The Jew of Malta

by

Christopher Marlowe

God and Machiavellianism Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
God and Machiavellianism Theme Icon
Religious Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Anti-Semitism Theme Icon
Money and Greed Theme Icon
Betrayal and Revenge  Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Jew of Malta, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God and Machiavellianism Theme Icon

At the center of Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta is the idea of Machiavellianism, a political philosophy based upon the writings of Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli. Since the 1532 publication of Machiavelli’s political treatise The Prince, Machiavellianism has been associated with unscrupulous scheming and godless corruption in the name of self-interest, and this idea is reflected throughout Marlowe’s play. The play’s prologue is narrated by Machevill, a ghost who calls to mind Machiavelli himself, and Marlowe specifically mentions the anti-Machiavellian movement that was sweeping across 16th-century Europe. When Marlowe’s play was written around 1589, Machiavellianism was largely condemned and considered an Italian problem that had little to do with England, but Marlowe implies that such moral corruption is widespread, both in government and in personal choices and actions. The Jew of Malta underscores the prevalence of Machiavellianism in politics and everyday life; however, the play also suggests that real life isn’t as godless as Machiavellianism is thought to be, and Marlowe ultimately argues that corruption and scheming are no match for God’s divine will.

The play takes place on the Mediterranean island of Malta, which, at the time the play was written, was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Maltese government frequently resorts to dishonest and corrupt practices in Marlowe’s play, which highlights the pervasiveness of Machiavellian tactics in broader European society. Malta owes the Ottoman Empire 10 years’ worth of tribute payments (money paid from one government to another to ensure peace and protection) that they can’t pay. To avoid war with the Turks and save the country, Ferneze, Malta’s governor, taxes Malta’s Jewish population and orders each Jew to surrender half their gold and wealth to the state. Ferneze’s decision to tax only the Jewish population reflects the anti-Semitism of the time, but it also underscores Ferneze’s moral corruption and suggests that he has no problem exploiting others for the benefit of Malta. Ferneze’s easy Machiavellianism suggests that such tactics are common among Europe’s powerful elites. After Ferneze taxes and exploits Malta’s Jewish population, he has more than enough money to pay the Turks, but he begins scheming with Martin Del Bosco, the Vice-Admiral of Spain. With Bosco’s help, Ferneze devises a plan to keep the tribute money and remain safe from the Turks under Spain’s protection. But Ferneze does not return the tribute money to Malta’s Jews, which further speaks to Ferneze’s corruption and Machiavellian tactics, along with the corruption of Bosco and the Spanish government. This corrupt deal again suggests that Machiavellianism is common practice in Europe, and it further implies that such tactics are even encouraged by those in power. The Turks do take over Malta, but Ferneze won’t give up so easily. He schemes with Barabas, the richest Jew in Malta, to kill the invading Turks—including Selim-Calymath, the son of the Turkish Emperor. After the Turks are killed in a huge explosion and Selim-Calymath is taken prisoner, Malta is again free, seemingly due to Ferneze’s moral corruption and use of Machiavellian tactics. In short, Machiavellianism isn’t something Ferneze dabbles with as a last resort to save Malta; he is repeatedly dishonest and corrupt, which again suggests that Machiavellian tactics are widely practiced in broader European society.

In addition to the Machiavellian strategies of various countries and governments, devious plots and schemes are employed by several characters—including the play’s protagonist, Barabas, who often resorts to similarly dishonest practices. When the Jews of Malta suspect that Ferneze will tax them to pay the Turks, they seek the advice and guidance of Barabas, a wealthy Jew known for his talent of “policy,” or Machiavellian deviousness. Barabas promises to help the other Jews, but in an aside he claims: “Nay, let ‘em combat, conquer, and kill all, / So they spare me, my daughter, and my wealth.” From the very beginning, Barabas is concerned only with his own wealth and wellbeing, which he plans to maintain even at the expense of others. After Ferneze seizes Barabas’s estate and turns his mansion into a nunnery, Barabas quickly begins scheming to recover his wealth. He convinces his daughter, Abigail, to join the convent under false pretenses and retrieve the gold and jewels hidden under the floorboards. Like the Maltese government, both Barabas and Abigail employ deceptive practices, which again reflects Machiavellian “policy” on an individual level. Abigail eventually sees the error of her ways and joins the nunnery for real as penance for her sins, but Barabas refuses to abandon his Machiavellian ways. As revenge for Abigail’s betrayal, Barabas and his Turkish slave, Ithamore, poison and kill the entire nunnery, including Abigail. Barabas’s ability to murder his own daughter in retaliation for a perceived slight implies that Barabas and his Machiavellian ways know no bounds.

