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Summary
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
While the people of the world believe that Machevill is dead, his soul lives on. “The Guise,” too, is dead, and now Machevill’s ghost has come from France to England. Machevill’s name is repulsive to some, but he is admired the most by the people who despise him. Some people rally against his books, but the same people still read those books (some even sit in “Peter’s chair”), and Machevill is impossible to forget. To Machevill, religion is “a childish toy,” and the only sin is ignorance.
Presumably, Machevill is the embodiment of Niccolò Machiavelli, at 16th-centry Italian diplomat and political philosopher who died in 1527. Machiavelli’s name is synonymous with corruption and self-interest (a political policy known as Machiavellianism), and this is the same immorality Marlowe hints at here. “The Guise” is a reference to the third Duke of Guise, a French nobleman and leader of the French Catholics against the Protestants during the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598). Guise led the attack during the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in Paris in 1572, which killed over 30,000 people, mostly Protestants. Marlowe implies that Guise employed Machiavellian tactics, and now that Guise is dead, Machevill is looking to have some fun in England with his deceitful ways. His name is vile to many, but Machevill suggests that many people rely on his tactics, including the Pope (the man who sits in “Peter’s chair”). Machevill doesn’t have much use for religion and calls it a “toy,” which is a major deviation from Machiavelli’s political policy. Machiavelli saw value in religion, whereas Machevill does not, which suggests that Marlowe, at the very least, disagrees with some of Machiavelli’s selfish and corrupt tactics.
Themes
Some people call his methods murder, but Machevill thinks this opinion is foolish. He asks the audience what right Caesar had to the crown. Kings are made by “might,” Machevill says, and laws come second. A strong nation requires more than laws; a strong nation requires a strong leader.
Machevill’s claim that kings are made by “might” implies that a leader must rule by force—mere laws are insufficient. In this way, Marlowe suggests that a strong leader must instill a certain amount of fear in the people, ostensibly through Machiavellian tactics.
Themes
But, Machevill says, he is not here to talk about himself. He is here to introduce “the tragedy of a Jew, / Who smiles to see how full his bags are crammed.” The Jew, Barabas, obtained his gold through “my means,” Machevill notes, but he asks the audience not to judge Barabas too harshly. Machevill asks the audience to judge Barabas based on his own merit, not solely because he supports Machevill.
Barabas “smiles” at his full bags, which suggests that he is exceedingly greedy, and the term “tragedy” foreshadows that Barabas’s story will not end well. Barabas obtained his wealth through Machevill’s “means,” which is to say that Barabas made his money through dishonest and corrupt practices. Jews were officially unwelcomed in England during Marlowe’s time, and this air anti-Semitism pervades most of the play, beginning with Marlowe’s stereotypical caricature of Barabas as a greedy and corrupt Jew.
Themes
Literary Devices
