In the Goldberg Variations finale, Jamie Goldberg grapples with existential uncertainty and self-discovery. He starts by rejecting the gay sexual underworld he had fallen into. In turn he throws himself into his studies. Upon learning that he has been cast as Horatio in a university production of Hamlet, he experiences a surge of elation. However, this euphoria is short-lived as he realizes that he will be sharing the stage with his bully schoolmate, Ben, who will be in the lead role of Ha...

Jamie Goldberg suspects his homosexuality at an early age. He manages to hide it from his homophobic Seventies Detroit community, his Jewish political activist parents, and even from himself until his rape, at the hands of a male prostitute, at the age of 16. Profoundly ashamed, he hides in two worlds. One world is an intellectual cocoon spun from music, art, theater, and literature. The other is a darker world where sadomasochistic desires attempt to obliterate his sexuality. His elaborat...