Both Barabas and Ferneze employ Machiavellian tactics, but it is Ferneze who ultimately comes out on top. Ferneze deceives Barabas and kills him instead of Calymath, but it isn’t Ferneze’s scheming and corruption that saves Malta. “So march away,” Ferneze says, “and let due praise be given / Neither to fate nor fortune, but to heaven.” In other words, Marlowe suggests that Malta’s independence and perseverance is due to God’s will, not the Machiavellian scheming of Ferneze or Barabas. Marlowe does not explicitly condemn Machiavellianism for its obvious immorality, but he does suggest that such practices are useless. In the end, it is God’s will that decides the outcome of any given event, and no amount of scheming can ever change that.

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God and Machiavellianism Quotes in The Jew of Malta

Below you will find the important quotes in The Jew of Malta related to the theme of God and Machiavellianism.
Prologue Quotes

Admired I am of those that hate me most.
Through some speak openly against my books,
Yet will they read me, and thereby attain
To Peter’s chair: and when they cast me off,
Are poisoned by my climbing followers.
I count religion but a childish toy,
And hold there is no sin but ignorance.

Related Characters: Machevill (speaker)
Page Number: 9
Explanation and Analysis:

But whither am I bound, I come not, I,
To read a lecture here in Britaine,
But to present the tragedy of a Jew,
Who smiles to see how full his bags are crammed,
Which money was not got without my means.
I crave but this, grace him as he deserves,
And let him not be entertained the worse
Because he favours me.

Related Characters: Machevill (speaker), Barabas
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 2 Quotes

Out wretched Barabas,
Sham’st thou not thus to justify thyself,
As if we knew not thy profession?
If thou rely upon they righteousness,
Be patient and thy riches will increase.
Excess of wealth is cause of covetousness:
And covetousness, oh, ‘tis a monstrous sin.

Related Characters: Ferneze (speaker), Barabas
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:

Ay, policy? That’s their profession,
And not simplicity, as they suggest.
The plagues of Egypt, and the curse of heaven,
Earth’s barrenness, and all men’s hatred
Inflict upon them, thou great Primus Motor.
And here upon my knees, striking the earth,
I ban their souls to everlasting pains
And extreme tortures of the fiery deep,
That thus have dealt with me in my distress.

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Ferneze
Page Number: 27
Explanation and Analysis:

Barabas: Then Abigail, there must my girl
Entreat the abbess to be entertained.

Abigail: How, as a nun?

Barabas: Ay, daughter, for religion
Hides many mischiefs from suspicion.

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Abigail (speaker), Ferneze, Abbess
Related Symbols: Gold
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 3 Quotes

Barabas: Oh, sir, your father had my diamonds.
Yet I have one left that will serve your turn:
I mean my daughter. (But ere he shall have her
I’ll sacrifice her on a pile of wood.
I ha’ the poison of the city for him,
And the white leprosy.)

Lodowick: What sparkle does it give without a foil?

Barabas: The diamond that I talk of, ne’er was foiled
(But when he touches it, it will be foiled).
Lord Lodowick, it sparkles bright and fair.

Lodowick: Is it square or pointed? Pray let me know.

Barabas: Pointed it is, good sir (but not for you).

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Don Lodowick (speaker), Ferneze, Abigail
Page Number: 46-47
Explanation and Analysis:

Yonder comes Don Mathias, let us stay;
He loves my daughter, and she holds him dear:
But I have sworn to frustrate both their hopes,
And be revenged upon the—(Governor).

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Ithamore, Abigail, Don Lodowick, Don Mathias
Page Number: 51
Explanation and Analysis:

Barabas: Hast thou no trade? Then listen to my words,
And I will teach that shall stick by thee:
First be thou void of these affections,
Compassion, love, vain hope, and heartless fear,
Be moved at nothing, see thou pity none,
But to thyself smile when the Christians moan.

Ithamore: Oh brave, master, I worship your nose for this.

