A View From The Bridge

Coming away from the apartment and to the side of the stage there is a telephone booth. I think Miller has put this booth there to encourage the audience to be suspicious and left wondering what it might be used for. It also suggest that who ever would want to use this telephone booth might want to make a private call and does not want anyone to no who is making the call. To the right of the stage in the corner there is sort of an office with a desk init. This is saying to us that there is someone that is a businessman and works as a lawyer or something. Going back to the apartment you can notice that it is very “clean” so this suggest that there could be a women or man who stays at home and does the cleaning.

        At the end of act one Arthur Miller uses dramatic devices to establish the guilt of Marco, for example, “the chair raised like a weapon over Eddie’s head”. This quote indicates that Marco wants to send a warning to Eddie. When Marco tries to lift the chair up the first time he pretends that he cannot he then “grasps the bottom of one of the chair legs but does but raise it”. I think Marco plays with Eddie here because he already knows that Eddie cannot lift the chair and tries to encourage Eddie. Another point that can prove Marco is guilty is where Miller writes what might appear like a “glare of warning into a smile of triumph”. Miller wants to give the audience a thought that Marco was giving Eddie a “glare of warning” but then manages to change it into “a smile of triumph”.

        Additionally Arthur Miller uses dramatic devices in the last scene to clearly establish Marco’s guilt for he has just stabbed Eddie at this point. Arthur Miller uses the phrase Eddie and Marco are “spreading” their arms which suggest that both of them are getting ready to swing at each other. This can prove Marco’s guilt because this shows he wanted to fight. Also Marco raises his voice at Eddie and shouts at him “animal”. We know he raised his voice because Marco has to shout it out because Eddie was all the way up in the apartment and Marco was outside so Marco had to shout to make Eddie hear. And to finish it off Marco gets the knife that Eddie was going to stab him with and “Marco grabs his arm and turns the blade inwards and pressing it home” this means that Marco stabbed Eddie and is twisting it so that it will hurt Eddie even more. Another point that could prove Marco is guilty is when Marco and his brother came to America, Marco left his starving sick wife and three children to come work in America and because Marco snuck in to the country as an illegal immigrant it would be quiet hard to sneak back to Italy with out getting caught and Marco was willing to take the risk when his sick wife and kids are starving. Some people might look at this in a way that Marco doesn’t care that much about his wife and kids.

        In conclusion I think Marco is guilty because he did actually stab Eddie and twisting it so it would hurt Eddie more. And he took a risk to come here and leave his sick starving wife and kids to work in America. Also another point that can prove Marco’s guilt is at the chair scene where Marco holds the chair “like a weapon over Eddie’s head”. So there are a lot of dramatic devices and quotes to prove Marco’s guilt.