The most famous film on Italian-Americans would probably be “Scarface” a movie based on Italian-American gangster Al Capone, the Italian-American community is stereotyped as a very tight family, which it represents in gangs or mobs, the Italian-American dialect is varied through out Brooklyn, Bugs Bunny has an accent based on the Flatbush dialect.
Wikipedia – “Italian Americans are higher in the rate & degree of the tensing & rising of (oh) & (aeh) than that of Jewish American New Yorkers.”
The values of the communities of Italian Americans seem as though they all run everything as a family business, & a tight knit friendship group.
What is a ‘tragedy’? Find out the main features or conventions of this type of play. Make sure you go right back to Greek tragedy.
A Greek tragedy is a form of art portraying human suffering causing audience pleasure this form has been modernised to usually end a play in a death where all characters end in despair, or worse off than they were at the beginning.
Alfieri’s first speech.
What have we learnt about the people who live in Red Hook?
We have learnt from the opening speech from Alfieri that Red Hook was the slum of Brooklyn & the gullet of New York, Red Hook is portrayed as very violent with no care for the law, but it is now ore civilised & getting better, people are no longer as scared as they were, as Alfieri says:
“I no longer feel the need to keep a gun”
It shows Red Hook at one time was extremely intimidating & bad but now much better. Alfieri goes onto mention how his relatives often tell him not to get involved with cases, this shows the Italian-American-tight knit-family-like-ness & how his business seems to be everyone’s business.
What does Alfieri mean when he says “justice is very important” here?
When Alfieri says “justice is very important here” he is using a bit of sarcasm he is commenting on how people do feel justice is important but their own personal justice not the government’s justice. & How people can commit murder believing it is all right because of there own justice. However you feel a sense of irony as he is a lawyer speaking & he is discussing justice that he may well deal with in court. The fact he is a lawyer also shows there is work for lawyers in Red Hook so some sort of governed justice is important.
Now the people “settle for half” instead of using a gun for justice, what does that mean?
Alfieri’s comment “now the people settle for half” is commenting on now that Red Hook has been cleaned up a bit his services a called on more & although it means the person against the allegations may not be killed he will be brought to governed justice & possible face prison.
Eddie’s story is not like the ‘petty troubles of the poor.’ Why might he come to see Alfieri?
Eddie’s story is not like the petty troubles of the poor because we realise through out the book that aside from the immigrants in his house being illegal, they have actually done nothing wrong & although his allegations against Rodolfo being gay are also wrong, it is not illegal to be gay. Alfieri also deals mainly in family squabbles, evictions & compensation cases, but Eddie’s is different because it’s more about jealousy & revenge.
Catherine & Eddie.
“I think it’s too short” what is he worried about?
Eddie is on the surface worried about the length of Catherine's skirt & the signals she’s giving young men in the area, he is concerned for her general welfare & how naïve she is too sex & the danger she can face in the real world. Deep down I think he is worried & upset about how she has grown up so quickly & how he is now soon losing his only child, even though you find out Catherine isn’t actually Eddie’s daughter.
What do you think of Catherine's behaviour around Eddie? Any advice you would give her?
I think her behaviour is doting daughter yet naïve young woman, I think Catherine should understand Eddie’s point of concern & not break down into tears so quickly, yet at the same time I think she should stand up to Eddie more because as respectful of him as she is that respect seems die later in the play but if she were to stand up to him I feel she would be more helpful & they would have a stronger relationship.
Do you think Eddie’s advice is justified?
Eddie’s advice to an extent is justified he does know more about the docks & the area than his daughter & what the men at the docks say, however he doesn’t know as much as he thinks. He undermines Catherine believing she is still a baby, & I don’t think he has much respect for her instead I feel he has a certain protection. I think as well as that he made a promise to Catherine's biological mother to keep her safe so he would feel as though he’s betraying his family.
What might happen to Eddie? Any problems with his behaviour so far? Warning signs?
Note down the quotations.
At the beginning of the play we see Eddie very edgy about what has happened to Vinny, a boy who ratted on his uncle to the immigration, we also are introduced to Eddie by quite a glum character stating his different story & we get a small outlook into his ultimately deadly fate.
Eddie & Beatrice discuss Catherine ‘over her head,’ talking about her & not to her. How does this affect the way that we view Catherine?
I think Eddie & Beatrice discussing Catherine over her head shows that she has been treated as a child for a long time & that is why now she acts that way at an older age, this also shows the ignorance of Eddie. Yet at the same time Beatrice shows how powerful she is & may also be talking as though Catherine is out of the room to show that she believes in Catherine even if Eddie doesn’t.
Which word would best describe the way that Eddie is feeling when Catherine tells him that she was selected as the best student in the class & he responds with; “well why not? Sure she’s the best?”
