The Melting-Pot (Annotated)

Israel Zangwill's The Melting-Pot is a landmark 1908 drama that gave enduring theatrical form to the American ideal of immigrant fusion. Centered on David Quixano, a Jewish musician and survivor of Russian pogroms, the play combines romantic melodrama, social argument, and prophetic rhetoric. Its famous metaphor of America as a crucible transforms personal trauma into civic hope, while its lyrical...