Machiavelli

Marlowe: The Jew of Malta

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.

Machiavelli

In this module, we consider the figure of Machiavel in the play, thinking in particular about which of the characters is the real villain, as well as the morality of the play more generally.