Summary

The action is continuous.

The next scene is titled “1906, Warsaw: Madje Asch Reads ‘The God of Vengeance’ in Bed with Sholem Asch.” Stage directions indicate that Asch is a young playwright, and Madje is his wife. There is also an indication that the couple is speaking in Yiddish. Asch anxiously watches as Madje finishes the play, puts it aside, and weeps, struggling to catch her breath. Eventually she explains that she finds the play beautiful and true, and is particularly moved by a scene between two women in the rain. Asch worries that Madje is upset that he used her words for one of the characters, and she comments that it is “interesting” to hear Asch’s own seductive words “in the mouth of a prostitute” (13).

Madje’s comment leads Asch to comment how much he feels like a prostitute when he has...