The first paragraph of a view from the bridge describes what the setting of the play looks like. There is then a single paragraph describing what Alfieri is doing on stage. ‘’Enter Alfieri a lawyer in his fifties turning gray…He crosses the stage to his desk, removes his hat, runs his fingers through his hair and grinning speaks to the audience.’’ This quotation explains that he is almost at unease, You can tell from the audience when he removes his hat and runs his fingers through his hair, He has a story to tell. But when he begins to start grinning it might have confused the audience. As the audience might have though from his first few impressions that he is worried, But begins to smile. ‘’You wouldn’t have known it, but something amusing has just happened…’’ We can tell from this that Alfieri might indeed be telling the audience a joyful story. But when he says it just happened, we might be able to tell that Alfieri is going to describe the play as a dream.
There are several parts in A View from the Bridge that resemble Greek drama. is the tragic, mad character who is helpless in the face of his own terrible fate. acts as the chorus in the play. He provides commentary on the action and articulates the greater moral and social implications of the drama. Eddie Carbone is an epic character; he makes bold moves and does things that are completely out of the ordinary. As chorus, Alfieri is key to distinguishing Eddie as a legendary figure because Alfieri gives Eddie epic proportions, "I looked into his eyes more than I listened—in fact, I hardly remember the conversation I will never forget how dark the room became when he looked at me; his eyes were like tunnels."
To justify his actions, creates an alternative reality to exist within. This imagined world Eddie creates shows by his irrational decisions. Eddie knows well the fate he will suffer if he betrays and . In the beginning of the play, Eddie tells the story of a young boy who ratted on immigrant relatives staying in his home and warns that she must be absolutely silent about Marco and Rodolpho. Eddie knows that he will suffer greatly for calling Immigration, but does so anyway. In Eddie's imagined world he believes that putting his relatives in jail will stop the marriage of Rodolpho and Catherine. Eddie believes he can keep Catherine all for himself as a virginal prize. Eddie thinks that he can regain his name after Marco spits in his face. Eddie, driven by his suppressed passions, makes irrational decisions and denies his own reason.
On page 15, Alfieri Steps into the building atmosphere of Family love relationships. But his speech wasn’t very important so I think Arthur Miller used him then to simply fill in time. Back then, a girl lighting a cigar for a man would be seen as flirting. Alfieri constantly says a speech when a scene reaches its climax, Towards page 22 Alfieri says another speech. But he himself builds tension ‘’There was a trouble that would not go away’’ We can see that Alfieri here is building a tension that is going to lead to doom. He almost sets up the ending here. Alfieri also steps in just before Rodolfo and Catherine went out – Stopping tension.
On page 31 Alfieri Gives a speech were he soon turns into a character of the play. ‘’His eyes were like tunnels’’ This is representing that Eddie looks empty, You can almost see through him. Eddie enters Alfieri office, But Alfieri continues to talk to the audience, Almost as if he hasn’t noticed him yet as Eddie seems empty, like nothing is there. After Eddie sits down Alfieri realizes he can’t do anything for him, ‘’ But soon I saw it was only a passion that had moved into his body’’ Alfieri knows that Eddie is wasting his time, Eddie even asks if there is anything he can do, But alfieri says ‘’ There’s nothing illegal about a girl falling in love with an immigrant’’ We the audience in fact know that Eddie is now properly jealous as he is relying on the law to help him.
After there conversation Eddie leaves Alfieri office and Alfieri returns back into the chorus. We can see through the stage directions ‘’Sits on desk’’ That he himself is confused. ‘’Being an intelligent man, I was powerless…’’ Usually Alfieri figures things out, But this time he had to resort to someone who believes in spiritual beliefs ‘’a wise woman.’’
At the start of Act two Alfieri says ‘’ On the twenty third of December a scotch whisky slipped from a net while being unloaded…’’ Here he engages with the audience and might even be suggesting that Eddie or one of the immigrants could Drink. Alfieri refers to Rodolfo as ‘’The boy’’ throughout his speech, This almost shows that he is taking Eddies side.
Timing is an important to the action of the play. For example, Eddie calls the Immigration Bureau after his meeting with Alfieri on the very day that Catherine says that she is going to marry Rodolpho soon because she is scared of him getting caught by Immigration; simultaneously Marco and Rodolpho move out of the apartment, and thereby cause other immigrants - relatives of the Liparis who have nothing to do with Eddie - to be picked up too. From then on, the pace increases quickly to the end.
Just before Alfieri’s final speech, Eddie dies. The stage directions tell us that the lights fate but rise upon Alfieri. ‘’Lights have gone down, leaving Alfieri in a glow…’’ This shows that Alfieri is in some importance in this last scene. He says a line he used at the start of the play ‘’Most of the time now we settle for half…’’ This is representing the fact that, Although this community doesn’t have it all. They are still happy. Although they are not rich, and live scruffy lives. They are seen as a community. Alfieri seems almost alarmed by what he is saying ‘’Perversely pure calls to me from his memory….’’. Also throughout this speech, He is bias to Eddie by saying ‘’I will love him more than my sensible clients…’’. Alfieri ends his speech by saying ‘’With a certain alarm’’ Firstly, this links to what he said about being ‘’perversely pure….memory.’’ But alfieri could mean by saying ‘’with a certain alarm’’ That he is thinking that even though he could predict what was going to happen, even he - a lawyer - could do nothing to prevent it. Or Probably he is thinking that Eddie's faults are common ones, and that his story should be a warning to us all to be more self-aware.
I find the story amazing, In the way Arthur Miller sets out the plot of the story. I did not realise until the very end that Alfieri is speaking in the present, But is thinking off the past. As he is describing each scene as if it was a dream. I think Alfieri does help the audience to appreciate the action of play, And I think he does this mainly by splitting up each scene, So although Arthur Miller has set the play out as a Greek drama, Where there is no stopping. He has put Alfieri In-between each scene to represent the start and stopping off each part.
