Marlowe: The Jew of Malta

About this Course

About the Course

In this course, Professor Lisa Hopkins (University of Sheffield Hallam) explores Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta. In the first module, we consider the character of Machiaval/Machiavelli and the presentation of morality in the play, before moving on in the second module to think about the play's setting on the island of Malta. In this third module, we consider the relationship the three major religions of the play—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, before moving on in the fourth module to think about the importance of wealth in the play—including the various forms that wealth takes. In the fifth module, we focus more closely on the character of Barabas, before ending with a discussion of genre of the play, which seems to shift from something tragic and serious at the beginning to something comic and farcical by the end.

About the Lecturer

Lisa Hopkins is Professor of English at Sheffield Hallam University. Her principal research interests are in Renaissance drama, especially Marlowe, Shakespeare and Ford. She is also interested in the influence of Darwin on fiction, adaptation, and the work of Bram Stoker. At the moment, she is completing a book on From the Romans to the Normans on the English Renaissance Stage. She is a co-editor of Shakespeare, the journal of the British Shakespeare Association, and co-editor of the Arden Early Modern Drama Guides.