Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Michele Marsh: Hodel
Photos
Quotes
-
Hodel : [singing] For Papa, make him a scholar!
Chava : [singing] For Mama, make him rich as a king!
Hodel , Chava : For me, well, I wouldn't holler if he were as handsome as anything!
Hodel , Chava : Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match! Find me a find, catch me a catch! Night after night in the dark I'm alone, so find me a match of my own!
-
Perchik : There's a question... A certain question I want to discuss with you.
Hodel : Yes?
Perchik : It's a political question.
Hodel : What is it?
Perchik : The question of... marriage.
Hodel : Is this a political question?
Perchik : Well, yes. Yes, everything's political. Like everything else, the relationship between a man and a woman has a socioeconomic base. Marriage must be founded on mutual beliefs. A common attitude and philosophy towards society...
Hodel : - And affection?
Perchik : Well, yes, of course. That is also necessary. Such a relationship can have positive social values. When two people face the world with unity and solidarity...
Hodel : And affection?
Perchik : Yes, that is an important element! At any rate, I... I personally am in favour of such a socioeconomic relationship.
Hodel : I think... you are asking me to marry you.
Perchik : Well... in a theoretical sense... yes. I am.
Hodel : I was hoping you were.
-
Hodel : We only have one Rabbi, and he only has one son. Why shouldn't I want the best?
Tzeitel : Because you're a girl from a poor family. So whatever Yente brings, you'll take. Right? Of course, right!
[sings, mimicking Yente]
Tzeitel : Hodel! Oh Hodel, have I made a match for you! He's handsome, he's young! All right, he's sixty-two. But he's a nice man, a good catch, true? True! I promise you'll be happy, and even if you're not, there's more to life than that... Don't ask me what.
-
Tevye : [about Perchik] Is he in bad trouble, that hero of yours?
[Hodel nods]
Tevye : Arrested?
[she nods again]
Tevye : Convicted?
Hodel : Yes. But he did nothing wrong. He cares nothing for himself. Everything he does is for other people.
Tevye : Yes, but if he did nothing wrong, he wouldn't be in trouble.
Hodel : Oh Papa, how can you say that? What wrongs did Joseph do? And Abraham, and Moses? And they had troubles.
Tevye : Yes, but... But why won't you tell me where he is now, this Joseph of yours?
Hodel : It is far, Papa. Terribly far. He is in a settlement in Siberia.
Tevye : [shocked] Siberia! And he asks you to leave your father and mother, and join him in that frozen wasteland and marry him there?
Hodel : No, Papa. He did not ask me to go. I *want* to go. I don't want him to be alone. I want to help him in his work.
Tevye : Hodel...
Hodel : Papa.
[sings]
Hodel : How can I hope to make you understand, why I do what I do? Why I must travel to a distant land, far from the home I love. Once I was happily content to be, as I was, where I was. Close to the people who are close to me, here in the home I love. Who could see that a man would come, who would change the shape of my dreams? Helpless now, I stand with him, watching older dreams grow dim. Oh, what a melancholy choice this is, wanting home, wanting him... Closing my heart to every hope but his, leaving the home I love. There where my heart has settled long ago, I must go, I must go. Who could imagine I'd be wandering so far from the home I love. Yet... there with my love, I'm home.
[the train is heard]
Tevye : [concerned] And, who my child will there be to perform a marriage there in the wilderness?
Hodel : [smiling] Papa, I promise you, we will be married under a canopy.
Tevye : Yes, yes. No doubt, a Rabbi or two were also arrested.
[the train pulls in, Tevye lifts Hodel's luggage aboard]
Hodel : [crying and hugging him] Papa! God alone knows when we shall see each other again.
Tevye : Then, we will leave it in His hands.
[he helps her aboard and watches the train pull out]
Tevye : [looking up] Take care of her. See that she dresses warm.
-
Tzeitel : Since when are you interested in a match, Chava? I thought you just had your eyes on your books.
Chava : [storms away with basket]
Hodel : [giggles]
Tzeitel : [to Hodel] And you have your eye on the Rabbi's son.
Hodel : Well, why not? We only have one rabbi, and he only has one son. Why shouldn't I want the best?
Tzeitel : Because you're a girl from a poor family. So, whatever Yente brings, you'll take, right?
[puts black blanket on head]
Tzeitel : Of COURSE right!
-
Hodel : We have an old custom here! A boy talks respectfully to a girl. But, of course, that is too traditional for an advanced thinker like you.
Perchik : Our traditions! Nothing must change. Everything is perfect, exactly the way it is!
Hodel : We like our ways.
Perchik : Our ways are changing all over but here! Do you know that in the city, boys and girls can be affectionate - without the permission of a matchmaker? They hold hands together. They even dance together! New dances - like this!
[grabs her hands and starts dancing]
Perchik : I learned it in Kiev! Do you like it?
Hodel : [startled] It's very nice...
[they dance a few more steps and then stop still holding hands]
Hodel : There... we've just changed an old custom.
Hodel : Yes... I mean, thank you. I mean... good day.
