Tevye
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Tevye the dairyman ([ˈtɛvjə], Yiddish: טבֿיה דער מילכיקער Tevye der milkhiker) is the protagonist of several of Sholem Aleichem's stories, originally written in Yiddish and first published in 1894. The character became best known from the fictional memoir Tevye and his Daughters (also called Tevye the Milkman or Tevye the Dairyman), about a pious Jewish milkman in Tsarist Russia, and the troubles he has with his six daughters[1]: Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Shprintze, Bielke, and Teibel, as well as from the musical dramatic adaptation Fiddler on the Roof. The village of Boyberik, where the stories are set, is based on Boyarka, now in Ukraine.
The story was adapted for stage and film several times, including several Yiddish-language musicals. Most famously, it was adapted as the Broadway musical and later film versions of Fiddler on the Roof. The original Broadway musical was based on a play written by Arnold Perl called Tevye and his Daughters, based on Sholem Aleichem's story, Tevye the Milkman.
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[edit] Tevye as a literary character
Tevye is both a tragic and a comic figure. By the end of each story, he has always experienced a mix of good and bad fortune. In good times he befriends the same gentile neighbors who assail him in bad times. Barely in the middle class himself, he is often mildly disdainful of those with a lesser social position. He sees himself through hard times by a quiet resignation and by recalling Talmudic or biblical quotations, usually rather garbled, and he is always true to his generous heart, even when reason tells him to do otherwise.[citation needed]
Aleichem chose to take the role of Tevye's listener, ostensibly serving simply as the scribe of the dairyman's many tales of woe. In an essay in The Jewish Reader, Philip Graubart compares Tevye to the narrator of Samuel Coleridge's poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner, saying:
"Like the Ancient Mariner, Tevye the Dairyman grabs a listener - in his case, his creator, Sholem Aleichem - and tells a tale. The comparison may seem strange; unlike the Coleridge character, Tevye is funny, warm, learned, earthy, and hopeful. Still, both the Ancient Mariner and Tevye tell stories of ruin: the Mariner, of his ship; Tevye, first, of all the assumptions that sustain his world, and then of the world itself."[2]
[edit] Tevye as a dramatic role
Zero Mostel and Chaim Topol are the two actors most associated with the role of Tevye. For the film version, the part ultimately went to Topol, as producer-director Norman Jewison felt that Mostel's portrayal was too broadly comic.[3] This has long been the subject of great controversy by devoted fans[who?] of Mostel,[citation needed] but others[who?], including critic Pauline Kael, have warmly embraced Topol's performance,[citation needed] and he has appeared in several stage revivals of the show.[citation needed] He was also Oscar-nominated for his performance in the film version of Fiddler, but lost to Gene Hackman, who won for his performance in The French Connection.[citation needed]
Tevye is also the name of a 1939 film adaptation of Sholem Aleichem's story. In this adaptation, Tevye plays the role as a narrator of the events as well as a main character. He is portrayed as a gruff, somewhat intimidating character.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ In the first short story, there is also a mention of a seventh daughter; in Fiddler, however, there are only five daughters, of whom only three have major roles.
- ^ National Yiddish Book Center: Tevye the Dairyman
- ^ Fiddler on the Roof at Colossus.net
[edit] References
- Liptzin, Sol, A History of Yiddish Literature, Jonathan David Publishers, Middle Village, NY, 1972, ISBN 0-8246-0124-6. 68-70.
[edit] External links
- Tevye the Milkman at the Internet Movie Database
- Tevye and His Seven Daughters at the Internet Movie Database
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- (German TV movie)
