Character List
Machevil: The speaker who delivers the prologue.
Barabas: The protagonist of the play, father of Abigall. In the New Testament, Barabas is the murderer who is released from prison instead of Jesus (see Luke 23:19-23).
Abigall: Barabas's daughter, she is in love with Mathias, Katherine's son. Abigail means "father's joy" in Hebrew.
Katherine: A lady, mother of Mathias.
Mathias: Katherine's son and Lodowick's friend. He shares a mutual love with Abigall.
Ferneze: The governor of Malta.
Lodowick: Ferneze's son. As with Mathias, he desires to marry Abigall.
Ithamore: A Turkish slave captured by the Spanish navy, bought by Barabas to help carry out his evil plots.
Friar Jacomo: The friar who performs Abigall's second conversion to Christianity.
Friar Barnardine: Friar Jacomo's friend at a different monastery.
Abbess: The abbess of the nunnery, who performs Abigall's first conversion to Christianity.
Calymath: The Turkish leader, son of the Sultan.
Callapine: One of the Turkish Bashaws.
Bashaws: Bashaw, variant of Pasha, was a title held by important Turkish officers.
Martin del Bosco: Vice-admiral to the Catholic King of Spain, and thus an enemy of the Turkish forces.
Bellamira: A courtesan who seduces Ithamore for his master's wealth. Bella mira means "beautiful sight" in Italian.
Pilia-Borza: An attendant to Bellamira. Pigliaborza means "pick-pocket" in Italian.
Knights of Malta, Officers, Two Nuns, Slaves, Turkish Janizaries, A Messenger, Carpenters, Servants, and an Attendant: Incidental characters. Janissaries were military men whose numbers were increasing rapidly in the late 16th century.
ClassicNote on The Jew of Malta
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