Although Eddie has doubts about Rodolpho, it is obvious to the audience that Rodolpho has genuine feelings for Catherine. He also is a decent guy when he makes comments “I have respect for her”. And he also has respect for Eddie in the boxing match when he says “I don’t want to hit you”. Another time where we believe that Rodolpho really does love Catherine, and that Eddie is acting inappropriately and intolerable is when also Eddie kisses Catherine in act he says “stop that have respect for her”. This leads Rodolpho to defend Catherine and try to attack Eddie, where Eddie retaliates and kisses him to show Catherine what he really is. This is a very significant scene which I believe where, the audience and Catherine start to feel compassion towards Rodolpho and disgust and revulsion for Eddie. Eddie acted on impulse without thought, and basically acted ludicrously, without proving anything against Rodolpho, but proving to the audience he is ruthless in getting what he wants and getting it his way, and will go to any lengths to make sure that this happens. This is the scene, where Eddie goes through the transition from the loving father figure, to the uncontrollable psychopath, tormented by an obsession and jealousy.
Marco who Eddie absolutely would consider ‘a man’ came to America with the intent of going back to Italy; he came to America to support his wife and children, which shows that he is a family man, he is respected an taken seriously, intelligent and knowledgeable. He is quiet, reserved and guarded. Marco is a “regular bull” a regular slave”.
All throughout the play he was thinking about his family. These are all the respectable qualities that Eddie thinks is a highly regarded man. Even though Marco and Rodolpho came illegally which would probably undermine them in Eddie’s eyes, Eddie will respect Marco because he hasn’t came to take advantage of U.S.A. Another quality is that Marco thinks ahead, and is very aware of his actions. He is constantly thinking about his family, when he is happy that his wife “brought medicine for my boy” but feels “lonesome” without them. Although this conflicts with Eddie because they both physically express their feelings, and cannot communicate with each other, and Eddie misinterprets people’s intentions, for example when Marco lifts the chair, it wasn’t to threaten Eddie it was to warn him that Rodolpho is his brother and he will go to any means to protect my family.
The roles of female character’s established in play can be seen as partly to blame for the tragic hero that Eddie became. I believe that maybe Catherine is not so innocent and is using her sexual power and provoking Eddie, for example when Beatrice (Eddie’s wife and Catherine’s auntie) is having a convocation with her that “you still walk around in front of him in your slip” and “you sit on the edge of the bathtub talking to him when he’s shaven, in his underwear”, where Catherine is suggesting that Eddie is not getting these uncontrollable unnatural feelings from know where. And Beatrice is politely telling Catherine to leave, get out of the house, get married, grow up and stop provoking my husband because she can tell that Eddie has unnatural feelings for Catherine by telling Catherine she is a “grown women and you’re in the same house with a grown man”. The alternative to this theory is that Catherine acts foolishly, like a baby, and is unaware that she might be arousing Eddie. Catherine finds herself making difficult decisions, torn between Eddie, her father figure, and Rodolpho, her sweetheart crush. She is torn between disobeying Eddie, and neglecting her heart. She obviously has great admiration for Eddie, when she stabs at Rodolpho that “you think its easy to turn around and say to a man he’s nothing to you no more?” .Catherine’s intent on following her heart was not to hurt Eddie but Eddie would have interpreted it that way, as he has a tendency to do; to take people’s intent on action towards him negatively. Eddie is Clearly upset over the fact their relationship has changed as he says in act one “I bless you and you don’t talk to me” and also when he says “ I don’t see you no more”, Eddie also makes comments that she does things she never used to do and does not want to come to terms that Rodolpho could have such an impact on Catherine’s life , as it used to be him who used to have such an impact on Catherine’s life. This feeling of abandonment furthermore increases Eddie’s hostility towards Rodolpho because he believes he is a bad influence on Catherine, for example when they go to the cinema. He tells Beatrice that until Rodolpho came, Catherine wasn’t being so irresponsible as he says “till he came here see was never out on the street twelve o’clock at night”. Eddie obviously cannot contain his outrageous jealousy.
The female characters could also be perceived as victims of male aggression and hostility; he manipulates Catherine so much that that she feels she has a duty towards him. So she constantly has to seek Eddie’s approval and guidance. At the beginning of the play she is constantly saying please, and furthermore when she wants to do something it is always down to Eddie’s decision and she correspond not wanting to challenge him for the love she has for him. But towards the ending Catherine becomes more independent and confident no more the little child she was before she met Rodolpho, “Eddie, I’m not gonna be a baby any more!”; she says to Eddie to inform him she is self-sufficient and he cannot control her world any longer. The relationship between her and Eddie has dramatically changed, and because he has not got the mental stability to control his feelings of anger, dishonour and abandonment, he probably takes her new self-awareness and confidence as being rebellious. He doesn’t understand how to deal with his feelings, to which leads Eddie to blame Rodolpho for this. Eddie's growing jealousy over Rodolfo and Catherine's relationship becomes more apparent as they spend more time together rather than with him which leads Eddie being hostile towards Rodolpho.
