Literary Devices in Fiddler on the Roof

Dramatic Irony

Irony that is grasped by the audience but not the character

Act 1 - Scene 4 - page 39-44

         Tevye is having a talk with Lazar Wolfe and both think they are talking about the same thing, but Tevye is talking about a cow and Lazar is talking about marrying Tevye’s daughter Tzietel.

Act 1 - Scene 7- page 71-82

         Tevye needed a way to tell his wife Golde that their daughter is no longer marrying Lazar but is marrying Motel the tailor instead. Tevye comes up with an elaborate dream and Golde believes it is a sign.

Metaphor

A literary device used to suggest a resemblance between objects.

Act 1 - Scene 6 - page 57

“But what good is your brain?  Without curiosity it is a rusty tool.”

Perchik is telling Hodel that she should be more interested in the world, he compare her brain to a rusty tool to show this.

Act 1 - Scene 6 - page 70

         In the song ‘Miracle of Miracles,’ Motel is singing about his good fortune of getting to marry Tzietel. He compares himself to a lump of clay when he sings ‘Out of a worthless lump of clay God has made a man today.’

Allusion

To pass a casual reference to literature or history.

Act 1 -Scene 2 – page 28

         Tevye alludes what Moses says in the good book.

Act 1 - Scene 6 - page 56

         Perchik is alluding to the bible when he says, "Let there be light."

Simile

When two things are compared using the words like or as.  

Act 1 - Scene 6 – page 57

         When Tevye is singing about his wife in the song, “If I were a Rich Man,” he says, “I see her putting on her airs and strutting like a peacock.” He is comparing her walking to that of a peacock and he uses like.

Act 1 – Prologue - page 9

“Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.” Tevye is comparing a life without tradition to the shakiness of a fiddler standing on a roof. It is a simile because he uses as when comparing the two.

Personification

Act 1 – Scene 2 – page 20

Tevye’s horse is given human qualities when he says he lost his shoe on purpose. Or when he is invited to the Sabbath at the blacksmiths.

Act 2 – Scene 7- page 144

The village of Anatevka is personified in the song “Anatevka” when they say it is underfed, obstinate, and overworked.

Foreshadowing

The use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature.

Act 1 - Scene 2 - page 25

         Avram sees in his paper that the Jews have been evicted in a village called Rajanka.  

Act 1 Scene 1 Pg.13

         Golde is talking to Yente about Tzietel and Motel walks in, Golde tells Yente that the pair have been friends since they were children. Yente says, “From such children come other children.”

Imagery

To create a image in a persons mind by using descriptive words.

Act 1 - Scene 2 – page 222

Tevye describes he house he would build if he was a rich man. He creates a image by saying what kind of stairs, the amount of bedrooms and other things

Act 1 – Scene 7

         Tevye uses in-depth imagery to recreate is fake dream to Golde.

Symbolism

When an object is used to represent something greater than itself.

Act 1 - Prologue – page 9

“Tradition.  Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.”  Tevye is talking about how the lives of the people in Anatevka are like fiddlers on the roof. The fiddler is representing life in Anatevka.

Act 2 - Scene 8 – page 146

         Golde is packing up her goblets that were given to Tevye and her on their wedding day. To her this represents having to leave everything she has ever known.