A view from a bridge

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A view from the bridge

Written by Arthur Miller (1955-1956)

In terms of the historical and cultural background, Arthur Miller was born in 1915 in Harlem, New York. His parents were both Italian immigrants. He grew up in a moderately wealthy society because his father ran a fairly profitable business. He has a very great understanding of poverty however because he experienced this after his father’s business went bust after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. His parents were then in no position to finance his place at University which he had to delay for two years, so he worked as a warehouseman in Brooklyn Navy Yard along with a large number of Italian immigrant workers, largely from Sicily. This firsthand experience of Italian culture, along with his own Italian background gave him a great understanding of Italian attitudes to family bonds, and honour which is the major theme in the play.  He has therefore used situations and language that he has experienced to make his play believable to an audience. In fact the outline of the play is almost identical to a story that he was told by a lawyer friend who represented Italian dock workers, a fact which also adds to the realism. While he was at university he studied Journalism and English. He also wrote his first play while he was there. He went on to write many more plays, including “Death of a Salesman”, which won the Pulitzer Prize and “The Crucible”. Many of his plays focus on the individual and their position in relation to their responsibilities and position in society. This may make his plays seem political. In fact he was accused of acting against the interests of the Unites States but not charged. He died in 2005 having married twice (including Marilyn Monroe) and having been considered one of the world’s most influential playwrights.

The staging of this play is very specific. It focuses mainly in the living room and dining room of Eddie Carbone which is in the centre of the stage. However, we can also see the outside world because to one side of the stage is a simple lawyer’s office and to the other side is a simple street scene. This choice of staging represents very clearly Millers intention to relate private life to public life. This is very important for Italians as the most important thing is family and personal honour.

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The play describes the family and life of Eddie Carbone. He is married to Beatrice and has informally adopted his niece, Catherine, a teenager.  Two cousins of Beatrice, Marco and Rodolfo, come to live with them.  Marco is hard-working, sending money back to his own wife and children, but Rodolfo is younger and Eddie does not consider him either hard-working or responsible.  Rodolfo and Catherine become attracted to each other and Eddie’s disapproval of Rodolfo drives Eddie to try and prevent the friendship developing.  His attempts become more and more desperate, as his own feelings for Catherine become confused, ...

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