Barabas the Jew
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Barabas is a fictional character who appears at the centre of Christopher Marlowe's play The Jew of Malta. He is named after the thief, murderer and (arguably) terrorist who was released from prison and pardoned from crucifixion in place of Jesus (Matthew 27 v. 16-21, 26, Mark 16 v. 7-15) . Described in the play's prologue as "a sound Machiavil" (meaning he is extremely Machiavellian), he is interesting as a character in that he is possibly the first ever stage-portrayed psychopath (at least within English literature), taking people into confidence by playing on their desires and then killing them. Like Shakespeare's Shylock (the idea of whom may have been inspired by Barabas) he is open to interpretation as a symbol of anti-semitism. However, also like Shylock, he occasionally shows evidence of humanity (albeit very rarely).
Barabas begins the play in his counting-house- perhaps already playing on the stereotypical view of Jews' being misers. However, it is when his money is stolen from him that he really lives up to the anti-semetic stereotype, turning into, rather than already existing as, the very sort of monster people all around him accuse him of being simply for having different beliefs. Stripped of all he has for protesting at the Governor of Malta's seizing on the wealth of the country's whole Jewish population to pay off the warring Turks, he develops a murderous streak by, with the help of his slave Ithamore, tricking the Governor's son and his friend into fighting over the affections of his daughter, Abigall. When they both die in a duel, he becomes further incensed when Abigall, horrified at what her father has done, runs away to become a Christian nun. In retribution, Barabas then goes on to poison her along with the whole of the nunnery, strangles an old friar (Barnadine) who tries to make him repent for his sins and then frames another friar (Jacomo) for the first friar's murder. He then, after Ithamore falls in love with a prostitute who conspires with her criminal friend to blackmail and expose him after Ithamore drunkenly tells them everything his master has done, poisons all three of them, and when he is caught, drinks "of poppy and cold mandrake juice" so that he will be left for dead and then plots with the enemy Turks to besiege the city.
When at last Barabas is pronounced governor, he switches sides with the Christians once again. After devising a trap for the Turks' galley slaves and soldiers in which they will all be demolished by gunpowder, he then secures a trap for the Turkish prince himself and his men, hoping to boil them alive in a hidden cauldron. Just at the right moment, however, the former governor emerges and causes Barabas to fall into his own trap. He dies, but not before the Turkish army has indeed been demolished according to his plans, thus delivering the Turkish prince into the hands of the Christians and revealing them to be every bit as scheming and hypocritical as the Jew they had condemned.
Through his constant paranoia, isolation (from the beginning) from his fellow Jews and frequent loss of identity when disguising himself to dupe potential victims or being thrown over the wall when he is mistaken for a corpse, Barabas could be said to portray very well the mindset of those who are suppressed or looked down upon, or whose lives are dominated by money or personal impulse. Perhaps that is why the Prologue of the play introduces it as "The Tragedy of a Jew".
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Commentary on The Jew of Malta
