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The Jew of Malta

The Jew of Malta. Stevie Croisant & Kylie Eaton. Contemporary and Publication History during Marlowe’s time. Marlowe was a successful playwright and eclipsed Shakespeare during his lifetime. The play was written in 1589,1590, or 1591 Edward Alleyn is said to have played Barabas on stage

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The Jew of Malta

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  1. The Jew of Malta Stevie Croisant & Kylie Eaton

  2. Contemporary and Publication History during Marlowe’s time • Marlowe was a successful playwright and eclipsed Shakespeare during his lifetime. • The play was written in 1589,1590, or 1591 • Edward Alleyn is said to have played Barabas on stage • The Queen’s company also presented The Jew of Malta at court in or before 1633 PUBLICATION HISTORY • Quarto of 1633 is derived from Marlowe’s ‘foul papers’ • There is not proof that the text was revised

  3. Source material for the Jew of Malta • Earliest reference of the play was in Henslowe’s Diary which records plays mostly performed at the Rose theatre • The character of Barabas is very similar to a historical Jew • It is speculated that Marlowe was one of the first to use “Machiavel” on the English stage

  4. The Jew of Malta and religion in early modern Europe • Henry III and Queen Elizabeth • The battle between Catholics and Protestants • Edmund Campion and Robert Parsons • William Elderton, ballad-writer: Theyle make you beleue that white is fayrebacke. Except by strong faith ye put them quite backe; Th’ effecte is playne treason against God and our Queene, As by these late Traytours well tried hath beene. • Malta a Christian island with victories over Islam

  5. Machiavelli in Jew of Malta • Machiavel Prologue - Stereotype Barabas • Barabas’ betrayal of all • Machiavel’s idea that one must be feared. • Continue no matter who is in the way.

  6. Metatheatrics within the Jew of Malta • Sara Munson Deats and Lisa S. Sparks: “’So neatly plotted, and so well perfom’d’: Villian as Playwright in Marlowe’s ‘Jew of Malta’” • Theatrical motif clarifies Barabas’s motives which lack credibility • Exploitive playwright, manipulation • Fear of discovery, desire for revenge • Rotating wheel of fortune • Provides pattern for revenge tragedies starring villain as playwright • Arata Ide: “’The Jew of Malta’ and the Diabolic Power of Theatrics in the 1580s” • Theater as a complex idea • Barabas as playwright, actor, and audience • Manipulation through theatrics • Barabas changes as a character, but only through his use of theatrics

  7. More Metatheatrics • Emily C. Bartels: “Christopher Marlowe” A companion to Renaissance Drama • “Each play ends with the character as much as the character ends with the play” • Marlowe’s protagonists don’t have desires, they perform them. • Deception depends on display.

  8. Religion in the Jew of Malta • Ana Beskin: “From Jew to Nun: Abigail in Marlow’s ‘The Jew of Malta’” • Marlowe sets Abigail up as victim and Barabas as “evil Jew” • Abigail embodies Christian ideals, other characters do not • Abigail as an “inlaw” feminine character • Opportunity to write Abigail as a worthy Jew in death, converts her to Christianity and keeps Barabas a Jew • G. K. Hunter: “The Theology of Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta • Barabasparody's Job. • Loss of wealth physical disaster • Recover prosperity by buying and selling. • Patriarchal prayers • Theology allows us to “rejoice with the Jew at the destruction of ‘Christians.’

  9. More religion • Stevie Simkin: “Marlowe: The Plays” • Particular emphasis on Barabas’s “Jewishness” • Victims identify as Christains • “We are villains both/ Both circumsiz’d, we both hate Christains” • Play seems to reflect Anti-Semitic ideas

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