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Home , Roderigo Lopez, The Jew of Malta

Christopher ’s -written in 1589-1590, and first performed in 1592-

It is now sometimes seen as a satire of then-contemporary attitudes of Christians towards . Elizabethan England probably saw the play as a demonization of the Jewish faith. The Jew of Malta is considered to have been a major influence of 's .

The Jewish merchant in question, Barabas, is introduced as a man owning more wealth than the entire city of Malta. The name Barabas comes from the Biblical figure of Barabbas, a notorious bandit. Barabbas, rather than Jesus Christ, was released by Pontius Pilate at the behest of a mob.

In order to raise tribute demanded by the Muslim Turks, Ferneze, the Christian governor of Malta, seizes half the property of all Jews living on Malta. When Barabas, a wealthy Jewish merchant, protests, his entire estate is confiscated. Seeking revenge on his enemies, Barabas plots their destruction.

With the aid of his daughter, Abigail, he recovers some of his former assets and buys a Turkish slave, Ithamore, who appears to hate Christians as much as Barabas. Barabas then uses his daughter's beauty to embitter the governor's son and his friend against each other, leading to a duel in which they both die. When Abigail learns of Barabas's role in the plot, she consigns herself to a nunnery, only to be poisoned (along with all of the nuns) by Barabas and Ithamore. Barabas is finally dropped into a boiling cauldron by the Turks and killed.

As with Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, the unremitting evil of The Jew of Malta's protagonist leaves the play open to accusations of anti-Semitism. The play ridicules Christian monks and nuns for engaging in forbidden sexual practices, and portrays a pair of friars trying to outbid each other to bring Barabas (and his wealth) into their order. Malta's Christian governor, in addition to his unfair treatment of the city's Jews, is revealed to be a grasping opportunist who seizes any chance to get an advantage.

The Jew of Malta was a success in its first performance at theatre in early 1592. It gained significant notoriety due to Marlowe's arrest for heresy and subsequent violent death in 1593, and the 1594 execution of Dr. Rodrigo Lopez, Queen Elizabeth's Jewish physician. The play remained popular for the next fifty years.

Barabas. Thus trowls our fortune in by land and sea, And thus are we on every side enriched. These are the blessings promised to the Jews, And herein was old Abram's happiness. What more may heaven do for earthly man Than thus to pour out plenty in their laps, Ripping the bowels of the earth for them, Making the sea their servants, and the winds To drive their substance with successful blasts? Who hateth me but for my happiness? Or who is honored now but for his wealth? Rather had I, a Jew, be hated thus, Than pitied in a Christian poverty; For I can see no fruits in all their faith, But malice, falsehood, and excessive pride, Which methinks fits not their profession. Haply some hapless man hath conscience, And for his conscience lives in beggary. 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. There's Kirriah Jairim, the great Jew of Greece, Obed in Bairseth, Nones in Portugal, Myself in Malta, some in Italy, Many in France, and wealthy every one, Ay, wealthier far than any Christian. I must confess we come not to be kings. That's not our fault. Alas, our number's few, And crowns come either by succession Or urged by force, and nothing violent, Oft have I heard tell, can be permanent. Give us a peaceful rule; make Christians kings, That thirst so much for principality. I have no charge, nor many children, But one sole daughter, whom I hold as dear.

Shakespeare’s “Christian Comedy” The Merchant of Venice (1594-1597)

By Michael J. Cummings . Was William Shakespeare anti-Semitic?

...... One school of Shakespeare interpreters answers yes, resoundingly. Their primary evidence is his depiction of the Jewish moneylender in The Merchant of Venice as grasping, vengeful, and ethnically foul. Shakespeare’s message: Jews are evil.

...... However, close scrutiny of the play reveals that Shakespeare wrote it to condemn the moral and ethical values of errant Christians, not Jews. The Christian characters in The Merchant of Venice assess their own worth and the worth of others according to faulty standards, believing that money, position, and establishmentarian affiliations are the sum of a man or a woman. It is they who force Shylock into money lending; it is they who seed his monomaniacal lust for revenge. To be sure, Shylock exhibits monstrous behavior, but it is reactive behavior. He makes his living through usury because usury is the only way he can compete in Christian Venice; he accumulates wealth because he believes it gives him security and independence in a hostile Christian world.

