Eddie got so frustrated with Rodolfo and Marco and so thought he had no choice but to get rid of them, so the best thing on his mind was to call the immigration and get them captured. For what? Because he was very jealous of Catherine’s and Rodolfo’s relationship. He wanted to get rid of them because he wanted Catherine to stay safe and to avoid Rodolfo as their relationship was developing. This made Eddie really angry because he himself had a crush on Catherine. Unfortunately it was Rodolfo that Catherine had warmth for in that sense. As the day passes Rodolfo and Catherine become more and more dear with each other, which Eddie finds disturbing and irritating.
Members of the audience may think it was right for Eddie to die, as he was unfair and he had lack of loyalty and respect, against the grain of Sicilian life as they are a close-knit community. The story of Vinny Bolzalo highlights the fact that the Sicilians are very close.
Marco says to Alfieri regarding Eddie’s dishonesty that “in my country he would be dead by now. He would not live this long”, highlighting that the Italians had their own sense of justices and if Eddie was to behave the way he is now in Italy he would have been destroyed by now, they would not put up with this nonsense but kill him. So they take the law into there on hands.
The audience will have some kind of sympathy.
Some people will respond to the end of the play by seeing Eddie as a tragic hero.
Aristotle, a famous Greek writer and philosopher saw a tragic hero as somebody who moves from a state of happiness to unhappiness and who has a fatal flaw.
Eddie’s fatal flaw was misunderstood; he reacted in a faulty manner to Catherine’s love for Rodolfo. Aristotle stated that a tragic hero must usually die at the end of a drama. Eddie dies at the end by his own weapon, which gives him the description of a tragic hero. Aristotle also stated that a tragic hero always starts off as a good person. At the beginning of the play Eddie allows Catherine to wear high quality clothes, such as skirts, shirts and tights amongst other things and plays a role as her guardian. He protects her from getting into trouble with boys and crime, as there is a lot of street crime and violence. Eddie also lets her apply for a job and wants what’s good for her. Eddie also holds a big responsibility in letting Beatrice’s cousin stay in his house, as they both are illegal immigrants. He gives them food, water, shelter and a room to stay in and if they get caught its Eddie who will pay the price. He also warns Beatrice and Catherine and tells them about Vinny Bolzano, saying to them how he set the immigration on his cousin and paid a hefty price, telling them not to call the immigration and grass them up. This shows he cares and respects the fact they are living here. At that moment Beatrice refers to her husband as an “angel”, which proves that Eddie is a good, honest person.
At the end of the play Eddie gains a lot of sympathy from the fact that he dies in the arms of Beatrice and that his last words were ‘’my b’’. This makes the audiences feel very emotional and sad. He dies because he destroys himself in utter jealousy.
Eddie used to smoke cigars and drink significantly, especially on the eve of Christmas, where he used to still seven or eight bottles of alcohol and get drunk. He also knows a bit of boxing. This shows that he fits in the description of Aristotle of him being manly.
Some people in the audience may think that the ending of the play as a powerful piece of drama because the ending of the play is where all the excitements happen. Before the end things happened in a slow fashion but then there was a sudden, explosive end.
This is seen as when Eddie is in the house and Marco comes furiously looking for him, calling him an “animal’’ and directs him to go on his knee. Immediately the audience will think that that will aggravate him and make him angry and they may think what will Eddie’s response be? That type of language will anger any human being, which will cause them to become physical. After all, they are humans and have the same organs as me.
When the play was going on towards the end the actors used a lot of short dialogues, which produces nervousness, and an air of suspense and tension. ‘‘Go in the house, go in the house’’ Beatrice repeats herself to Eddie, at that stage the audience will think that something is going to happen. Probably a last piece of action, which puts them in total suspense and biting their nails and anxious to find out what’s going to happen next. “Tell them Marco tell them what a liar you really are” Eddie throws his voice at Marco as he humiliates Marco in front of most of the spread. Mind you Beatrice does know her cousin best.
After all the aggression of the play, Eddie could not face up to what he has done, so a lot of stage directions tells us how he feels, his “eyes are brutal”. What gets him more is when Marco starts the criticism, accusing him by calling him a “liar and animal”. That’s when Eddie cracks his fingers. Now the audiences are at the edge of busting, knowing that there’s going to be a last piece of action
The audience already knows that Marco is full of strength as he succeeded on lifting the chair with one hand tight into the air. Eddie found this rather difficult and failed, but it’s Eddie who knows the boxing as he was teaching Rodolfo some tactics and some of his moves. As he was performing he deliberately threw a jab a Rodolfo, which made Marco very angry that’s, and that is when he lifts the chair with one hand above Eddies head. Marco gives him an evil look, telling Eddie that we are not stupid, we can do half the things you can, so watch your actions and be careful of who you touch.
What makes Eddie’s death more powerful and sad is that he dies in the arms of Beatrice with a slow faint voice saying ‘’my B’’. At that point the mood of the audience will change completely to fear, tension and sorrow. These words were crucial as it made the audience feel very sad and emotional. It was Eddie who made all the major scenes calling in the immigration, kissing his niece, double-dealing and becoming the enemy of the audience and the give out. It is sad to see anyone to die, even an enemy. After all it was Beatrice that cared about him and loved him and was always there for him and I am sure Eddie loved her too. Out an epic piece of drama it ends tragically.
My personal response to the play is that it’s an excellent piece of drama, with lots of interest and atmosphere It also has interesting parts, which keeps you motivated. It was heartbreaking seeing Eddie die at the end of the play. In my opinion he deserved to get punished but not die, especially in the arms of Beatrice. I did not see Eddie as wrong as he was taking part in protecting his niece from all the mischief. Eddie had all the rights to call the immigration on the two immigrants as they were illegal and did not respect the law and someone had to do something about it. Yes he had his moments of being the bad guy but there were no valid reasons for him to die.
What made me significant is that died in the arms of Beatrice and said ‘’my B’’. Stating that he had no one, just his wife beside him.
To conclude, some in the audience will see Eddie as a villain and some may see him as a tragic hero. I think that Arthur Miller stated and gave him the description of a tragic hero as he starts of being the good guy, by allowing the immigrants to stay and make their self at home. He also allows Catherine to wear quality clothes and genuinely tries to protect her, although the exact things he did may not be totally acceptable. A tragic hero must have a fatal imperfection which is him getting stabbed by his own weapon. He also dies at the end of the play. He does become the enemy by calling the immigration to get rid of the immigrants as Rodolfo had a huge crush on Catherine, Eddie’s niece, and he sees the need to protect her. Eddie himself had a crush on Catherine and kisses her but she does not respond. After an epic piece of play in my opinion Eddie as a tragic hero. Yes, Eddie acted in a cowardly fashion, but you have to realise that he thought he was doing right by his family and so felt he had to help Catherine from Rodolfo, who he thought was selfish and dangerous. The audience looking on from the side might think he was acting in an evil way, but Eddie was emotionally involved, which didn’t allow him to think clearly. in he had a lot of jealously.
By jaman khan 10P