The uncontrollable feelings Eddie has could also been formed because of Eddie’s lack of love life, the audience get this idea when Beatrice says “ when am I gonna be your wife again” he avoids the question, until later on when he makes comments that Beatrice isn’t the person she used to be, and all she does know is badger, Eddie can be seen as a womanizer also, who believes he ‘wears the trousers’, he is the ‘man’ , his the one that controls everything, so he can be seen as intimidating to the women
“I don’t like the way you talk to me Beatrice”. . “This is my house”. When he makes this comment I want my respect “what I feel like doin in the bed and what I don’t feel like doin”. This comment obviously shows that they lack intimacy, and that they have not had sexual relations in a long period of time. So Eddie’s own love life is falling apart. This might have also been a catalyst to his jealousy. Eddie strikes me as someone that constantly wants to be in control, this is shown in many scenes, for example when he is talking to Beatrice, who in their discussion disagrees with his point of view, which he reacts with “If I tell you the guy ain’t right don’t tell me he is right”,
And also near the end in act 2 when Beatrice wants to go to the wedding, Eddie says no, she reluctantly agrees, this shows the sense of power Eddie has. Beatrice seems to always agree with Eddie, this could be because she is used to following his every command. Eddie’s need for being the one always in charge leads to matters getting worse, because he finds himself in situations he cannot control, whereas before he was probably always used to showing people that he was the man, and whatever he says is right and should be done his way and nobody should dare disagree. Beatrice can tell there is another reason for this over-protectiveness of Catherine, when she makes the comment “you want somethin’ else, Eddie, and you can never have her”, Eddie who is evidently in denial replies “that’s what you think of me- that I would have such thoughts?”
Justice and law play an important role in the play, Eddie does a good deed when accepting two immigrants into his household, which the entire community would see as a compassionate act, down to the fact that they are immigrants too, this act is illegal and against the law. This is an example of the confrontation of Sicilian communities laws and attitude towards the actual laws in U.S.A. “in Sicily, from where their fathers came, the law has not been a friendly idea”; “justice is very important here”.
(Alfieri's speech) where he warns "the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten" gives the audience an indication that the law will not be followed in the future. At the same time, ultimately presenting to the audience a immense awareness to what the possible end result of Eddie's deeds will be. As one of the essential characters of the play Alfieri is the one who gives guidance, and is the only rational and wise one where it comes to difficult situations.
When Eddie informs the immigration bureau that there are illegal immigrants in his home, Eddie is breaking the social code of behaviour that keeps the immigrants community of red hook together. When Marco’s makes the statement “he killed my children! That one stole the food from my children!” what Marco is saying can be seen as true because if he is deported back, he will not be able to look after his wife and kids, so in reality Eddie is to blame.
Marco's words "All the law is not in a book" referring to the Italian law and justice rather than the American laws.
There is no law to change what Eddie has done but under social code of the neighbourhood, Eddie has lost his name and his honour. Marco tells Alfieri that “he degraded my brother. My blood. He robbed my children”,
He goes on to say “There is no law for that? Where is the law for that?”
Marco is clearly stating that law cannot justify everything that is right or wrong. So Marco wants his own form of justice, proving his a family man and believes in family honour. Marco is also proving that law and justice can contradict itself, even though he is illegal in the country, which is against the law, he is here to support his family, to feed his starved family, which isn’t a crime, and that justice would be in letting him be able to do provide for his family, not by deporting him back because that would be truly immoral; to send him back to a poor country with nothing. And that itself should be a crime.
Alfieri is a key character in A View from the Bridge as he is the one that sets the scene at the beginning of the play, and introduces two of the main characters. He is an engaged narrator, educated, unlike the other characters; that uses short words and slang which shows that they are uneducated. For instance when Eddie uses words such as “ain’t”, “laughin” “ya”, and “yiz”, Miller has placed Eddie, Catherine and Beatrice firmly in the background and their language shows this. Their dialect is different for example “I don’t see you no more “which should be, I don’t see you any more, they use very simple words. So therefore Alfieri has a higher status over all the other characters. He came from Italy to America in his youth, now involved in the law. He is responsible for informing the audience on how to feel, by making comments on great events and situations that have just happened. To which at the end makes the audience reflect on what has just happened. In Greek tragedy terms, he is the chorus. A chorus is someone who watched the action and commented on it, addressing the audience directly. Alfieri is the one that builds up tension and suspense, by letting the audience know that he knows what is going to happen next, and making us shake for more when making comments like “I could see every step coming, step after step,…… I knew where he was heading for, I knew where he was going to end”. He also makes comment that a women told him “to pray” for Eddie, so these revelations put the audience in a state of fright not knowing what’s going to happen next , but knowing something truly horrific will happen. This devise that Arthur miller uses is effective because when something truly drastic does we are already prepared and groomed for it. So he acts as a warning to the audience for the final, inescapable pessimistic climax.
