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Katherine is Mathias’s mother, and she serves to personify vengeance and anti-Semitic hate. When Katherine catches Mathias talking to Barabas, she forbids her son to converse with a Jew, and even though Mathias admits he is in love with Abigail, he is hesitant to act on his feelings for fear his mother won’t approve. When Mathias is killed in the duel with Lodowick, Katherine, like Ferneze, swears revenge, which suggests that revenge and betrayal often go hand in hand.
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Katherine Character Timeline in The Jew of Malta
The timeline below shows where the character Katherine appears in The Jew of Malta. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2, Scene 3
...about the “diamond,” Barabas says. As Lodowick exits, Mathias enters the market with his mother, Katherine. Mathias wonders what business Lodowick has with Barabas and worries that it might be about...
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Katherine and Mathias inspect the slaves for sale, and Mathias pretends not to know Barabas. Then,...
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...Abigail will marry Mathias, but he says that Lodowick has gone to tell Mathias’s mother, Katherine, that Mathias is in love with Abigail. “She’ll die with grief,” Mathias says and exits.
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Act 3, Scene 2
Ferneze and Katherine rush in, along with a group of citizens, and find Lodowick and Mathias dead. Ferneze...
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Act 5, Scene 1
Katherine enters and asks Ferneze if he has found their sons’ murder. Yes, Ferneze says, it...
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