The Jew of Malta (Characters)

Characters

Abigail

Abigail is Barabas’ beautiful daughter. She is in love with Mathias, but is forced by her father to agree to a betrothal to Lodowick. She knows that the two young men will now hate one another but hopes that she will be able to reconcile them after she explains what has occurred. Before she can rectify things, Lodowick and Mathias kill one another, and Abigail enters a convent. When she is near death, Abigail implicates her father in the two men’s deaths and asks a friar to help her father repent and be converted to Christianity. Abigail’s actions in the opening scene of the play illustrate how much she loves her father. She is an obedient and loving daughter, an innocent who is not deserving of death. Like the death of Mathias, Abigail’s death proves how corrupt Barabas is and how far he will go to seek revenge.

Barabas

The soliloquy that opens the first act reveals a greedy merchant, busily counting his money and complaining about the lack of financial reward from his recent dealings. Moreover, he also complains of how tiring it is to count such small change and wishes he could be like merchants in other countries who can deal with gold without all the restrictions under which he must deal. Barabas is an elitist, who views himself as superior to those who surround him. He is also clever, hatching a plot to retrieve the wealth that he has hidden in the foundation of his house. When Abigail throws the bags of jewels and gold to her father, he scarcely notices her or even acknowledges her. All he can do is embrace his money, proving that he loves wealth more than his own child. Although he has, once again, bought a large home and amassed a fortune, Barabas is angry and vengeful, plotting ways to destroy the governor who sought to destroy him. To gain revenge, Barabas plots to have the governor’s son killed. Barabas sees no inequity in killing the governor’s son and thinks it an even trade for the loss of his money. Even though his daughter is in love with Mathias, Barabas uses her to entrap both young men, happily offering his own chaste daughter to seduce a man she does not love. Mathias’ only fault lies in his Christianity. Barabas does not want his daughter to marry a non-Jew, and so he can easily justify killing the young man. Barabas sees no crime in killing Christians. After Abigail converts to Christianity, Barabas readily plans her murder. His only regret at her death is that she did not die sooner, before she betrayed her Jewish ancestors and became a Christian. The two friars are also easily disposed of since they too are Christian and so have no value to Barabas. And even though Ithamore has been an able assistant in all these plots, Barabas also poisons him when it becomes necessary. Barabas is a caricature, embodying many sixteenth-century stereotypes of Jews. He is ruthless and has no conscience, caring for little except his money and revenge. In the end, Barabas is killed through his own plotting, leaving no one to mourn his passing.

Friar Barnardine

When Abigail needs to make her last confession, it is Friar Barnardine who is available. When she tells him that her father needs to be converted and must repent for the murders of Mathias and Lodowick, the friar betrays his vows and divulges the information to Friar Jacomo. Barnardine sees the conversion of Barabas as a way to get all the Jew’s money for his monastery. He is motivated less by religious zeal and more by greed. In the end, Barabas and Ithamore also murder him. But more importantly, his actions suggest that Catholic priests are corrupt, something that reflected much of the public’s opinion in Renaissance England.

Bellamira

Bellamira is a prostitute who has fallen on hard times. She has few customers now, and only Pilia-Borza gives her money. The slave, Ithamore, finds her attractive and thinks that if only he had money, he could possess her. Bellamira entices Ithamore to blackmail Barabas for money, promising him favors in return. As a result of her greed, she dies of poisoning, another victim of Barabas’ thirst for revenge.

Selim Calymath

Calymath is a Turkish prince, the son of the Grand Seignior. Calymath comes to Malta to demand that a long overdue tribute be paid to his father. He wants to be reasonable, and when the governor asks for time to collect the money, he is inclined to allow them time. When the governor later refuses to pay, Calymath returns to attack the city. He trusts Barabas and even awards the Jew the governorship of the city. He very nearly dies at Barabas’ hands and is imprisoned by Ferneze.

Martin Del Bosco

Del Bosco is the vice-admiral of the Spanish king. He convinces Ferneze not to pay the tribute, promising Spain’s help in defending Malta from the Turks. But he is easily overwhelmed by Calymath’s forces and is of little help to Ferneze.

