Know Your Place: Divine Intervention in The Jew of Malta Cheyenne Candow College

The issue of religion is a prominent theme throughout Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta. It is the driving force of the events of the play, as Barabas’s quest for total revenge is kicked off with the Christian governor Ferneze singling out all of the Jews in Malta. Throughout the play, though, it is unclear which religion is going to come out on top, whether it be Barabas and the Jews, Calymath and the Turkish Muslims, or against all odds, Ferneze and the Christians. But by and throughout the final act, it becomes more clear that the Ferneze and the Christians will inevitably come out on top.
Barabas’s ultimate downfall begins in act 5, scene 1, as he begins to lose sights of his original driving motivation of getting revenge on Ferneze for taking all of his possessions. He has gone from wanting a simple revenge, which he got earlier in the play with the death of Lodowick, to revenge on the entire island of Malta. He has escalated this situation from being a man vs. man conflict, to a man vs. entire Christian community conflict (albeit, with the help of a Turkish army). This is a situation far too big for him to deal with, but Barabas does not immediately recognize the hot water he is in quite yet.
Act 5, scene 2 is when the...