Fiddler on the Roof 分析(很全的)
-
Fiddler on the Roof
A
famous Broadway musical and a 1971 film
Plot and Setting
Setting
: a small village in
Eastern Russia in the early 20th century,
before the revolution
.
Plot
:
a
Jewish
peasant
responds
to
his
three
daughters
desires
to
break
with
tradition
and
allow
them to choose whom
they marry
.
Meanwhile, Russian society makes
the
Jewish
people more and
more unwelcome until they are
forced to
leave.
Themes
Tradition - How much change is too
much? When should you change traditions and when
should
you keep them? How do you decide
which traditions to change?
Ethnic Conflict
–
Why do different groups have conflict?
Marriage choice
–
Do you choose for security in life, or for love?
What is love?
Tradition: How far do you
“bend”?
The Papas, Mamas,
Sons and Daughters all must do and be what
tradition dictates.
Each
daughter goes one step further in breaking
tradition than the last one
:
The first daughter begs permission
The second asks for a blessing
The third asks for acceptance
Vocabulary:
Sabbath
–
A
day of rest, and no work for the Jews
from Friday night, at sunset, until Saturday, at
sunset.
Pledge
–
a promise, a solemn vow.
Engaged
–
promised in marriage
Matchmaker
–
a
person
who
arranges
matches
between
two
people
to
marry.
arranged
marriages. Today a matchmaker just
introduces people, and no more.
Mazel
Tov
–
means
“Congratulations!” in the Jewish
dialect.
Dowry
–
any goods,
property or money the bride’s family must give the
groom, or vice versa.
Elope
–
secretly run away to get
married.
Vocabuary
Czar -
The supreme ruler of
Russia, the Russian word for “king” or
“emperor.”
Pogrom
–
an attack on the Jewish
communities to damage their property as a way to
drive them
out (“evict” them).
Cast of
Characters, part 1
T
evye
–
A
Jewish
peasant with 5 daughters and no sons. He talks to
God while he delivers milk,
and wants
to study the Bible more.
Golde
–
his wife, is very
superstitious, and worries about bad luck. She
often spits on her finger to
ward off
evil.
Tevye
uses
Golda’s
superstition
agai
nst
her
, telling
a
dream
about
her
ancestors
to
change
her
mind.
Cast of Characters, part 2
Tzeitel
–
oldest daughter, secretly
in love with the tailor and afraid the matchmaker
will find her a
husband.
Hodel
- second oldest
daughter, interested in the rab
bi’s
son
.
Chava/Chavalah
–
the third daughter, likes
to read books.
Cast of
Characters, part 3
Motel
–
the tailor, in love with
Tzeitel, and secretly engaged to her.
Perchik
–
a
university student from Kiev.
He’s also
Jewish and a Marxist revolutionary.
Lazar Wolf
, the butcher
whose wife died
. He’s very rich but
lonely and looking for a new bride.
Fyedka
–
A
young
Russian
man,
non-Jewish,
who
also
likes
books
and
likes
Chava,
the
3rd
daughter.
Cast
of Characters, part 4
Y
ente
, the
Matchmaker
–
an old widow
who arranges marriages.
The
Rabbi
–
the
spiritual
leader of a Jewish community.
Everyone listens to the Rabbi’s words.
He is often asked to “give a blessing”
for people or things.
The
Constable
–
The
Russian
police
captain,
a
friend
of
Tevye’s
who
tries
to
help
him
with
information but has to follow difficult
orders.
Songs
This is a musical, so there’s a LOT of
singing and dancing.
We’ll
only listen to one song:
“Matchmaker, matchmaker!”
The younger sisters dream of the
matchmaker bringing a wonderful man.
The oldest sister warns them that the
matchmaker could bring any kind of man
–
fat, old, drunk,
violent, etc. and they won’t get to
choose.
Some phrases to know
That’s a good match!
They make a good match!
He’s/She’s a real
catch.