MovieChat Forums > Fiddler on the Roof (1971) Discussion > Tzeitel marrying Lazar would not support...

Tzeitel marrying Lazar would not support procreation

posted 3 years ago by TM1617-2 (660)
12 replies | jump to latest

Lazar is approximately seventy and probably does not have many years of full and daily work left. He might not even be alive for much longer given the time period. In Anatevka, the sole purpose of marriage is to produce a family. It has no personal or romantic elements. For these reasons, it makes no sense that girls are often presented with elderly men as potential husbands. Even if Lazar is still capable of inducing pregnancy, he is far past his days of being able to take care of an expectant wife and raise children. This defies the firmly set gender roles of the village.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Except that the elderly men believed that they could still father children, and it was their opinion that counted.

[–] TM1617-2 (660) 3 years ago

Thank you, Otter. I understand that, but even the chauvinistic attitude that the village has cannot extend the lives of those elderly men. In their time, the residents know that the average age of death is early, especially since most of them are penniless. They should recognize that girls need to marry young guys, even if their approach to marriage is cold, ignorant, and unjust.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Well, that's the problem with letting elderly men run things! Of course everyone else knows that old man sperm isn't much use even if there's any to be had, but when the old men run the community then they get to override common sense. They tell everyone else "Why, we will father children who will live long lives like us and have the brains to make money and become prominent like us, and we're absolutely SURE we can get it up if you'll give us some young pussy!".

Frankly, some women were okay with marrying these old sonsabitches, because being a well-to-do widow was as good as life got for the women of the shtetls.

[–] Costumer (1829) 3 years ago

Barring illness, men, once they attain puberty, remain fertile for their entire lives. Sperm production does go down, but never stops. Lazar could have easily fathered children. My paternal grandfather was 54 when he fathered his last child. He produced 6 children from age 36 to 54.

[–] TM1617-2 (660) 3 years ago

Thank you, Costumer. The issue is that Lazar is not going to have the physical ability to take care of a family, especially a new one, for much longer, even if he can still get Tzeitel pregnant. Also, he is very old by the standards of the 1910s, and can probably not expect many more years.

[–] Costumer (1829) 3 years ago

You are confusing lifespan with life expectancy. Baring illness or accident, once a person achieves adulthood their lifespan is universally about 70. Low life expectancy is almost entirely due to high infant and child mortality rates skewing the average. I'm not sure I agree that Lazar is close to 70. He seems to be a contemporary of Tevye and seems, to me, to close to his fifties.

I might mention that the title of this thread is "wouldn't support procreation." I read that as ability to father children, not live long enough to see children reach adulthood.

[–] TM1617-2 (660) 3 years ago

No, I'm not. The reference is to the average life expectancy of the time period of this movie. Also, many things that have nothing to do with birth cause premature deaths. Lazar clearly has significant years on Tevye. I say that the marriage would not support procreation because the husband would not be worth much to an unborn or fully existing child.

[–] Costumer (1829) 3 years ago

Well, first life span is the same throughout history. Second, Life expectancy in this point in Russia is no different. It is lower than modern US/Europe, but that would mostly be from infant/child mortality.

And I completely disagree that Lazar has significant years on Tevye. To my eye he is a contemporary; that is within 5 years plus or minus.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

[–] Druff (1808) 3 years ago

Tevye was played by Topol, age 33 when the movie was shot. They clearly aged him up in makeup. He was probably supposed to be at least 10 years older than that, maybe a little more.

Paul Mann was 57 when played Lazar Wolf. I'd say the character was supposed to be about that age. You can see every year on him, but he doesn't look 70.

In the original story, they're supposed to about the same age.

[–] strntz (12664) 3 years ago

Procreation is one part of it, marrying into security is another. Women at that time had few prospects of taking care of themselves without a man providing a home for them. What good are children if you're destitute or homeless?

We know Tevye wasn't crazy about Lazar as a husband, but as he said, by marrying a butcher his daughter would never know hunger (or something to that effect). We see from his thoughts that Tevye ranked his daughter's comfort and security over her happiness or potential children. All those things would be nice but Tzietel was hardly a great catch and Lazar would have been a good match from a practical standpoint.

Don't forget that Lazar is considered a rich man by their standards. Even if he died, his money and property would become the property of Tzeitel's.

[–] marktayloruk (2553) 3 years ago

Cynically- marry Lazar, kill him with kindness, marry Motel.

[–] strntz (12664) 3 years ago

LOL. He was a butcher... a little extra lard with every meal perhaps?