The play is set in New York, and not in Manhattan, where you would expect a theatre production to be set, but on the other side of the bridge. This excluded side of New York, is called Red Hook "The slums facing the bay on the seaward side of Brooklyn Bridge".
The community that live in Red Hook are Italian Immigrants who are not rich, and are not well off, but make a small hard earned living by working on the docks as Longshoremen. So it is very significant that Alfieri is a lawyer, as he is a different class to the rest of the society in Red Hook. He is different to the others by his job, the way he dresses (as we see when he first comes onto the stage and takes off his hat, and the way he is dressed throughout the play in a suit), he is well educated, and he is professional at what he does. The greatest difference between him and his fellow Italians is that he has the opportunity to leave the "slums", and live on the other side of the bridge with the other middle/upper class people, in Manhattan. But he does not want to leave, as he also feels that he has a sense of loyalty and duty to the society, as he too was an Immigrant. " They tell me the people in this neighbourhood lack elegance, and glamour. After all, who have I dealt with in my life? Longshoremen and their wives, and fathers and grandfathers, compensation cases, evictions, family squabbles- the petty troubles of the poor". This shows the commitment of Alfieri, and also shows his past, that he is very wise, and that he is a well-trusted man.
The community treats him with respect, as he is someone they know they can talk to when they are in trouble or need help, as he too is Italian. He does not leave Red Hook because here, people look up to him. If he lived in Manhattan, people would look down at him because he is Italian. In Red Hook, there will be a lot of work for him as a lawyer.
Alfieri is a symbolic person for his society. This is because he is like a light at the end of the tunnel for the rest of the community, as he is an Immigrant but has worked his way up in society since he first came to Red Hook. So the other people in Red Hook can also try to better themselves, or at least their children can get better jobs. They can think, " If Alfieri can, I can".
Another thing that Alfieri does, to keep the audience keen to know what is going to happen next, is he starts another speech, and breaks up the scene at crucial parts in the play.
For example when Eddie kisses Catherine and then kisses Rodolpho, the audience are in utter shock and are amazed by what they have just witnessed. Then the spotlight goes onto Alfieri, who then talks to the audience again.
At this part in the drama, the audience are eager to see where Eddie will go, as he has just walked out of the house, but Alfieri interrupts with another soliloquy.
"On December twenty-seventh I saw him next. I normally go home well before six………I kept wanting to call the police…………..Nothing at all had really happened".
By Alfieri doing this may be quite annoying, because it keeps interrupting and, breaks up the play and does not let the drama flow properly. The audience could lose their patience with him doing this, and so they would not get the full impact of the play, as they would lose concentration with Alfieri. But the other side of the coin to this is that the audience will want to listen to Alfieri as he helps them to understand the drama and get the direct impact of the play. They would also want to listen to him as he always has something important, and relevant in order for the audience to fully understand the play.
The audience trust Alfieri as he is wise, and he has a personality and character with whom the audience can identify with. As Miller wants the idea of tragedy, to stand out the most from his play, it is good that he is not just a narrator, but also part of the drama, as it is then much more easier for the audience to actually believe what he is saying. As he knows the characters personally, and he's not just telling the story of a tragedy which is going to happen to the longshoreman.
It is good when Alfieri talks about meetings he has had with Eddie, because the audience have seen the drama in the play between the two characters, then when he stops being a character, and becomes a narrator again, the audience get to know what his thoughts are. An example of this is when Eddie goes to Alfieri in desperation to do something about Rodolpho going out with Catherine, because he believes he is only going out with her because he wants to get his papers. After the meeting, Alfieri turns to the audience and becomes a narrator again, and tells the audience
"…I could have finished the whole story that afternoon. It wasn't as though there was a mystery to unravel. I could see every step coming, step after step".
This is also another example of Alfieri giving hints that the climax of the play was drawing nearer, and the way he says, "step after step" makes the audience very eager, to see these steps. As he could have just said " I could see every step coming".
