The Fiddler on the Roof story opens with Tevye discussing the value of tradition in Anatevka, their small Jewish village. Set in Russia around 1905, the village has always followed traditions, but the world seems to be changing, and their position as Jews is unstable.
The Sabbath approaches, and the village matchmaker tells Tevye's wife, Golde, that a local butcher wants to marry their eldest daughter. However, the eldest daughter, Tzeitel, is in love with her childhood best friend, Motel. However, Motel is a poor tailor, and marrying him would leave Tzeitel in a less stable financial position than marrying the butcher.
A new arrival in town, Perchik, offers revolutionary ideas that go against tradition. Tevye's second-eldest daughter, Hodel, begins a romance with Perchik. The third-eldest, Chava, is lent a book by a young Christian named Fyedka, and they start to converse about literature. Meanwhile, Tevye agrees to arrange a marriage to the butcher for Tzeitel; when Motel and Tzeitel beg him to let them marry instead, Tevye is moved by their professions of love for one another and agrees. He fakes a prophetic dream to convince Golde that the engagement between Tzeitel and the butcher must be called off.
At Tzeitel and Motel's wedding, the Russians attack and damage the village. The situation becomes increasingly unstable for Jews: the Russians plan to expel them from their village. As they balance daily life with the danger around them, Tzeitel and Motel have a baby, and Motel gets a sewing machine.
Perchik and Hodel get engaged and inform Tevye, who is shocked they did not ask his permission. He refuses to allow the marriage, but upon realizing they would elope, he gives them his blessing and permission. Perchik is then arrested for his revolutionary activities and sent to Siberia. Hodel follows him there.
Chava and Fyedka also ask Tevye for their permission to marry, but after some turmoil, he refuses to allow Chava to wed outside the faith. Chava and Fyedka then elope, and Tevye tells the family that Chava is dead to them. Golde is devastated.
The Russians continue to enact persecution on the Jews, evicting them from their village. Tevye, Golde, Motel, Tzeitel, and the others prepare to leave to go to America eventually. Chava and Fyedka arrive and speak to Golde, and although he still does not talk to her, Tevye asks Golde to give Chava and Fyedka a blessing. They then leave their traditional village, with a fiddler following them out of Anatevka.