...... What Shakespeare thought about Jews is profoundly important to writers, teachers, actors, historians, social scientists, members of the clergy–indeed to every thinking human being– because of the extraordinary influence his literary legacy exerts on human thought and endeavor. No other writer of any age is more widely read; no other writer is more argued over and written about. The popularity of Shakespeare films in recent times further aggrandizes his reputation while instilling uneasiness in those who believe he harbored prejudices that inflame anti- Semitism.

...... To find out Shakespeare–to try pin him down on the Jewish question–critics generally scrutinize The Merchant of Venice and its characters as well as other Shakespeare works with significant racial, ethnic, or religious themes. They also peruse the ’s record of strong anti-Semitism.

...... A daunting task for explorers of this subject is to put aside their own biases. Not all researchers can. Consequently, they guide themselves toward the desired conclusion rather than letting the research guide them to the most logical conclusion. Lovers of Shakespeare are prone to such bias. So are fault-finders who criticize Shakespeare for the offensive dialogue in The Merchant of Venice . To be sure, there is much for these fault-finders to complain about. Throughout the play, Christians depersonalize and alienate Shylock by refusing to use his given name. Instead, they call him “the villain Jew,” “this currish Jew,” “infidel,” and “cruel devil.” To the Christians, Shylock is diabolically foul.

Plot

The comedy starts out with Antonio, a great merchant prince of the city of Venice who sends out his ships as far as Mexico and the Indies, seeks a loan from the Jew Shylock. He readily agrees to Shylock’s suggestion that Antonio forfeit a pound of his flesh if the three thousand ducats are not paid back within three months time.

The issue between the Jewish moneylender and the Christian merchant is not simply the taking of interest. It is the usurer’s merciless exploitation of his victims. He is no mere banker, but a crafty and ruthless loan shark.

Defenders of Shylock often argue that at first his offer of friendship is sincere, and that he never meant the forfeit of a pound of Antonio’s flesh as anything but “a merry jest,” until his daughter Jessica deserted him to elope with one of Antonio’s Christian friends.

Shylock's Passion

...... Of course, there can be no denying Shylock’s passion for accumulating wealth. Verily, he breeds it, as rams and ewes breed lambs, he tells Antonio in Act I, Scene III. He also tells his daughter, Jessica, that he even dreams about moneybags. After Jessica raids those moneybags and her father’s store of jewels to abscond with Lorenzo, a Christian, Salanio tells his companion Salarino in Act II, Scene VIII:

...... I never heard a passion so confused, ...... So strange, outrageous, and so variable, ...... As the dog Jew did utter in the streets: ...... 'My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! ...... Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! ...... Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter! ...... A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, ...... Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter!

...... These lines appear to indict Shylock as a man so consumed by his love of money that he cares more for his ducats than he does for his daughter. However, while acknowledging Shylock’s avarice, careful Shakespeare exegetes also should note that Salarino, a Christian, is a biased reporter who prefaces his news with the slur “dog Jew.” In a court of law, his credibility would be nil. But what if he reported the exact words of Shylock? In that case, consider that the passage is framed at the beginning and end by “my daughter” and that the heart of the passage, Line 4, is also so framed. It indicates that Shylock cares about Jessica. That she would steal from him and run off with an avowed enemy wounds him deeply. ..Christian gibes also brand Shylock as Satan in godly clothing. In Act I, Scene III, after Shylock quotes the Bible to make a point, Antonio tells Bassanio:

ANTONIO Mark you this, Bassanio, The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart: O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

ANTONIO Well, Shylock, shall we be beholding to you?

SHYLOCK Signior Antonio, many a time and oft In the Rialto you have rated me About my moneys and my usances: Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, And all for use of that which is mine own. Well then, it now appears you need my help: Go to, then; you come to me, and you say 'Shylock, we would have moneys:' you say so; You, that did void your rheum upon my beard And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur Over your threshold: moneys is your suit What should I say to you? Should I not say 'Hath a dog money? is it possible A cur can lend three thousand ducats?' Or Shall I bend low and in a bondman's key, With bated breath and whispering humbleness, Say this; 'Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; You spurn'd me such a day; another time You call'd me dog; and for these courtesies I'll lend you thus much moneys'?

BASSANIO This were kindness.

SHYLOCK This kindness will I show. Go with me to a notary, seal me there Your single bond; and, in a merry sport, If you repay me not on such a day, In such a place, such sum or sums as are Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit Be nominated for an equal pound Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken In what part of your body pleaseth me.

