Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare wrote plays in England at a time when Jews were banished from the country, making it unlikely that Jewish characters in their view the representations would amount to something more than simple anti-Semitic stereotypes. Both Marlowe's The Jew of Malta and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice are easy to read as anti-Semitic works because of their vengeful Jewish characters. The playwrights may, however, have taken advantage of their audiences' anti-Semitism to promote their own messages. While Marlowe's antagonist, Barabas, is greedy and murderous, the Christians in the play are no different, suggesting that Marlowe uses Barabas as a mirror to reflect the Christians' greed and violence that they hide beneath the display of religion. This comment, however, may not be understood by the audience due to the stereotypical nature of Barabas. Shakespeare, in his later work The Merchant of Venice, parallels Marlowe's work, but makes his Jewish antagonist Shylock more sympathetic. Shakespeare shows how Shylock's vengeful nature is cultivated by the discrimination he faces in a Christian society, making Shylock not just a mirror that reflects Christian hypocrisy, but a mirror that reflects an image that has been forced upon him. This offers a better explanation of his and Barabas' motivations. Shakespeare also portrays Christians in a better light, showing that they are sometimes hypocrites, but ultimately practice what they preach, unlike Marlowe's work. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayMarlowe did not design Barabas to be sympathetic. Barabas is first introduced by Machiavelli in the prologue as "a Jew, / who smiles to see how full his purses are, / whose money was not obtained without my means" (Prologue 30-2). From the beginning he is described in the stereotypical terms of a greedy Jew who earns money dishonestly. However, Marlowe leaves ambiguous how the audience should view Barabas; Machiavelli says “give him grace as he deserves, / And let him entertain no worse / For he favors me” (Prologue 33-5). This could mean that he wants the audience to pity Barabbas and not judge him too harshly, or that Barabas deserves their judgment for more than following Machiavelli's teachings. The rest of the play, however, makes it seem as if Marlowe is suggesting the latter, as it becomes difficult to pity Barabas even when he is wronged by the Christians. After poisoning an entire convent, killing most of its inhabitants, including his daughter, for example, he seems to deserve the painful death he receives in the end, even though he has been wronged by the Christians. Barabas, however, is not the only greedy or murderous character. While the Christians in the play criticize the way Barabbas acts, his actions mirror theirs. Barabbas calls attention to Christian hypocrisy. “I see no fruit in all their faith,” he says, “But malice, falsehood, and excessive pride, / Which seems to me not to suit their profession” (1.1.114-6). Barabbas claims that Christians do not practice what they preach and accuses them of possessing characteristics for which they criticize him. It is true that Barabas is guilty of greed, but the Christians in the work are guilty of the same sin, including the Christian clergy of Malta. Brother Jacomo, believing he is converting Barabas, says: "O happy hour / In which I will convert an infidel / And bring his gold into our treasury!" (4.1.166). For Jacomo, it seems that getting Barabas' gold is as important as saving Barabas' soul. Thishe is, as Barabas says of Christians, hypocritical, for he should not desire gold in this way. This also explains why he and Friar Barnardine, another Christian seeking Barabas' soul and perhaps gold, begin a verbal and then physical confrontation over Barabbas' conversion at the beginning of the scene; their greed pushed them to violence. Even Baraba, therefore, is not the only violent or vengeful character. Even in these aspects it reflects Christians. After Barnardine and Jacomo argue, Barabas and Itamore kill Barnardine and put him outside the door. Jacomo sees the corpse, believes it is still alive and tries to prevent it from reaching Barabbas, and says “let me pass… No, isn't it? No, then I will make my way” (4.1.173-4). The subsequent captions ask Jacomo to hit the corpse with a stick. While Barnardine is already dead, Jacomo is ready to kill Barnardine himself in order to convert Barabbas. He does not deny what he did, saying “I did not,” suggesting that he struck with enough force that he was not surprised that Barnardine died (4.1.182). Barabbas also brings out the vengeful nature of Matias and Lodowick, two Christian men in love with his daughter Abigail. Barabas manipulates them both and they end up in a fight in which they both die. The audience may blame Barabas for their deaths and Jacomo's willingness to kill Barnardine, as they likely would not have committed these actions if they had not been manipulated by Barabas. However, the fact that Barabas is able to manipulate them into killing suggests that Barabas was simply helping to awaken a drive that already existed in them. If they had been sincere in their Christianity, they might have resisted this temptation. Furthermore, James' lust for Barabbas' gold was not due to manipulation; appears to be a large part of his initial motivation to convert Barabbas. When Barabas first