Ferneze

Ferneze is the governor of Malta. Since he does not have the money to pay the Turks, he decides to force the Jews to pay it. His seizure of Barabas’ wealth is absolute and without further consideration. Ferneze points out that coveting money is a sin, and so he uses religion and Christianity as an excuse for his actions. Ferneze has little compassion for Barabas, whom he thinks can always make more money. Ferneze is more than willing to keep the tribute that he has collected and so accepts the Spanish offer for assistance. He grieves over his son’s death and promises revenge but is easily duped by Barabas. However, in the end, Ferneze proves himself as devious as his enemy. He manages to kill Barabas, imprison his enemy, Calymath, and restore peace to his city.

Ithamore

Ithamore is a slave, purchased by Barabas. Like his master, Ithamore is happy to destroy people and to create intrigue. He happily joins in the plots, and when all the nuns are dead, Ithamore even suggests poisoning all the priests. He has one weakness, a courtesan, Bellamira. She entices him to blackmail Barabas, though he must realize this would be very dangerous, having assisted the ruthless Barabas with many murders. Ithamore is either incredibly stupid, or he is so enamoured of this woman that he ceases to think. Perhaps it is both, since in the end, he too is poisoned by his former master.

Friar Jacomo

Friar Jacomo first appears when Abigail is initially admitted to the convent. This first time, she is deceiving the friar and the nuns, doing only her father’s bidding. But Friar Jacomo cannot detect this deception. He again interviews Abigail, when, after Mathias and Lodowick die, she again seeks sanctuary in the convent. He is absent when Abigail dies and so does not hear her confession, but he is eager to earn the financial rewards that would accompany Barabas’ confession and conversion. Like Friar Barnardine, Friar Jacomo is greedy, thinking of money first, but he also illustrates an important concept for the anti-Catholic movement in England: that priests are themselves so corrupt that they cannot recognize insincerity in others. Friar Jacomo’s inability to detect Abigail’s lies casts doubt on the friar’s own piousness. This is born out when he strikes Friar Barnardine. Although he does not actually murder the friar (Barabas does this), his hanging for the crime, then, seems to be the deserved punishment of a corrupt priest.

Katherine

The widowed mother of Mathias, she distrusts Barabas and warns her son to stay away from him. After Mathias is murdered, she vows that his murderer will be punished, never believing that Mathias’ best friend, Lodowick, is guilty of the murder.

Lodowick

Lodowick is the governor’s son and a friend of Mathias. He has heard much about Abigail’s beauty and wants to see her. He mistakenly believes that Barabas wants him to be a suitor for Abigail. Lodowick sees Abigail and wants to marry her. He agrees to a betrothal, not knowing that Abigail loves Mathias, nor understanding that Barabas is using him to gain revenge against his father. After he is tricked into meeting Mathias for a duel, Lodowick is killed, although not before killing his good friend. Lodowick is himself an innocent victim, serving only as a way for Barabas to gain some revenge against the young man’s father.

Machiavel

Machiavel speaks the prologue to the play and is meant to represent a reincarnation of Machiavelli. In the prologue, he speaks of the Machiavellian ideal of ruthlessness as a means to ensure great political and financial success.

Mathias

Mathias is a young gentleman who has seen Abigail and who admires her beauty. He becomes her suitor, and she returns his love. He is tricked by Barabas into believing that Lodowick is an unwelcome suitor who would steal Abigail. After Barabas tricks Mathias into meeting Lodowick for a duel, the two young men kill one another. Mathias is guilty of no crime, nor is there any reason for Barabas to have him killed. He is expendable because he is a Christian and because he dares to love Abigail. Mathias’ death serves as the first symbol of Barabas’ depravity.

Pilia-Borza

Pilia-Borza is a thief who tries unsuccessfully to steal Barabas’ money. Together with Bellamira, Pilia-Borza devises a plot to seduce Ithamore into helping them blackmail Barabas. After he learns from Ithamore that Barabas is responsible for the deaths of Lodowick and Mathias, Pilia-Borza tells Ferneze, hoping to earn a reward. In the end, Barabas poisons this traitor, just as he has so many others.