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Act 3, Scene 5
Themes
Key
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
Religious Hypocrisy
Anti-Semitism
Money and Greed
Betrayal and Revenge
Summary
Analysis
Jacomo and Bernardine enter. Jacomo says that all the nuns are sick, and no medicine will help. The nuns will surely die, he claims. Bernardine says the Abbess has just sent for him to hear her confession. “Oh, what a sad confession will there be!” Bernardine cries. Jacomo quickly exits, on his way to hear another nun’s confession, and Abigail enters. She tells Bernardine that all the other nuns are dead and that she will soon be dead, too. Abigail claims that she has lived righteously since coming to the convent, but she did sin terribly before, and now she needs Bernardine to hear her confession.
The Abbess’s “sad confession” is ambiguous and can be interpreted in different ways. Her final confession may be “sad” because she is a nun and is therefore pure with very little to confess; or, the nun’s confession is “sad” because she has many sins to confess—beginning with the sexual relationships with the friars that Marlowe keeps alluding to. Abigail’s final confession, too, appears hypocritical. She has been a nun for mere days yet claims to be righteous.
Themes
Abigail asks Bernardine if he knows Mathias and Lodowick, and Bernardine says he does. She reveals that Barabas promised her to both Mathias and Lodowick, even though she never loved Lodowick and only wanted Mathias. It was because of Barabas’s scheming that Mathias and Lodowick turned against each other, Abigail admits, and it is because of Barabas that the two men are dead. Bernardine curses Barabas’s wickedness, and Abigail begs Bernardine not to tell her father. Bernardine reassures Abigail that “canon law forbids” him to reveal someone’s confession, and she is glad to hear it. She asks Bernardine to save Barabas and convert him, and then she dies.
Abigail’s belief that Bernardine can absolve her of her sins seems a bit misguided, especially since Marlowe has already established the church in Malta to be largely hypocritical. The “canon law” that forbids Bernardine from revealing Abigail’s confession is known as the Seal of Confession, and it is one of a Catholic priest’s most sacred vows. The confessional seal cannot be broken for any reason, and any priest who may overhear another’s confession is also bound by this same seal. In short, a priest can never utter any part of a confession at any time, to anyone, for any reason.
Themes
Bernardine looks at Abigail’s dead body and is disappointed that she died a virgin, but he is excited to find Barabas “and make him stand in fear of [Bernardine].” Jacomo enters and tells Bernardine that all the nuns are dead and that they must bury them. Bernardine suggests they bury Abigail first, and then Jacomo can help him find Barabas. Jacomo asks what Barabas has done, and Bernardine says he has something done something terrible. Jacomo asks if Barabas killed a child, but Bernardine says it is much worse. “’Twas told to me in shrift,” Bernadine says. “Come let’s away.” The two friars grab Abigail’s body and exit.
“Shrift” is another word for confession, and while Marlowe doesn’t explicitly state it here, it is implied that Bernardine tells Jacomo all about Abigail’s confession. Bernardine can’t wait to find Barabas and “make him stand in fear of [him],” meaning Bernardine is planning to use Abigail’s confession for his own benefit to blackmail Barabas in some way. Again, Bernardine is a complete hypocrite. He ignores his priestly vows when it suits him, which is also reflected in his disappointment that Abigail died a virgin. As a priest, Bernardine should be celibate, but he doesn’t appear to be.
Themes