ANTONIO Content, i' faith: I'll seal to such a bond And say there is much kindness in the Jew.

In Shakespeare’s time, English law continued to forbid Jews from living in England, but a few hundred survived in London and other cities in the guise of Christians. For many centuries, Christians held it to be proper to spit in a Jew’s face on certain occasions. The idea goes back to the crucifixion when, according to the Gospels, the Jews mocked Christ and spat upon him.

It should be mentioned that Shakespeare’s play must owe something to the trial, in 1594, of Dr. , the converted Portuguese Jew who served as physician to Queen . Lopez was raised in Portugal as a , but driven away from Portugal by the Portuguese Inquisition as he was considered a (a hidden Jew), eventually making London his home. In 1594, as the Queen’s chief physician, Lopez was accused of conspiring with Spanish emissaries to poison the Queen. Dr. Lopez who, though very probably innocent, was convicted and executed on the charge of plotting to poison Queen Elizabeth. Some historians and literary critics consider Lopez and his trial to have been an influence on William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice . Many Shakespearean scholars believe Dr. Lopez was also the prototype for Shylock.

Jews were presented on the Elizabethan stage in hideous caricature, with hooked noses and red hats, and were usually depicted as avaricious usurers.

It was during this time of heightened anti-Jewish fervor that Shakespeare wrote the Merchant of Venice (1594-1597) and staged it (probably just before 1600). It was the second play within a decade to star a Jew as a villain. The first was ’s The Jew of Malta , performed about 1590. In that play, the titular character, Barabas, is so detestable that his enemies boil him in a cauldron. Audiences loved the play, many of them not realizing that Marlowe’s main intent was to satirize Christians.

Shakespeare was presenting life as it was, not life as it should be. The real evil in The Merchant of Venice is the corrupt value system of the principal Christian characters who are, of course, representative of people in Shakespeare’s time. Antonio, the merchant of the title, is among the worst of the lot. Although he enjoys a sterling reputation among fellow Christians as a righteous, self-sacrificing citizen and friend–a Christ figure, even–he despises Shylock primarily because he is a Jew.

It is true, of course, that Shylock charges interest for loans, a practice considered immoral by the Venetian Christians in the play. However, beginning in the 13th Century, lending money at interest was legal in parts of Europe, and English law in the Elizabethan Age sanctioned the practice. But whether legal or illegal, moneylending was sometimes the only way a Jew–severely restricted in the Christian world of commerce–could support himself and his family. In Venice of the 16th Century, the setting of The Merchant of Venice , Jews even had to live in a ghetto, separated from Christian-kind. The word “ghetto” was first used during this time to refer to the Jewish quarter of a city.

In one of the greatest scenes, Shylock pours out a passionate defense of the Jewish people and a challenge to Christians to practice the mercy and humility that they profess:

SALARINO Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh: what's that good for?

SHYLOCK To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

When Antonio fails to meet the three month deadline, the issue turns to whether or not Shylock will take his bond. In Act III, Scene III, Shylock angrily responds to a plea from Antonio:

SHYLOCK I'll have my bond; speak not against my bond: I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond. Thou call'dst me dog before thou hadst a cause; But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs:

ANTONIO I pray thee, hear me speak.

SHYLOCK I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak: I'll have my bond; and therefore speak no more. I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield To Christian intercessors. Follow not; I'll have no speaking: I will have my bond.

Even when Bassanio offers to pay double the original sum back to Shylock, the Jew is made to seem to be greedy and vengeful, only wanting his bond of flesh from the Christian:

BASSANIO For thy three thousand ducats here is six.

SHYLOCK What judgment shall I dread, doing Were in six parts and every part a ducat, I would not draw them; I would have my bond.

DUKE How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none?

SHYLOCK What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong? You have among you many a purchased slave, Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules, You use in abject and in slavish parts, Because you bought them: shall I say to you, Let them be free, marry them to your heirs? Why sweat they under burthens? let their beds Be made as soft as yours and let their palates Be season'd with such viands? You will answer 'The slaves are ours:' so do I answer you: The pound of flesh, which I demand of him, Is dearly bought; 'tis mine and I will have it. If you deny me, fie upon your law! There is no force in the decrees of Venice. I stand for judgment