Shylock and Barajas

Book Review # 69196

English > Analysis
Literature > English
Shakespeare > Merchant of Venice

Shylock and Barajas

A comparative analysis of the Jewish characters of Shylock and Barajas in William Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" and Christopher Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta."

1,700 words () | 2 sources | APA | 2006 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the characters Shylock and Barabas from
Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" and Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta" and discusses how Shylock and Barabas are essentially the same character: Shakespeare used the template of the character Barabas in Marlowe's work to create Shylock. It addresses the question of, through character comparison and contrast between Barabas and Shylock, whether the authors' intentions were to spread racial stereotypes through the character, or to spread a more implicit and yet more redeeming message of basic humanity and equality.

From the Paper:

"The basic plot of Marlowe's presentation of Barabas is similar to Shakespeare's in all but one key facet: in Marlowe, the societal pressures cause Barabas to go on a significantly successful killing spree, sealing his villainy. In Shakespeare with the Shylock character, everything is the same in terms of the setting, the obsessive love for
the daughter, and the rage that the character feels when the corrupt Christian government takes all of their lands and money just because they are Jewish. And in Shakespeare, as well as in Marlowe, this drives the character into being a villain, due to their rage at this situation. But in Shakespeare, the result is not a successful killing spree, but instead one failed attempt at violence, which, instead of sealing the character's villainy, makes the result more ambiguous and tragic."