لخّصلي

THEME OF BETRAYAL

In this play, many chances for betrayal are common. Barabas stated that the governor of Malta Ferneze betrayed him by taking all his gold and thus, had set out to seek revenge against him. He said “I hope to see the governor a slave”. Barabas daughter, Abigail felt betrayed when his father murdered the love of his life Mathias. She became very frustrated with Barabas and went back to the convent. Barabas thought that his daughter betrayed him by going back there and being converted to a Christian and vowed to disinherit her. As a result, he makes his slave Ithamore his only heir. This is also a sign of betrayal when the father gives his inheritance to a slave rather than to her only daughter. Barabas kills his own daughter together with other nuns by poisoning them. He termed the death of his daughter as a personal betrayal and denied that he could never think of being a Christian. This can also be seen when Ferneze asked him to be a Christian and replied that he can never be a converted. Abigail is also portrayed in this play as betraying his father by reporting him as the murderer of both Lodowick and Mathias to the priest before she died. After the betrayal by Abigail, the friars turned up to convert Barabas to Christianity and him being such a hypocrite tried to play games on the two of them who ended up fighting over who had the rightful claims of converting Barabas.
However, Barabas and his servant Ithamore killed one of the friars Barnardine and lay the blame on Jacomo who they later tried to turn over to the authorities. The servant who had been made the only heir Ithamore also tried to betray his boss by trying to steal from him together with Bellamira, a Courtesan. Ithamore betrayed his boss by blackmailing him in order to have the money. He also revealed all the crimes they had done together with his boss. Barabas seek revenge and poison all three with poisoned flowers. However, in the last act the governor is furnished with all the crimes that Ithamore and Barabas had committed and order their arrest. Anti -Semitism can be argued to be the main reason why betrayal is happening in this city. Ferneze the governor collects money from all Jews but refused to pay when the Turks came for their demand thereby, showing how the officials have been controlled by greed and corruption.
Later in this play, we can see that Barabas betrayed the city of Malta to the Turks who later made him the governor. After feigning his death to avoid punishment from the authority he was thrown out of the city and from there he sought revenge against all Malta. He helped the Turks enter the protected city. However, due to his evil schemes and wicked virtue of betrayal his down fall came as he plotted to destroy the Turkish commander together with their soldiers by inviting them to a feast where the floor will collapse. Unfortunately, he is also betrayed and dies in his own cauldron. When he helped them he was made a governor but said to himself that no one could accept him coz they all hates him and his life is in danger. This can be argued that Jews cannot expect to gain political power and maintain their Jewish identity. He himself in the play conceded that Jews cannot make kings because their population is sparse and can only depend on Christians to rule them.