The Jew of Malta: every role by lines, words, and stage time

Christopher Marlowe. 33 speaking roles, 17,955 words, about 128 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Barabas has the most to say in The Jew of Malta: about 1,121 lines and 8,569 words, 47.7% of the play. The Jew of Malta is Marlowe’s dark verse tragedy of Barabas, a merchant who turns to revenge after Malta’s governor seizes his wealth. Barabas dominates, with nearly half of all the words, and speaks in 15 of 24 sections. Ithamore and Ferneze each hold about a tenth, and Abigail does not speak after Act 3.

Speaking roles: 33
Scenes: 24
Words: 17,955
Speech time: 128 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Barabas	1,121	8,569	47.7%	61.2	15
Ithamore	234	1,758	9.8%	12.6	10
Ferneze	241	1,743	9.7%	12.5	8
Abigail	148	1,042	5.8%	7.4	5
Pilia-Borza	91	676	3.8%	4.8	5
Calymath	86	596	3.3%	4.3	5
Friar Jacomo	63	412	2.3%	2.9	5
Bellamira	58	405	2.3%	2.9	4
Lodowick	49	354	2%	2.5	3
Mathias	47	323	1.8%	2.3	3
Machiavel	35	280	1.6%	2.0	1
Martin del Bosco	32	255	1.4%	1.8	2
Friar Barnadine	39	253	1.4%	1.8	4
First Knight	24	192	1.1%	1.4	4
Messenger	23	165	0.9%	1.2	2
First Officer	18	142	0.8%	1.0	3
First Jew	17	127	0.7%	0.9	2
Katharine	16	121	0.7%	0.9	3
Basso	15	102	0.6%	0.7	1
Merchant	15	95	0.5%	0.7	1
Second Jew	11	71	0.4%	0.5	2
Abbess	8	57	0.3%	0.4	1
Second Merchant	9	56	0.3%	0.4	1
Officer	7	46	0.3%	0.3	1
First Basso	4	29	0.2%	0.2	1
Slave	4	22	0.1%	0.2	1
Second Officer	2	18	0.1%	0.1	1
Second Knight	2	15	0.1%	0.1	1
First Carpenter	2	9	0.1%	0.1	1
Third Jew	1	8	0%	0.1	1
Three Jews	1	7	0%	0.1	1
Knight	1	4	0%	0.0	1
Knights	1	3	0%	0.0	1

Who speaks in which scene

Darker cells mean more words in that scene. Use it to plan rehearsal calls, or to see how long an actor waits between entrances.

Role	Pro	1.1	1.2	2.1	2.2	2.3	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.6	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.4	4.5	4.6	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.5	5.6
Barabas
Ithamore
Ferneze
Abigail
Pilia-Borza
Calymath
Friar Jacomo
Bellamira
Lodowick

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Barabas: “So that of thus much that return was made:”	Act 1, Scene 1	360	49
Machiavel: “Albeit the world think Machiavel is dead,”	Prologue	280	35
Barabas: “Thus trowls our fortune in by land and sea,”	Act 1, Scene 1	277	37
Barabas: “As for myself, I walk abroad o’ nights”	Act 2, Scene 3	211	28
Barabas: “In spite of these swine-eating Christians—”	Act 2, Scene 3	200	25
Ithamore: “I never knew a man take his death so patiently…”	Act 4, Scene 4	193	20
Ferneze: “O villain! Heaven will be revenged on thee.”	Act 5, Scene 3	163	23
Barabas: “Pounds say’st thou, governor? well, since it i…”	Act 5, Scene 6	161	21
Barabas: ““Barabas, send me three hundred crowns.—””	Act 4, Scene 5	141	17
Barabas: “What tell you me of Job? I wot his wealth”	Act 1, Scene 2	140	18

Small roles that can be doubled

These pairs of small roles never speak in the same scene, so one actor could play both. Check entrances and silent appearances in your script before you cast it this way.

Pilia-Borza and Calymath
Pilia-Borza and Friar Jacomo
Pilia-Borza and Lodowick
Pilia-Borza and Mathias
Pilia-Borza and Machiavel
Pilia-Borza and Friar Barnadine
Pilia-Borza and Messenger
Pilia-Borza and First Jew
Pilia-Borza and Basso
Pilia-Borza and Merchant
Pilia-Borza and Second Jew
Pilia-Borza and Abbess

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in The Jew of Malta?

Barabas, with about 1,121 lines and 8,569 words, 47.7% of everything spoken in the play. Ithamore is next, with about 234 lines (9.8%).

How long is The Jew of Malta?

The full text has 17,955 spoken words, about 128 minutes at 140 words a minute before pauses, scene changes, and cuts. Most productions cut the text, so running times vary.

How many speaking roles are in The Jew of Malta?

33 named roles speak in this edition, across 24 scenes. 24 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.