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.
And Barabas, with his infernal machines and traps and poisons, is a highly entertaining villain. Or don't read this play at all I wouldn't blame you.īut you do root for both Barabas and Shylock, because they're both super fun. Jew of Malta is not as interested in that. Merchant of Venice is fairly anti-Semitic, but it does show you how unjust the world was for a Jew of the time. No character development whatsoever: just dastardly deeds all the way.Īnd let's not dodge the elephant: it is terribly anti-Semitic. Here, Barabas the Jew is just a cackling, scheming villain. 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). It's not Marlowe's fault he was the guy right before The Guy.Īnyway, 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. He was very popular in his time, and then along came Shakespeare and whammo, he's a footnote. 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. If you haven't read Marlowe, I recommend him. The character of Barabas is the prototype for the well-known Shylock, and this drama of his villainy remains a satirical gem in its own right. The immediate success of The Jew of Malta on the Elizabethan stage is presumed to have influenced Marlowe's colleague, William Shakespeare, to draw upon the same source material for The Merchant of Venice. The playwright, who infused each one of his plays with cynical humor and a dark world view, draws upon stereotypes of Muslim and Christian as well as Jewish characters to cast an ironic perspective on all religious beliefs. Christopher Marlowe's dramatic hybrid resonates with racial tension, religious conflict, and political intrigue - all of which abounded in 16th-century England. A paragon of remorseless evil, Barabas befriends and betrays the Turkish invaders and native Maltese alike, incites a duel between the suitors for his daughter's hand, and takes lethal revenge upon a convent of nuns.īoth tragedy and farce, this masterpiece of Elizabethan theater reflects the social and political complexities of its age. The spirit of Machiavelli presides over The Jew of Malta, in which the title character relentlessly plots to maintain and extend his political influence and wealth.
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