Tevye's Daughters
(Sholom Aleichem)
Tevye's Daughters by Sholom Aleichem was the basis for the long running Broadway play and subsequent movie, Fiddler on the Roof. The story, set in a shetl, or small village occupied by Jews in Russia near the end of the 19th century, is told from the vantage point of Tevye, the local milkman. He is trapped between the traditions of his culture and the evolving culture of the next generation. As a father, he wants to do what is best for his daughters to insure their happiness but as a Jew of the old school, he wants to rule his family with an unshakable faith in the righteousness of his decisions. Eventually, circumstances force Tevye to soften his belief in the invincibility of the father as the world around him begins to change. Jews are subjected to pogroms, roustings carried out by the Russian government and involving their own gentile acquaintances and neighbors. As Tevye decides it is time to remove his family from the dangers in their homeland and emigrate to America, his daughters have their own plans. The eldest, the most responsible and level-headed, rejects the efforts of the local matchmaker to marry her to a wealthy Jewish merchant in favor of her secret childhood sweetheat, a poor tailor whom Tevye does not deem suitable for his her. Eventually, he relents and the two are married. The middle daughter, a bit of a rebel, falls in love with a dissident and eventually Tevye approves of their marriage, although the couple will be forced to live in Siberia. The third daughter, an intellectual, breaks her father's heart when she falls in love with a gentile, who is kind and supportive of her yet has no chance of obtaining Tevye's approval. Tevye is broken-hearted as he is forced to choose his tradition over his love for his daughter and mourns her as dead when she leaves with her gentile love. He still has other daughters to marry off, but they will be living in America where arranged marriages are anachronisms. Tevye walked a tightrope between tradition and love of family and although he slipped, he managed to regain his foothold only to slip time and again, as does every parent.
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