The Jew of Malta Title Page of 1633 Edition

This play about an intimidating Jew finds a rather less sinister match in Shakespeare's Shylock, in The Merchant of Venice. The Jew of Malta, about a Maltese Jew's barbarous revenge against the city authorities, has a prologue delivered by a character representing Machiavelli. This speech is echoed by Shakespeare's Richard of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 3:

Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile,
And cry 'Content' to that which grieves my heart,
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
And frame my face to all occasions.
I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall;
I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk;
I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,
Deceive more slily than Ulysses could,
And, like a Sinon, take another Troy.
I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murderous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown? (III.ii.182-94)

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