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Study Guide
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Jew of Malta Study Guide." Course Hero. 7 May 2018. Web. 28 May 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Jew-of-Malta/>.
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(Course Hero)
Bibliography
Course Hero. (2018, May 7). The Jew of Malta Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved May 28, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Jew-of-Malta/
In text
(Course Hero, 2018)
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Jew of Malta Study Guide." May 7, 2018. Accessed May 28, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Jew-of-Malta/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "The Jew of Malta Study Guide," May 7, 2018, accessed May 28, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Jew-of-Malta/.
Barabas glories in his wealth. He hears of a fleet of galleys arrived in Malta from Turkey.
Act 1, Scene 1Ferneze rules that the island's Jews must bear the brunt of paying the tribute to the Turks.
Act 1, Scene 2Abigail pretends conversion to Christianity and then rescues Barabas's fortune.
Act 2, Scene 1The Spanish vice admiral del Bosco persuades Ferneze to resist the Turks.
Act 2, Scene 2Barabas buys the Turkish slave Ithamore and begins to manipulate Lodowick and Mathias.
Act 2, Scene 3Informed of Mathias's death, the grieving Abigail converts to Christianity and joins the nunnery.
Act 3, Scene 3Barabas and Ithamore murder Friar Barnardine and then frame Friar Jacomo for the crime.
Act 4, Scene 1| Scene | Summary |
|---|---|
| Prologue | The prologue to the play consists of a speech by a ghost based on the Italian political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli (14... Read More |
| Act 1, Scene 1 | The scene opens with Barabas alone on stage. He is seated in his counting house, with "heaps of gold before him." The ta... Read More |
| Act 1, Scene 2 | The scene shifts to the senate-house of Malta, where an official meeting is presided over by the island's governor, a hi... Read More |
| Act 2, Scene 1 | This scene opens at night, outside the house of Barabas. The Jew enters with a light, praying that God will guide Abigai... Read More |
| Act 2, Scene 2 | This brief scene reverts to politics. The high-ranking Spanish naval officer Martin del Bosco has just arrived in Malta.... Read More |
| Act 2, Scene 3 | This scene further develops various plot strands that have been introduced earlier in Act 2. The action takes place in t... Read More |
| Act 3, Scene 1 | The opening scene of this act introduces two new characters: Bellamira and Pilia-Borza. The former, a courtesan, complai... Read More |
| Act 3, Scene 2 | With remarkable rapidity, Barabas settles his score with Lodowick and Mathias. The two young men, goaded into a duel by ... Read More |
| Act 3, Scene 3 | Ithamore's glee at the destruction of Mathias and Lodowick has no bounds, as he acclaims his new employer's mastery of "... Read More |
| Act 3, Scene 4 | Barabas enters, reading a letter from Abigail in which she informs him of her conversion to Christianity and her readmis... Read More |
| Act 3, Scene 5 | In this brief scene, Ferneze confronts the Turkish emissary Callapine and refuses to render the tribute imposed by the T... Read More |
| Act 3, Scene 6 | In a panic, Friar Jacomo and Friar Barnardine deplore the grave illness of the nuns, who are on the point of death. Abig... Read More |
| Act 4, Scene 1 | This scene opens with master and slave rejoicing at their success in annihilating the nuns. Perhaps most shocking, Barab... Read More |
| Act 4, Scene 2 | Pilia-Borza tells Bellamira that he has delivered the courtesan's letter to Ithamore. The Turkish slave enters, uttering... Read More |
| Act 4, Scene 3 | Barabas enters, reading Ithamore's first blackmail letter and delivering a scurrilous rant on Pilia-Borza's physical app... Read More |
| Act 4, Scene 4 | Ithamore, Bellamira, and Pilia-Borza plunge into revelry, toasting repeatedly with cups of wine. Ithamore boasts of the ... Read More |
| Act 5, Scene 1 | Ferneze, governor of Malta, enters, attended by his knights and officers and by the Spanish vice admiral Martin del Bosc... Read More |
| Act 5, Scene 2 | Calymath boasts of his victory over the Maltese, taunting Ferneze, who has capitulated. He proclaims Barabas the new gov... Read More |
| Act 5, Scene 3 | Having toured the city and repaired the damage caused by the siege, Calymath expresses admiration for Malta's strategic ... Read More |
| Act 5, Scene 4 | Ferneze addresses his knights, admonishing them not to sally forth until they hear a cannon shot. This will be the signa... Read More |
| Act 5, Scene 5 | Barabas busies himself putting the finishing touches on a "contraption" that will ensure the ruin of the Turkish troop... Read More |
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