Guide Note:Like much of his work, Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta was meant to be a controversy. Set during the struggle for power between Spain and the Ottoman Empire, the main character Barabas the Jew would have evoked mixed feelings among the audience of that era.
Fast Facts:
- Author: Christopher Marlowe
- Entered into Stationer's Register May 17, 1594
- Main Protagonist: Barabas The Jew
- Influenced Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
- First recorded performance at the Rose Theatre in 1592
- Some scholars compare its balcony scene to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet