Friar Bernardine Character Analysis in The Jew of Malta

Friar Bernardine is a member of one of the Christian monasteries in Malta, and like Friar Jacomo, he serves to represent religious hypocrisy. Barabas and Ithamore constantly make comments that Bernardine has sexual relationships with the abbess and the other nuns, and when Abigail dies, Bernardine laments the fact that she dies a virgin. Despite Bernardine’s priestly vows, he still seems to engage in desires of the flesh, which casts his piety and righteousness into doubt. Bernardine’s morality is also called into question in the form of his greed, and when Barabas falsely claims he wants to convert to Christianity and gift his entire fortune to the church that gives him sanctuary, Bernardine and Jacomo physically fight over Barabas and the right to exploit his fortune. What’s worse, Bernardine breaks the sacred confessional seal and reveals Abigail’s final confession to both Jacomo and Barabas for his personal benefit. Barabas and Ithamore murder Bernardine after he tries to exploit Barabas’s wealth, and then they frame Jacomo for his murder. Through the characters of Bernardine and Jacomo, Marlowe suggests that hypocrisy is rampant in religious figures, and he argues that Machiavellianism is not limited to politicians and criminals.

Friar Bernardine Quotes in The Jew of Malta

The The Jew of Malta quotes below are all either spoken by Friar Bernardine or refer to Friar Bernardine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Bernardine: Know that confession must not be revealed,
The canon law forbids it, and the priest
That makes it known, being degraded first,
Shall be condemned, and then sent to the fire.

Abigail: So I have heard; pray therefore keep it close,
Death seizeth on my heart, ah gentle friar
Convert my father that he may be saved,
And witness that I die a Christian.

Bernardine: Ay, and a virgin too, that grieves me most:
But I must to the Jew and exclaim on him,
And make him stand in fear of me.

Related Characters: Abigail (speaker), Friar Bernardine (speaker), Barabas

Page Number and Citation: 82-83

Explanation and Analysis:

Friar Bernardine Character Timeline in The Jew of Malta

The timeline below shows where the character Friar Bernardine appears in The Jew of Malta. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

As Barabas and Abigail talk, Friars Jacomo and Bernardine pass by with two nuns and the Abbess on their way to the new convent.... (full context)

As Abigail and Barabas exit with the Abbess and Friars Jacomo and Bernardine, Don Mathias, a local Christian, enters. He is shocked to see that Barabas’s daughter has... (full context)

Jacomo and Bernardine enter. Jacomo says that all the nuns are sick, and no medicine will help. The... (full context)

Abigail asks Bernardine if he knows Mathias and Lodowick, and Bernardine says he does. She reveals that Barabas... (full context)

Bernardine looks at Abigail’s dead body and is disappointed that she died a virgin, but he... (full context)

...is only sad that she lived as a Christian. Barabas claims to smell Jacomo and Bernardine as they enter. “God-a-mercy nose,” Ithamore says and suggests they leave, but the two friars... (full context)

Bernardine and Jacomo begin talking at once and Barabas keeps interrupting them. When the friars mention... (full context)

Barabas immediately knows that Abigail exposed him in a confession to Bernardine, so Barabas quickly changes his tactics. “Oh holy friars,” Barabas says to Bernardine and Jacomo.... (full context)

Jacomo and Bernardine immediately begin to bicker over Barabas. “Oh good Barabas come to our house,” Jacomo says.... (full context)

Alone, Barabas hatches a plan to kill both Bernardine and Jacomo. Abigail clearly exposed Barabas’s involvement in Mathias and Lodowick’s deaths in her confession... (full context)

Barabas and Ithamore wake Bernardine, and he knows instantly that the men mean to strangle him. “What, will you have... (full context)

Jacomo enters soon after and finds Bernardine standing alone in the dark. Seizing the opportunity to eliminate his competition and obtain Barabas’s... (full context)

...he further admits to delivering the poisoned rice to Abigail and the nuns and strangling Bernardine with his belt. In a quick aside, Pilia-Borza suggests to Bellamira that they tell Ferneze,... (full context)

...to pay 1,000 crowns immediately. He says Pilia-Borza should mention nuns and rice or Friar Bernardine—either statement will make Barabas pay. As they exit, Ithamore says it is not a sin... (full context)

...confirms Bellamira speaks the truth and says that Barabas also killed the nuns, Abigail, Friar Bernardine, and who knows how many others. (full context)

...to delivering the letter to Lodowick, giving the poisoned rice to the nunnery, and strangling Bernardine, but Barabas demands to sit before a judge. Ferneze agrees, and as the officers drag... (full context)