''The Worthless'' (original
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
title ''דער מטורף'', ''Der Meturef'') is a 1908 play by
Jacob Gordin
Jacob Michailovitch Gordin (Yiddish: יעקב מיכאַילאָװיטש גאָרדין; May 1, 1853 – June 11, 1909) was a Russian-born American playwright active in the early years of Yiddish theater. He is known for introducing realism and ...
, described by Lulla Rosenfeld as "a study of provincial bigotry and fear", whose central character Ben Zion Garber is "a man of genius lost and misunderstood in an environment that ultimately destroys him".
Story
Ben Zion is the son of a rich, illiterate factory owner in Soroka, a small factory town in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. Rejecting the dishonesty he sees as tied up in the world of business, he is secretly in love with Lisa Rosenberg, daughter of the owner of a rival (failing) factory, who is engaged to be married to Ben Zion's coarse older brother. She almost elopes with Ben Zion, but finds him too childishly idealistic, too much a dreamer. Throughout the whole play, even after her marriage, she is torn between the two brothers.
After the marriage, Ben Zion quarrels with his father and goes to live with his poor uncle Yisrol Yakob and his wife. He published scientific observations in an
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
newspaper, becomes a watchmaker, and is working on a
perpetual motion
Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...
machine. It is rumored that he is an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
or in league with the
Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
. At one point he intervenes to stop a husband from beating his wife, and is beaten in turn by both. He protests the mistreatment of children in a Jewish school, exposes unhygienic conditions in factories, including his father's. He ignores warnings that he is making dangerous enemies.
Toward the end of Act II, he is on the verge of completing his perpetual motion machine, when Lisa comes as an emissary from his mother, to tell him that his father is gravely ill. Their dialogue makes it clear that they are still in love, but that happiness is no longer possible for either of them. At one point, Ben Zion says to her "
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's
Ophelia
Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in ...
drowns herself. This Ophelia marries my brother," to which Lisa replies, "She drowned in clear pure water and died only once, while this Ophelia dies every day in the filthy mire of a swamp."
While they are talking, a fanatical townsman comes and destroys Ben Zion's machine.
Act III begins with the father, apparently dying, refusing to see a doctor. As Ben Zion enters, suitcase in hand, the older brother is demanding that he produce a will, to avoid Ben Zion receiving an equal part of his fortune. Ben Zion says he plans to leave the town. It becomes clear that his brother consented in the destruction of the machine. After asking his father's forgiveness, he opens the suitcase, revealing a gun, and shoots himself in the heart.
The father tries, in vain, to tell the dying Ben Zion that there is, indeed, a will, and that his fortune was to be shared equally by the two sons. The play ends with the brother terrified that he will be blamed by all for driving Ben Zion to suicide, and with Lisa declaring that she has loved Ben Zion all along and that the others "killed him with their fear of the truth".
The roles of Ben Zion and Lisa Rosenberg were originally played by
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
and
Sara Adler
Sara Adler ( née Levitskaya, some sources give Levitsky or Levitzky; 26 May 1858 – 28 April 1953) was a Russian-born Jewish actress in Yiddish theater who made her career mainly in the United States.
She was the third wife of Jacob Adler and ...
.
References
*
Adler, Jacob, ''A Life on the Stage: A Memoir'', translated and with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, Knopf, New York, 1999, . 336-340.
Harvard Yiddish Index consulted only for date.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worthless
Russian plays
Yiddish plays
Yiddish culture in Russia
1908 plays
Plays by Jacob Gordin