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Ithamore (speaker)
Related Symbols: Barabas’s Nose
Page Number: 52
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 2 Quotes

Oh bravely fought, and yet they thrust not home.
Now Lodowick, now Mathias, so;
So now they have showed themselves to be tall fellows.

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Don Lodowick, Don Mathias
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 3 Quotes

Ithamore: Oh mistress! I have the bravest, gravest, secret, subtle, bottle-nosed knave to my master, that ever gentleman had.

Abigail: Say, knave, why rail’st upon my father thus?

Ithamore: Oh, my master has the bravest policy.

Related Characters: Ithamore (speaker), Abigail (speaker), Barabas, Don Lodowick, Don Mathias
Related Symbols: Barabas’s Nose
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 4 Quotes

Stay, first let me stir it Ithamore.
As fatal be it to her as the draught
Of which great Alexander drunk, and died:
And with her let it work like Borgia’s wine,
Whereof his sire, the Pope, was poisonèd.
In a few, the blood of Hydra, Lerna’s bane:
The juice of hebon, and Cocytus’ breath,
And all the poisons of the Stygian pool
Break from the fiery kingdom; and in this
Vomit your venom, and envenom her
That like a fiend hat left her father thus.

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Ithamore, Abigail, Don Lodowick, Don Mathias
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, Scene 2 Quotes

Oh fatal day to fall into the hands
Of such a traitor and unhallowed Jew!
What greater misery could heaven inflict?

Related Characters: Ferneze (speaker), Barabas
Page Number: 117
Explanation and Analysis:

Away, no more, let him not trouble me.
Thou hast thou gotten, by thy policy,
No simple place, no small authority,
I am now Governor of Malta; true,
But Malta hates me, and in hating me
My life’s in danger, and what boots it thee
Poor Barabas, to be the Governor,
Whenas thy life shall be at their command?
No Barabas, this must be looked into;
And since by wrong thou got’st authority,
Maintain it bravely by firm policy,
At least unprofitably lose it not:
For he that liveth in authority,
And neither gets him friends, nor fills his bags,
Lives like the ass that Aesop speaketh of,
That labours with a load of bread and wine,
And leaves it off to snap on thistle tops:
But Barabas will be more circumspect.
Begin betimes, Occasion’s bald behind,
Slip not thine opportunity, for fear too late
Thou seek’st for much, but canst not compass it.
Within here.

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Ferneze
Related Symbols: Gold
Page Number: 118-119
Explanation and Analysis:

And thus far roundly goes the business:
Thus loving neither, will I live with both,
Making a profit of my policy;
And he from whom my most advantage comes,
Shall be my friend.
This is the life we Jews are used to lead;
And reason too, for Christians do the like:
Well, now about effecting this device:
First to surprise great Selim’s soldiers,
And then to make provision for the feast,
Then at one instant all things may be done,
My policy detests prevention:
To what even my secret purpose drives,
I know; and they shall witness with their lives.

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Ferneze, Selim-Calymath
Page Number: 121
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, Scene 5 Quotes

Ferneze: Should I in pity of thy plaints or thee,
Accursèd Barabas, base Jew, relent?
No, thus I’ll see thy treachery repaid,
But wish thou hadst behaved thee otherwise.

Barabas: You will not help me then?

Ferneze: No, villain, no.

Barabas: And villains, know you cannot help me now.
Then Barabas breathe forth thy latest fate,
And in the fury of thy torments, strive
To end thy life with resolution:
Know, Governor, ‘twas I that slew thy son;
I framed the challenge that did make them meet:
Know, Calymath, I aimed thy overthrow,
And had I but escaped this stratagem,
I would have brought confusion on you all,
Damned Christians, dogs, and Turkish infidels;
But now begins the extremity of heat
To pinch me with intolerable pangs:
Die life, fly soul, tongue curse thy fill and die!

Related Characters: Barabas (speaker), Ferneze (speaker), Don Lodowick, Don Mathias, Selim-Calymath
Page Number: 129-130
Explanation and Analysis:

Content thee, Calymath, here thou must stay,
And live in Malta prisoner; for come call the world
To rescue thee, so will we guard us now,
As sooner shall they drink the ocean dry,
Than conquer Malta, or endanger us.
So march away, and let due praise be given
Neither to fate nor fortune, but to heaven.

Related Characters: Ferneze (speaker), Barabas, Selim-Calymath
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis: