From Stereotype to Metaphor: Jew in Contemporary Drama

291 Pages·1982·7.776 MB·English

by  Ellen Schiff

From Stereotype to Metaphor:
The Jew in Contemporary Drama
SUNY Series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture
Sarah Blachcr Cohcn, Editor
From Stereotype
to Metaphor
The Jew in
Contemporary Drama
ELLEN SCHIFF
State University of New York Press
Albanlf
I'ublished by
State Uniye;sity of New York Press, Albany
I\) 1982 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
dnd revle\vs.
For information, address State Uni\'ersity of New York Press, State University Plaza,
Albany, N.Y., 12246
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Schiff, Ellen
Fom stereotype to metaphor.
(SUNY series in modern Jewish literature and culture)
Bibliography: p. 261
Includes index.
I. Drama-20th century-History and criticism. 2. Jews in literature. I. Title.
It. Series. . .
, PN186I.S29 809.2'935203924
. ISBN 0-87395-621-4
ISBN 0-87395-022-2 (pbk.)
nr.l" A,P\\l:ll.l,c)r:T,O,'=' L."..S ,O.fN HJi .. U" ~ 49855
For Mort
The word Jew has no neutral connotations in drama.
-Derek Cohen
Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments Xlll
1. Introduction: The Tradition of the Stage Jew 1
Part One. Updating Traditions
2. Modern Heroes of Biblical Drama 39
3. Myths and Stock Types 68
4. The Jew as Other 96
5. The Jew in a Jewish World
115
Part Two. The New Jew
6. The Jew and Other Outsiders 153
7. Crises of Conscience and of Consciousness 174
8. The Jew as Metaphor 211
9. Conclusion 243
Notes 248
Bibliography 261
Index 271
vii
Illustrations
Interrogating Pinter's birthday boy 78
Shylock our contemporary 88
Shylock and Antonio toast their friendship 89
The enthusiasm of Sidney Brustein 157
A Dreyfus rehearsal in Poland 178
Management and labor negotiate 228
The tailor as philosopher 2}2
The Succoth procession in The Old Ones
2}5
viii
Preface
This study was prompted by the extraordinary prominence of Jew
ish characters in drama since the second World War. Inasmuch as the
Jew made his debut on the Western stage in the twelfth century, his
enormous recent popularity is no overnight success story. A number
of factors have contributed to his fame, and in these pages I have
tried to account for them. Before an inquiry into the Jew on the
contemporary stage could get underway, however, there was an im
portant preliminary. Determining the focus of the investigation led
smack into two issues as knotty as they are fundamental: Who is a
Jew? What is a Jew?
In terms of the theatre alone, the first question invites a profusion
of answers. Often we understand that people in a play are Jews
because of their names, speech patterns or values. Although a play
wright's decision to endow his characters with ethnic background is
doubtless as calculated as other artistic choices he makes, it is pru
dent to avoid exaggerating or distorting his intent. Since drama typ
ically makes inference and implication work hard, the suggestion that
someone is Jewish may serve as little more than a shorthand explana
tion for the way he responds. For example, the Jewish tendency to be
excitable and articulate helps two playwrights to make opposite com
ments about characters we take to be Jews. In The Kitcilell, Arnold
Wesker gives the only long speech to Paul, an otherwise undistin
guished pastry chef. Paul passionately deplores the lack of mutual
respect and support among workers who suffer many of the same
woes. An antithetical effect is achieved by Michael Weller in Mooll
children. Here the tight rein which the sensitive student Bob keeps on
his feelings emphasizes his alienation from the world of his emotional
Uncle Murry. Coding a persona as Jewish in order to set off associa
tions that enrich the characterization is a splendidly efficient device in
dramatic literature. But because the practice works through allusion,
ix