Ebook The Jew of Malta Christopher Marlowe Books
Ebook The Jew of Malta Christopher Marlowe Books
Download As PDF : The Jew of Malta Christopher Marlowe Books
Being one of Christopher Marlowe's most celebrated plays, The Jew of Malta tells the story of the eponymous Barabas, a wealthy merchant who, as explained in the prologue, has amassed a great fortune through following Machiavellian teachings. His troubles start when he is informed that the fleet containing almost all of his wealth has docked in Malta and that, like all other Jewish merchants, he must offer half of his estate to the governor who must, in turn, pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire.
Ebook The Jew of Malta Christopher Marlowe Books
"Subpar cover design. Looks thrown together.
Materials are poor. What do doves and a tree have to do with the Jew of Malta?"
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Tags : The Jew of Malta (9781795139496) Christopher Marlowe Books,Christopher Marlowe,The Jew of Malta,Independently published,1795139498,Drama / General,Literary Criticism / Drama
The Jew of Malta Christopher Marlowe Books Reviews :
The Jew of Malta Christopher Marlowe Books Reviews
- I purchased this book for a religious studies class I was taking. It is interesting to ready. A little hard to follow especially with the language. I had to read some passages more than a few times to understand what was going on. But the content was incorporated very well with the other reading material that was assigned with this book. Very interesting.
- This is a fine book, with definitions to less-familiar terms in footnotes. A bit of biography of the author is included (apparently quite the rake)! This is an enlightening part of my recent scholarship into Euro-Jewish history.
- My first reading of Marlowe's work. Look forward to reading his other works.
- Interesting read.
- ok but not as good as initially hoped it would be
- Great story if you are up on you Shakespearean English. If not, it is very difficult to follow. If it came with a modern English translation it would be much better. Getting the Shakespearean "flavor" is one thing but it needs to be readable.
- Subpar cover design. Looks thrown together.
Materials are poor. What do doves and a tree have to do with the Jew of Malta? - I can't quite place this play of Marlowe's up there with "Dr. Faustus," "Edward II," "Dido Queen of Carthage," or "Massacre At Paris." But still, it is a good play.
We meet Barabas. We see that his financial resources are more important to him than his spiritual values. But he does have a daughter named Abigail who he loves. (We can guess that Barabas is a widower since Abigail's mother never appears.) Well, the governor of Malta (Ferneze) seizes Baraba's wealth to pay tribute to Calymath and the Turks. (And on top of that Barabas's house is to be turned into a convent.) And at this point, we can feel sympathy for Barabas.
But all is not lost. His daughter Abigail works her way into her father's house and is able to retrieve a nice amount of wealth for her father. Well, Ferneze learns that even paying tribute to the Turks may not be enough to keep Malta safe. Moving on, we might sympathize with Barabas when Lodowick (the son of Ferneze who seized Barabas's wealth) wants Abigail. And after some double talk, Barabas arranges for Lodowick to fight Matthias. This is where things start to shift. Abigail loves Mathias and is repulsed. (We also know that Mathias did nothing to Barabas.) Our sympathy for Barabas starts to diminish. The repulsed Abigail converts to Christianity and becomes a nun.
Barabas furthers his descent into evil when (with the help of the vile Ithamore) he poisons not only his daughter Abigail, but the entire group of nuns. As horrible as this was, Marlowe adds an on stage event to emphasize how evil Barabas has grown. He murders a Friar and frames another. (And at this point, if we had any sympathy for Barabas, it's gone now.)
Well, things start to turn. With some convincing, Ithamore decides he knows enough about Barabas to choke some money out of him. (Or he will tell.) Barabas is frightened, but should he be surprised? When you engage in foul games of this sort, how honorable can your accomplices be? Barabas manages to poison Ithamore and his 2 friends, but not before Ferneze learns of Barabas's crimes.
But Barabas has another card to play. He betrays Malta and allows Calymath and his forces in. Ferneze is taken prisoner and Barabas is made governor of the town. But Barabas realizes that he will not last long if he is the governor of an area that hates him. It would seem he is out of cards to play. But his ambition can not cease. He makes a deal with Ferneze to kill Calymath, but Ferneze flips the tables, and Barabas is finally defeated.
While better Marlowe certainly exists, this is still a good play. Barabas's technique of double talk was one that Shakespeare would eventually make use of. ("King Lear's" Edmund to name one) Also, like many other of Marlowe's protagonists, Barabas can not keep himself behind the line of 'this far, and no further.'
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