6/3/07 - English Literature - Christopher Marlowe: The Jew of Malta

The lecture framework is as follows:

1. Anti-Semitism and the ‘tragedy’ of The Jew of Malta
2. Christopher Marlowe and the Death of the Author
3. Marlowe and Machiavelli
4. The Jew of Malta (c. 1589-90).

1. Anti-Semitism and the ‘tragedy’ of The Jew of Malta

Consider the opinion of the French philosopher Sartre:

"If the Jew did not exist, the anti-semite would invent him . . . The social bond is anger; the collectivity has no other goal than to exercise over certain individuals a diffused repressive sanction . . . the Jew is in the situation of a Jew because he lives in the midst of a society that takes him for a Jew."
[Sartre, Jean-Paul. Anti-Semite and Jew. New York: Schocken Books, 1965, p. 13; p. 30; p. 72]

This may seem irrational. Does Marlowe's play indulge and satisfy the passion that Sartre describes? If so, should we read and perform it?

The title page of the play read "a famous tragedy," yet the play is far from tragic in the sense that it does not evoke the conventional tragic emotions of fear and pity. Instead, we might delight in the fall of Barabas. The play is more humorous than cathartic, so it is closer to comedy than tragedy. However, the tragedy may be found outside of the play, in the reality of prejudices against Jews.

The Jew of Malta is a document about anti-Semitism. It acts against and punishes the Jew, yet it also rebounds on the other characters and the justice of their actions. It takes a critical attitude to the norms and prejudices represented within it.

All of Marlowe's plays have the figure of the 'over-reacher':

Dido, Queen of Carthage
Tamburlaine the Great
Doctor Faustus
The Jew of Malta
Edward II
The Massacre at Paris

Marlowe shows attunement to drives, knowledge and energy in his plays, and he celebrates such things. Through this we learn about the worlds which consume the characters. Marlowe also shows an interest in victimisation and suffering.

2. Christopher Marlowe and the Death of the Author

Roland Barthes' philosophy was not to concentrate on the author of a text, but does this theory apply to Marlowe who was writing in the early modern period and was himself killed? He died in May 1593. On 18 May he had been arrested by the Privy Council and charged to stay in London. A spy monitored him. Two weeks later, Marlowe was stabbed to death. Two other victims of the killer were spies who were charged with following Marlowe.

What was Marlowe like? he had ideas that were inextricable from his work. Nothing was sacred to him. He scrutinised the New Testament and found it wanting. His works were as outrageous as he was. He fearlessly kicked free of his perceived constraints. He exposed hypocrisy and illusions.

I am Machevil,
And weigh not men, and therefore not men’s words.
Admired I am of those that hate me most:
Though some speak openly against my books
Yet will they read me
[Marlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta. Ed. N. W. Bawcutt. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1978. Prologue, ll. 7-11]

3. Marlowe and Machiavelli

Marlowe was strongly influenced by Machiavelli.

"a prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honour his word when it places him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made his promise no longer exist. If all men were good, this precept would not be good; but because men are wretched creatures who would not keep their word to you, you need not keep your word to them . . . one must know how to colour one’s actions and to be a great liar and deceiver."
Machiavelli, The Prince, ch. 18, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm]

Lies and deceit, according to Machiavelli, is a sign of prudence. In the context of success, such immorality can be reassessed and found to be a good thing. Hence came the term 'Machiavellian', meaning corrupt, destructive and evil. Marlowe introduces Machevil in the prologue of Jew of Malta.

4. The Jew of Malta

Barabas is avaricious and everything that one would expect from an anti-Semitic stereotype. He is deceitful, cruel, materialistic and scheming. Shakespeare's Shylock isn't so stereotypical; we pity him so he is sometimes a tragic hero. It is shown that Christian culture demonises Jews.

Note that in The Jew of Malta, the Friar reacts in the same way to Abigail's joining the convent as Barabas would.

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.
[3.6.41-3]

Later, the Friar gloats. The exchangeability of roles within The Jew of Malta is fluid.

Barabas uses the word "charity" cynically and so abuses it; its true meaning is Christian virtue, seeing the world as God sees it. "To undo a Jew is charity and not sin." The more Barabas continues his intrigue and deception, the more we see the corruption of Christianity.

No, Jew, like infidels.
For through sufferance of your hateful lives,
Who stand accursed in the sight of heaven,
These taxes and afflictions are befallen,
And therefore thus we are determined
[1.2.62-66]

Here, Jews are seen as infidels, not citizens. Later, Barabas states that some Jews are wicked and all Christians are. Marlowe so adopts Machiavellian reason to demystify the play. He explores the reason of state, self-interest, power and appetite. There is a twist in the play, that Ferneze changes loyalty and so establishes that it is he who is the manifestation of Machiavelli, not Barabas.