Alfieri is the educated smart-minded person in the play, who is not really in the action, so we allow him to guide us through the play, so we believe his opinion. Alfieri knows everything that has happened and knows what is going to happen. He is rational and civilized, for example when Eddie comes to him, to which he already knows hat Eddie thinks, says that “there’s nothing illegal about a girl falling in love” When Eddie replies “if the only reason is to get papers” to which Alfieri response is that Eddie does not know that.
Every time Eddie makes negative comments on Rodolpho, Alfieri comes back with reasonable and sensible defences. Another example is that Alfieri feels Eddie is acting out of spite and telling him that the love he has for Catherine is perverted and going against nature when he says “every man’s got somebody that he loves…. But sometimes there’s too much… and it goes where it mustn’t”. This is a very wise statement, he is also saying that you should love a wife as a wife, and a daughter as a daughter and nothing more. He is also saying there are different types of love and some are restricted to the type of person in question. He proceeds to tell Eddie that he should let Catherine make her own decisions and should let her go, “you did your job” as a father.
Alfieri can Clearly tell that Eddie wants Catherine for himself when he tells Afieri that Rodolpho is stealing from him “he’s stealing from me” , Alfieri tells him, “ she wants to get married, Eddie. She can’t marry you, can she?”. When Alfieri is able to make a comment like that, it shows he is able to analyse people and know their hidden agenda. The last interaction Alfieri has with Eddie, Alfieri tells Eddie “you won’t have a friend in the world…..those who understand will turn against you… despise you”. These statements inform the audience that Alfieri knows Eddie’s intentions, also knows there will be a repercussion, which will be an uncontrollable destiny.
Eddie is truly a tragic hero he starts of in the play a caring and wholesome, generous person, who just cares for his niece and will do anything to protect her. Eddie was fufiling a duty and a promise to Catherine’s mum on her death bed that he will look after her; Gradually his innocent feelings turned into something not so innocent. Eddie did a good deed by allowing his wife’s cousins to live him and was making sure that they would stay without being deported. When he says to Beatrice who is unsure of how safe her cousins will be, “ it never comes out of your mouth who they are or what they’re doin’ here” he reassures her. Eddie shows he does have love and affection for Beatrice when he says things to Beatrice like “Beatrice all Im worried about is you” he shows he cares for her when he makes the statement he doesn’t want her being used “just don’t want you bein pushed around” and says “you’re an angel”, So from the beginning the audience generally perceive Eddie as a respectable character. Another good quality is when he is introduced to the cousins he shows his hospitality. So why did this all change? Manliness, hostility and aggression are to blame and are linked together, these come to play when Eddie finds himself in difficult situations, where he is unable to understand or verbalize his feelings, whereas other characters can so therefore is hostile and aggressive and reacts out of passion. This is caused by Eddie’s lack of education and culture. So from the good-hearted respectable man, he turns into a hateful, vile and intolerable person, to whom every ones previous views of him have changed and everyone has turned against him. This he cannot handle. He wants his respect and status back when he constantly says “I want my name”, “give me my name”, which refers to what other people in the community think about him, Eddie desperately needs society’s approval. This is shown when Marco makes the comment that Eddie killed his children. Eddie tries to defend himself my saying “he’s crazy! I give them blankets off my bed. Six months, I kept them like my own brothers”. Furthermore because he knows he’s lost his position in his community and his manhood has been insulted and demeaned, it results in him to act on impulse without thinking of the consequences. He brings out a knife, which he tries to stab Marco with, but Marco retaliates by turning the knife inwards towards Eddie, which gives Eddie an instant death. This gives the play’s end a result which is truly unpleasant, and at the end of it all, the audience might feel outraged by Eddie’s action, and believe that Eddie is the to blame for his own death , Alfieri ends the play with his monologue, which causes the audience to feel sympathetic towards Eddie, when saying “ I know how wrong he was, and his death is useless” , Alfieri admits that although Eddie’s actions weren’t honourable , and he did some terrible things, there was good qualities about Eddie “something perversely pure calls to me from his memory not purely good, but himself purely, for he allowed himself to be wholly known and for that I think I will love him” If only Eddie had been able to control his amplifying jealousy!
Abisoye Alakija
