To Be Or Not To Be Sparknotes

Coming out during the onslaught of World War I, To Be or Not to Be, presented the world with a film that through comedic relief, put the Nazi’s under a microscope and examined the life of Jews and non-Jews alike during Nazi occupation in Europe. Although this statement is certainly a reality in the film, Jews are not explicitly labeled as characters in any of Lubitsch’s works, including in To Be or Not To Be. Greenberg, who stands as the poignant paradigm of the Jew in the film, is never explicitly labeled as such, but rather through the use of prototypical characterization of the Jew, the identity of Greenberg becomes quite clear early on in the film . Besides using the Greenberg’s dialogue early on in the film, which is minimal to begin
While Greenberg only speaks a handful of lines in the entirety of the movie, each line has noteworthy’ momentum in drawing the plot forward in regards to its comments on the state of Jews during this pivotal point in history. The first line that sets Greenberg apart from the Rest of the cast, is his statement to Rawitch, the director, in which he declares “Mr. Rawitch, what you are I wouldn’t eat” to which Rawitch replies, “how dare you call me a ham” . While this line seems rather straightforward, it is used eloquently to set Greenberg apart from the rest of the polish cast as Jewish. After this initial set up of Greenberg’s role as the staple Jew in the film, Lubitsch carefully crafts his lines to portray a message. Just a few scenes later in the Film, Greenberg comes to the screen again in a discussion with the theater company’s producer Dobosh; Greenberg asks “You want my opinion, Mr. Dobosh?” to which he replies “No, Mr. Greenberg, I do not want your opinion” . Dobosh’s direct dismissal of Greenberg’s opinion, while seemingly unharmful, mimics the theme of disregard for the Jew that is seen time and time again not only in the film, but also the scheme of the Jews in general during this time in