I think that the opening monologue from Alfieri is very important so that the rest of the play goes well.
In this opening speech, Alfieri tells the audience key things they should know about the characters, in order to understand the play. But even before Alfieri starts speaking, Arthur Miller makes him do something very clever. He makes him create a relationship with the audience. I think that this is a very clever thing to do because this way, the audience will listen to Alfieri more, as they know about his past, and what he does, and they can feel like they know him, and that they too are part of the drama.
When Alfieri first comes on two pitchers nod to him, as he walks past them. He comes on from the side so the whole audience can see him walk on. This shows the audience that he is an important character in the drama. At this point, the audience do not know whether he is a character in the play or what role he is. So they wait for something to happen. Then he slowly walks to his desk and takes off his hat and runs his fingers through his hair. This shows the audience that he is relaxed. The audience can see that his character is in his fifties and fairly fat, and quite wealthy. He then turns to the audience and grins at them. This directly engages them, and they cannot pretend they have not seen him do this, so they look back at him. His first line is:
" You wouldn't have known it, but something amusing has just happened to me".
This shows that he is good-humoured and is not a grumpy man, and is relaxed, which helps the audience to relax. He then talks about why the two pitchers nodded at him "I often think that behind that suspicious little nod of theirs, lie three thousand years of distrust". This shows that in a way he feels apart from the community because he is a lawyer and "a lawyer means the law", but he does not feel like he is above them because he is wealthier. He then leads into the history of himself and who he is, and describes the past of the society, and the type of community they are living in where the drama is set.
"But this is Red Hook, not Sicily".
When he is speaking, he is at the front of the stage, sitting behind a desk, with a spotlight on him. So the audiences' attention is only on him. Alfieri makes the audience feel more comfortable and even more relaxed, as he speaks to them in an informal chat. Alfieri sets the mood for the next scene when he speaks, and creates expectations.
" Catherine told me later that this was the first time they had been alone together in the house".
I believe that there are three different links concerning Alfieri, which helps to make sure that the audience completely understand the drama.
These are the link between himself and the audience, and the link, which he makes between the present day, and the past of this community. The other link is the link between the rich in the audience, and the poor on the stage. In his opening monologue, he does all three of these.
"…. And in Sicily, from where their fathers came…" as he describes the society in Red Hook.
Arthur Miller uses Alfieri almost as a bridge between himself and the audience. Which is quite ironic, as in real life the bridge separates the two different sets of society.
Alfieri normally speaks in the form of soliloquies, which in my opinion is important, so the audience can concentrate only on him. In Millers words Alfieri can "set up what's called the moral situation".
Alfieri explains difficult concepts such as the social structure of the Italians, honour and reputation in the community to the audience. He ties this into conversation with the audience. He doesn't do this in a rude manner, as if to say you don't know anything about our community, and so you are stupid, but he does this in a gentle chat, as if he was telling a story. So the audience listen to him.
Arthur Miller wanted to change the way the people who lived in Manhattan, excluded those who lived in Red Hook, just because of their culture, and the difference in wealth. He wanted to get the point across that they shouldn't exclude them any more, so they don't feel left out of society and the community of America. This is why he uses Alfieri to make the story line so predictable. Miller says "Solidarity in that community was very important to them, more so than in a normal American community.
I think that Alfieri is a very important device that Arthur Miller uses so that the audience get the full impact of the play. He explains situations well and without him, the audience wouldn't be able to understand what the society in Red Hook was like, as they wouldn't have had all of the background information, which Alfieri offers. I think it is good how Alfieri is able to interact with the audience and talk about the drama from a different perspective. He builds up a lot of tension in the audience, who are then eager to watch what is going to happen next. By giving them hints and clues, it builds up even more tension, as they want to know how the play is going to unfold. He makes it clear to the audience the differences between the different societies, which are only separated by a bridge.
