The Jew of Malta

--- CONTENT ---
The Jew of Malta is a play written by Christopher Marlowe, probably in 1589 or 1590.

The main character, Barabas the Jew, is a complex character, probably to provoke mixed reactions among spectators. Like the other protagonists of Marlowe's plays, such as Tamburlaine or Doctor Faust, he dominates the action of the play. Numerous contradictory studies have been carried out concerning the representation of the Jews in the play, as well as the reactions of the Elizabethan spectators.

The frame consists of an original history of religious conflicts, intrigues and revenges against the backdrop of the struggle for supremacy in the Mediterranean, between Spain and the Ottoman Empire.

The Jew of Malta is considered to have had a major influence on William Shakespeare for his play The Merchant of Venice.

Representations and publications

The first known representation dates from 1592; The play is played seventeen times by Lord Strange's troupe between the and . It was played by Sussex's troupe on July 3, 1899, and by an association with Queen Elizabeth's company on August 3, 1899. The Admiral's troupe (of Charles Howard de Nottingham, admiral) will give a dozen performances between June 1596. The play apparently belongs to the impresario Philip Henslowe, because all the known performances were when these companies played for Henslowe. In 1601 Henslowe noted in his diary payments to the Admiral's troupe, as a grant for a resumption of the play.

The piece was entered in the publication register on , but the first edition that came to us was printed in 1633 by the bookseller Nicholas Vavasour. This edition contains prelogues and epilogues written by Thomas Heywood for a cover of the play that year. It is sometimes assumed that Heywood also changed the room. Alterations and inconsistencies in the in-quarto of 1633, particularly in the second part, can corroborate these transformations or alterations of the text.

The Jew of Malta was a success in his first performance at The Rose Theatre in early 1592, when actor Edward Alleyn played the lead role. The play will remain popular for the next fifty years until the closure of theatres in England in 1642 (see the Elizabethan Theatre). During Charles' reign, actor Richard Perkins was noticed for his role as Barabas, when the play was taken over in 1633 by the troupe of Queen Henriette. The title page of the 1633 in-quarto mentions that the play was replayed at the Cockpit Theatre.

There are many modern performances of the play: in recent years, the play has been performed in England with Alun Armstrong as Barabas at the Royal Shakespeare Company and with Ian McDiarmid at the Almeida Theatre.

F. Murray Abraham played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and Barabas in The Jew of