“Obvious” Eddie refuses to accept that his daughter could not be the best & that other students could be better at her job this is the same sort of feeling you get when you have a baby & believe your baby is the best in the world & amazing at everything but as the baby grows up you realise your baby’s talents & individuality. Eddie also seems to be letting it fly over his head & is other wise distracted.
What does getting a job represent for Catherine? In what ways will it change her? Why is it so important to her?
Catherine getting a job represents maturity & she wont have to marry into becoming a housewife & instead can support herself, it represents her own freedom & will change her into more of a woman that she desperately wants to be, it shows that she can also do something with herself & will hopefully get her respect from Eddie that she desperately desires.
How does Eddie’s mood change when Catherine tells him that her salary will be $50? When Beatrice argues, “work is the best practice” Eddie says; “that aint what I wanted though.” What did Eddie want?
Eddie wanted her to finish school & stay at home so he can protect her & he feels that Beatrice should respect what he wants, she then shows her authority by persuading him Eddie’s mood then changes when he hears about the extra money because it means Eddie can be at home more & he will be able to enjoy finer things & general family income would be as low. Eddie’s job is very on off sometimes he has a job then his job wont come back for weeks, where as Catherine’s job as a secretary would offer constant support.
What do you think lies at the heart of Eddie’s concern when he says, “she’ll be with a lotta plumbers”?
I think the fact Catherine could be taken away from him & the reality that she is growing up becomes more obvious. He is on the skin also concerned for her safety but I think more deep down it’s her & how she could affect his reputation.
Eddie tries to persuade Catherine to hold out for a better job so that she can be with “ different kind of people” is she likely to find a job like this? Do you this Eddie says this because he wants the best for her? Or because he wants to hold onto her?
I think Eddie wants a bit of both in this statement he wants to hold onto her but he has paid money for her to get the best in life & he doesn’t want her to stay in the same kind of neighbourhood for the rest of her life. I think the chances of her then finding that job are mixed she is clearly a skilled secretary but her background ultimately brings her down.
What is it about the idea of Catherine taking the job that makes Eddie feel, ‘somehow sickened’?
Eddie is sickened that she will still work in this neighbourhood when he has put all his money into her education only to stay in same slum he is also sickened of the reality of what has just happened & how it shows his Catherine is growing up.
Eddie says that Catherine looks like the Madonna. What are the characteristics/features of Madonna (the mother of Jesus Christ)? What does this suggest about the way in which Eddie views Catherine?
It is blatant from his outlook on someone as holy & sacred as the Madonna & how they are the same to Catherine his view on Catherine is ever loving yet protecting at the same time, one of the main facts on Christ's mother is how she is a virgin & the way Eddie portrays her as an innocent virgin makes her sound very beautiful & in need of protecting. The Virgin Mary also gave birth to Jesus Christ a very important & precious child she will also give birth to an American citizen from an American citizen. I think Eddie’s view of her as this holy & calm figure that is liked by everyone is like a massive comment that then self justifies Eddie in being so protective.
How does Arthur Miller use language, characters & stagecraft to suggest that Eddie’s tragic fate is inevitable?
Arthur Miller uses language; characters & stagecraft to show the inevitable lead up to Eddie’s fate, by many ways, one of which is how he is introduced by a grim lawyer character who says he has a big case & that he is different to the petty troubles of the poor.
Another way of subtle hinting eddies tragic fate is a way in which he shows this is the by using subtle hints, you realise the immigration will be involved towards the start when Eddie gets anxious over the talk about Vinny. Eddie says: “you can get back quicker a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away.” At this time Eddie sty & s up & speaks directly to Catherine showing the use of stagecraft by Miller, he shows the anxiety in Eddie by his movement & his phrase, which is quite a forceful phrase because he sums up how determined the immigration are to get information & how unforgiving the community is.
The second way I feel we foresee Eddie’s end is how his respect deteriorates through out the play & his jealousy & envy gain. I think he has lost the respect of his wife when the sexual side of their relationship died, as she undermines him when talking about Catherine. He then feels he has lost the respect of his friends Louis & Mike over the sexuality of Rodolfo, & how hard Marco works in comparison to him. After all this he loses respect from Catherine when he is drunk & tries to fight Rodolfo, who is a bigger man & does not retaliate. He then begins to see Alfieri & finally calls immigration. This is where all his respect for himself & from his family is gone. The envy that builds up against Rodolfo & Marco through out the play shows Eddie falling down a slippery slope until he becomes so distracted he seems to pull away from friends, Mike & Louis. Miller portrays this well especially when Rodolfo & he first meet & he ends up seemingly to refuse to speak to Rodolfo & only to Marco.
We realise by Eddie’s reaction to Rodolfo how emotionally unstable he is & how he makes massive accusations & allegations so easily. Miller uses all of theses things to subtly show how the deterioration of Eddie & how he eventually meets his fate, Miller use characters to show how jealous Eddie is they are portrayed in a normal light to the audience yet Eddie feels hate for them almost naturally & in the end he dies an unhappy angry man, who has through out the play fallen apart.
