Written around 1589–1590, The Jew of Malta is one of Marlowe’s most provocative plays. When the governor of Malta seizes the wealth of the Jewish merchant Barabas to pay a tribute to Turkey, Barabas embarks on an escalating campaign of revenge that eventually consumes everyone around him. The play’s black comedy and its gleefully amoral protagonist would later influence Shakespeare’s Shylock.
A key work of Elizabethan drama, The Jew of Malta is endlessly debated for its treatment of religion and ethnicity. This free EPUB is cleanly formatted for any e-reader.