meets the two friars, he tells them “the weight of my sins / Burdens upon my soul. So please tell me: / Isn't it too late now to become a Christian?" (4.1.51-3). Far from being interested in conversion, Barabas is putting on a show for Christians to keep out of trouble and get things right. Lowe wants his audience to see that Christians also practice their religion and are not as sincere as they claim to be. The Jewish character may be bad, but the actions of the Christian characters are mirrored in Barabas. Due to audience prejudice, however, this comment may not be understood, especially since Barabas' cruelty surpasses that of the Christians in the play. At the end of the play, a trap Barabas turns against him and ends up boiling over a cauldron intended for the Turkish general Calymath. To his cries for help, Ferneze responds: “Should I, out of pity for your complaints or for you, / Cursed Barabas, vile Jew, give in / No, so I will see your betrayal repaid” (5.5 .71-3). Ferneze refuses to give Barabas the mercy he demands, and because of everything Barabas has done, the public will likely believe he deserves his fate, making them more likely to ignore how the Christians who brought him to justice were not so moral as they claimed to do. be.Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, written not long after Marlowe's play, also has a vengeful Jewish antagonist, but unlike Barabas, Shylock commits no crime or engages in any deception; however, he asks the Christian merchant Antony to give up a pound of his flesh if he fails to repay a loan, a sinister request that caters to Shakespeare's audience's negative perception of Jews. Shakespeare, however, provides more justification as to why Shylock is the way he is; Shylock is a mirrorwho reflects the roles that society projects onto him while, like Barabas, he reflects the wrongs of the Christian society around him. Shakespeare, in fact, represents everyone in a better light than Marlowe, including Christians and Muslims. Where Itamoro in The Jew of Malta boasts of “setting fire to Christian villages” (Marlowe 2.3.202), the presumably Muslim Moroccan prince who appears in The Merchant of Venice is as much a gentleman as any of Portia's European suitors . “I do not like for my complexion,” he tells her, “the shaded livery of the burnished sun” (Shakespeare 2.2). He eloquently tries to get her to appreciate him and see beyond the color of her skin, and does nothing to offend her, yet Portia maintains her prejudices. After he fails to pass the challenge required to marry her, she says "Let all his complexion so choose me", underlining the arbitrary nature of the prejudice; her dislike of him is based solely on the color of his skin (2.7). The prince, as a Moroccan, lives in a society where he belongs to the majority and is therefore not constantly othered as he is by Portia. He can be himself and not be forced to reflect the stereotypical images that are constantly projected to him. Shylock, on the other hand, lives in Venice, a predominantly Christian society that oppresses him and treats him like a stereotype. Shakespeare suggests that it is this treatment that makes Shylock cruel and vindictive, not something inherent in his Judaism. This is illustrated through his relationship with Antonio. Antonio initially appears to be friendly and generous through his interactions with his friend Bassanio, but this disappears when he interacts with Shylock. As Barabas says of Christians in The Jew of Malta, Anthony believes that “the faith is not to be kept with heretics” (Marlowe 2.3.312). This not only shows Antonio's hypocrisy, but provides a closer and more personal explanation for Shylock's nature. Shylock tells Antonio "At Rialto you sized me up / About my money and my habits... / You call me a miscreant, a heartless dog, / And you spit on my Jewish gabardine", detailing the various ways in which Antonio abused of him in public nothing other than being Jewish (Shakespeare 1.3). However, Shylock is the first character to show anything resembling mercy; despite Antonio's abuses, Shylock does not refuse to do business with him and in fact does not demand payment of interest. Bassanio says “This is kindness,” acknowledging that Shylock is generous in offering it when it is in his power to refuse (1.3). Shylock, however, demands a pound of Antonio's flesh in case he is unable to repay his loan, apparently for reasons of revenge. Antonio, however, accepts this agreement, fully aware of the consequences; there is no deception involved. When asked why he wants a pound of Antonio's flesh, Shylock gives a surprisingly sympathetic speech for a Jewish character in an anti-Semitic society. He asks if Jews are not “fed with the same food… healed by the same means, warmed and refreshed by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is?” (3.1). In contrast to everyone in the play who calls him inhuman, Shylock suggests that, other than religious differences, there is nothing major that separates a Jew from a Christian, who are equally human. This being the case, he asks: “If a Jew wrongs a Christian, what is his humility? Vendetta. If a Christian offends a Jew, what should be his suffering for the Christian example? Why, revenge. The wickedness you teach me, I will carry out” (3.1). He claims he has the right to revenge because a Christian would have the same right. In reference to Antonio's insults, Shylock says “for I am a 2017