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Similes
Definition of Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost thoughts and feelings as if... read full definition
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost... read full definition
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The Jew of Malta features frequent soliloquies, mostly by Barabas, who ponders his emotions, morals, goals, and motivations. Act I begins with Barabas soliloquizing about his wealth, a choice that establishes his primary motivation as greed from the outset:
Give me the merchants of the Indian mines,
That trade in metal of the purest mould;
The wealthy Moor, that in the eastern rocks
Without control can pick his riches up,
And in his house heap pearls like pebble-stones,
Receive them free, and sell them by the weight.
In this soliloquy, Barabas reveals that one of his primary aspirations is to acquire wealth unhindered and to save it without threat of it diminishing as he ages. A short while later, in another soliloquy, Barabas ties his love of acquiring wealth to his sense of Jewish cultural unity:
They say we are a scattered nation:
I cannot tell, but we have scambled up
More wealth by far than those that brag of faith.
In this soliloquy, Barabas reveals that his pride in being Jewish is entirely caught up in his perception of the community's wealth—a wealth, he believes, that is far more valuable to the community than the faith of any individual.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Barabas the Fatal Presage:
At the beginning of Act 2, Scene 1, Barabas begins with a soliloquy, addressing his despair at the loss of his wealth. He starts the soliloquy with a simile, likening himself to a raven:
Thus, like the sad presaging raven, that tolls
The sick man's passport in her hollow beak,
And in the shadow of the silent night
Doth shake contagion from her sable wings;
Vexed and tormented runs poor Barabas
With fatal curses towards these Christians.
Interestingly, Barabas uses the third-person perspective in this passage, distancing himself from the emotions expressed therein and adopting the role of a narrator. The choice of having Barabas take on such a role in his own soliloquy works well in tandem with the raven simile, exposing several facets of Barabas's self-image. On the one hand, he perceives himself as a harbinger of godly vengeance: the Greeks believed that ravens were bad omens, forewarning pain or death. He is an omen, embodied. This simile, accompanied by the temporary switch to third-person narration, reveals Barabas's identification with the vengeful God of the Old Testament. This mentality is at odds with the victim complex Barabas displays, as he otherwise characterizes himself as "vexed and tormented." He therefore simultaneously wishes to be God and a victim, perhaps hoping to benefit from the direct power of godliness while simultaneously exerting a more subtle form of power by claiming victim status.
Related Themes:
