A view from the bridge (Arthur Miller) - page 1
Keywords: Bridge, A view, English, arthur miller, gcse,
By boomanu on 12/05/2008
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 1 of 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
By: Chester William Puzey 10.8
A View From The Bridge
The main character in the play is Eddie Carbone, an Italian-American longshoreman, who lives with his wife Beatrice and orphaned niece Catherine. His feelings for Catherine, however, develop from protective and paternal into something more as the play develops. These feelings are brought into perspective by the arrival, from Italy, of Beatrice's two cousins, Marco and Rodolfo. They have entered the country illegally, hoping to leave behind hunger and unemployment for a better life in America, and to help build a better life for those they've left behind. Rodolfo is young, good-looking, blond, and single - he sings, dances and is charming; Catherine instantly falls for him. Predictably Eddie sets about pointing out all of Rodolfo's flaws and persistently complains that Rodolfo is "not right" (by which he means homosexual). He uses Rodolfo's effeminate qualities, such as dress-making, cooking and singing, to back up his argument. When Catherine decides to marry Rodolfo, Eddie is driven by jealousy to inform the Immigration Bureau of the presence of the two illegal immigrants. He takes this action regardless of his earlier assertion that "It's an honour" to give the men refuge. His betrayal of the two men causes Eddie to lose the respect of his neighbours, his friends and his family. In the final pages of the play the sense of crisis climaxes with a fight between Eddie and Marco. Eddie brandishes a knife and attacks Marco, but the stronger Marco turns the blade back onto Eddie, killing him. This could be seen symbolically as a projection of Eddie's self-destructive tendencies, as his sense of self-worth and his honourable character finally reach the bottom of their downward spiral.
Alfieri reminds us of the chorus of Romeo and Juliet. The chorus originates from Greek tragedies, so as soon as we pick up a view from a bridge we know that it is likely to be a tragedy. Right from the beginning Alfieri comes on the stage and builds tension, he says that every few years a case comes up, one that’s dangerous and bloody, and although him and other lawyers like him knew what is going to happen, they were powerless to stop it and all they could do was ‘watch it run its bloody course.’ Usually when Alfieri talks he is breaking the fourth wall (talking to the audience,) there are only a few
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