‘Alfieri talks of being ‘powerless’ and says that Eddie was like ‘a dark figure walking down the hall towards the certain door.’ He also says ‘something perversely pure calls to me from his memory.’ In what sense is this

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‘Alfieri talks of being ‘powerless’ and says that Eddie was like ‘a dark figure walking down the hall towards the certain door.’ He also says ‘something perversely pure calls to me from his memory.’ In what sense is this play a tragedy and what is your response to the tragic events of the play?

‘Tragedy is to say a certain storie,

As olde books maken us memorie,

Of him that stood in great prosperitee

And is yfallen out of high degree

Into misery and endeth wretchedly.’ Chaucer

‘A View from the Bridge’ by Arthur Miller is a play describing the affairs of the Brooklyn dockworkers of post war America. The play is as colourful as the lives of those it depicts: it contains aspects of love, hatred, passion, suffering, pain and despair (to name but a few) but what of tragedy? In order for a play to be a ‘tragedy’ it follows that it must have tragic elements to its plot... but what are these elements? Why are they considered tragic? And most importantly of all: In what from are they present in ‘A View from the Bridge’? Answering this question requires that we obtain a sound definition of ‘tragedy’ in the classic sense, and for this task I refer throughout to Aristotle’s ‘Poetics’. Over the next few pages I will be examining the main events and aspects of the play, showing how explicitly they follow the principles outlined by Aristotle, therefore earning the ‘tragic’ title.

Foremost in a tragedy is the protagonist; he is the hub around which the events of the play rotate, without whom all would soon crumble. In classic tragedy the protagonist is usually distinguished early in the play: the protagonist in ‘A View from the Bridge’ is established from the outset. An early stage direction sees Eddie ‘pitching coins with the men and is highlighted among them’ this and Eddie’s prominence in the following family scene firmly establish his role as the lead character.

Once this entity has been confirmed we must then examine his character. In the first family scene Eddie is shown to command the love and respect of both his wife and niece: Beatrice claims that he is ‘an Angel!’ and that ‘God’ll bless him’ and Catherine greets him enthusiastically ‘Hi, Eddie!’ This show of love has the effect of portraying Eddie Carbone in a favourable light and raising the audience’s opinion of him. This was a deliberate effort on Miller’s part to satisfy one of Aristotle’s necessities for tragedy, that the lead role should ‘embody nobility and virtue as part of his/her innate character’. Initial nobility and virtue serve to accentuate the eventual demise of the character and heighten the sense of loss felt by the audience.

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The family love of the opening scene, while serving a purpose, is notably ordinary and not at all unusual. At first glance Eddie Carbone seems a surprisingly normal figure ‘He is forty- a husky, slightly overweight longshoreman’. This normality however serves a very important purpose, it allows the audience to identify with the character, a necessity for the tragic hero since he has to command sympathy, pity, and later invoke fear. Another tragic requirement is that the lead character must have a certain flaw, or imperfection, known as hamartia which serves to trigger the character’s demise. This is present in ...

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