Merchant of Venice is better; Jew of Malta is...well, I'm not sure I can say it's more fun. But it's pretty fun.