JEW OF MALTA, The. Marlowe's 'Jew of Malta' is memorable for at least three rea sons. It was the most popular play of its pe riod, if not the most popular English play up to that time. So far as is known, the plot was en tirely original. Its chief character Barabas is the English prototype of a series of popular English characters, of which Shylock. Volpone and Sir Giles Overreach are noteworthy.
As Marlowe proceeded in the handling of plot he laid aside that "alchemy of eloquence" upon which he had depended. The main situa tion of 'The Jew of Malta' arises still from a vaunting spirit. Barabas in his opening solilo quy shows "infinite riches in a little room" to be his ambition. But the ambition is so crowded in the action that it is'difficult to dis tinguish it from the blood lust so popular in the plays of the day.
The play was probably produced about 1589 at the Court and the Cock-Pit, the part of the Jew being taken by Edward Alleyn. It is first mentioned in Henslowe's diary in 1592, and was not printed until 1633, when it was given to the world in an edition by Thomas Heywood. As
the play comes down to us it reveals very hur ried composition. The first two acts are as precise as is the following play 'Edward II.' Thereafter the action becomes confused and crowded. Action follows action with little re gard for motive and sequence. Barabas out lives a dozen deaths. More strangely still this portion lacks the magic of Marlowe's line. And yet there is no doubt that this second portion gave the play its popularity. Two characters stand out to appear again in the plays of later writers, Barabas, villain beyond nature, and Abagail, his daughter, who by her virtues shames the house that reared her. Editions: Dyce, A. (1850, 1858); Cunningham, Lt.-Col. F. (1870-71) ; Buffett, A. H. (1885) ; Mermaid Series, ed., Havelock Ellis (1887, 1903); Every than's Library, ed., Edward Thomas (1909). Consult Symonds, J. A., 'Shakespeare's Pre decessors in the English Drama' (1881) ; Ward, A. W., 'A History of English Dramatic Litera ture' (3 vols., 1899); Ingram, J. H., Marlowe and His Associates' (1904).