Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) Shylock's line's adherence to the Jewish faith. Literary critics have historically viewed the character negatively, highlighting her theft of her father's gold, her betrayal of his trust, and apparently selfish motivations and aimless behaviour. Since the end of the 20th century their views have been more moderate and nuanced, pointing to an alternate reading that allows her actions to be motivated by love and generosity, and being driven by Shylock's own tyrannical and immoral behaviour. The central plot of "The Merchant of Venice" is relatively straightforward: Antonio borrows money from Shylock to help his friend, Bassanio, court Portia, but, through
The Jew of Malta often compared, Shylock and Barabas, are themselves profoundly different. Regardless of whether or not The Merchant of Venice was a direct influence, or merely a product of the contemporaneous society that they both were written in, it is noteworthy that Marlowe and Shakespeare were the only two British playwrights of their time to include a Jewish principal character in one of their plays. At the end of the play, Barabas attempts to murder his erstwhile Turkish allies by tricking them into falling through a trap door into a hot cauldron in a pit. In the end, it is Barabas who