A View From the Bridge

Pavan Nandra

‘He’s like a weird’. This opinion of Rodolfo expressed by Eddie encapsulates the main theme of the 20th century play, ‘A View From the Bridge’, by Arthur Miller. Rodolfo is subject to Eddie’s hostile feelings towards him, emotions like abhorrence, resentment, jealousy and aggression. Eddie’s belief in manliness and masochistic behaviour is one explanation why he detests Rodolfo with such vehemence. To Eddie Carbone, Rodolfo is the exact opposite of his ideals. He has effeminate attributes; he can sing, dance, and make dresses. These all seem to anger Eddie but ridiculously, it seems that Rodolfo’s blond hair seems to irritate Eddie especially; he seems to think that it proves that Rodolfo ‘ain’t right’, and is therefore a homosexual. All these characteristics that Rodolfo possesses are alien to Eddie, who has been brought up uneducated. He believes in the idea that men should be strong, masculine, and the ‘bread-winners’ of a household.

Although Rodolfo does not conform to this description, his older brother, Marco, does. In the very last scene of Act 1, Marco exposes his superior strength by questioning Eddie; ‘Can you lift this chair?’ Eddie can’t; ‘Gee, that’s hard’. Marco then lifts the chair above his head with ‘a smile of triumph’. This instils wariness into Eddie, making him feel uncomfortable in realising that he is no longer the most powerful man in the house. If he aggravates Rodolfo, Marco, as his older brother, will defend him with whatever means he can. This is one of the reasons that cause tension in the Carbone household, but mainly it is the chemistry between Catherine and Rodolfo that gives rise to strain.

As soon as Beatrice’s cousins enter the house, the attraction between Catherine and Rodolfo is apparent to all, Eddie especially. From the first moment Catherine lays eyes on Rodolfo she asks wondrously about his blond hair, ‘How come he’s so dark and your so light, Rodolfo?’ The second direct question that she asks him is whether he is married or not. Soon after, Rodolfo begins to sing at Catherine’s request, who remarks that ‘He’s terrific!’, which unnerves Eddie. He stops him singing by scaring him into thinking he’ll draw attention to himself and get discovered by the authorities; ‘They got guys all over the place….’

Rodolfo’s modernity angers Eddie because he is scared of the unknown, and will only accept that someone is normal if they conform to his ideas of ‘normality’. Rodolfo’s effeminacy makes him an easy target for Eddie; it’s not just jealousy that makes Eddie despise him with such a passion, and Eddie uses this as an excuse to hide his real reason for refusing to support the union of the two lovers. Also, Catherine’s affection for Rodolfo highlights how she likes things that Eddie doesn’t like, making him realise that he is more out of touch with her than he ...

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In the last act, Eddie can’t help but let manly pride override his common sense. He demands an apology from Marco, even though he knows that he himself is in the wrong, ‘…tell them what a liar you are…C’mon, liar, you know what you done’. Miller comes across as believing that dictating to others and not exploring your raw emotions, in order to uphold the ‘macho’ image, can make life turbulent and troublesome. Eddie sees himself as the law-enforcer, instructing Catherine on the way she should walk, the length of her skirt, the jobs she should get, the kind of man she should date and even the shoes she should wear. He can’t see her as an adult, and because of his masculinity he thinks he should protect her. In doing so he pushes her away, before this he pushes Beatrice away; he no longer has sexual feelings for her; they are directed towards Catherine. He tries to hide them, knowing they can never be revealed. Beatrice knows the reason for their dwindling relationship, though she doesn’t want to admit it to any one, least of all herself. She wants to know Eddie again; to be loved by him; ‘When will I be a wife again, Eddie?’ Rodolfo’s femininity makes him more of a target for Eddie; it’s not just jealousy that makes Eddie despise him with such passion, and Eddie uses this as an excuse to hide his real reason for refusing to support the union of the two lovers.

Marco says that his three children‘…eat the sunshine’. Although Marco and Rodolfo appear to have moved from one slum to another, the difference between their home in Sicily, and Red Hook, Brooklyn, is evident. They consider it to be a blessing that they are able to find work and a reasonably reliable source of income. Catherine, the most naïve character in the play, seems shocked and surprised, almost disbelieving, when she hears Marco and Rodolfo’s tales of hardship and poverty. So, even though many would not want to live in Red Hook, and work as a longshoreman, the opportunity to enter America illegally is taken by Beatrice’s cousins gladly, as it was by many Italians in that day and age. As an Italian Catholic family during the 1940’s, they would have been expected, as the men of the house, to earn the money and feed the mouths in the house at almost any cost; not doing this would cost lives. Their worries were not of what clothes to buy, but of whether they had enough money to put clothes on their backs at all. There was no security ensuring them food, medicine to save their dying children or even a guarantee of a roof over their heads. Their security lay within the realms of the family. Both Rodolfo and Marco are well aware of this, but as time progresses, Rodolfo seems to lose sight of that goal and aims towards another; having Catherine as his wife and buying beautiful and entertaining things.

The set of the play is simple and remains throughout; allowing the spectator to see all angles and places during the play. This ensures that the spectator is not distracted and is able to concentrate on the plot without being preoccupied. There are not many props used other than the basic set, but many are significant; for example, the newspaper being crumpled up used to express Eddie’s anger (just before the incident when he kisses Catherine and Rodolfo), and the three bottles of whiskey when he returns from work on Christmas Eve. The number of bottles indicates that Eddie is very drunk, and liable to lose control of reason in this state. Eddie peels fruit with a penknife, an unnecessary tool for peeling fruit, but somehow necessary in order to satisfy his need to exude manliness and power. Eddie’s home is described as ‘a workers flat, clean, sparse, homely’, signifying that Eddie is not well off, and the neighbour hood he lives in is somewhat deprived. The stage direction ‘A distant foghorn blows’ is evidence that the area is near a pier, near the sea.

As for the text, a dash (-) signifies an unfinished sentence where the character has been interrupted, or shows that perhaps the character is at a loss for words; ‘All of a sudden you -’. In this instance the dash is used to show that Catherine has interrupted Eddie. Exclamation marks are used to express excitement, surprise, or show that the character has raised their voice; ‘You’re an angel…you’ll see, you’ll get a blessing for this’. In this instance, exclamations are used to show Beatrice’s happiness and excitement. Question marks are used when the character is asking a question, whether direct or rhetorical, and sometimes in anger; ‘What kinda remark is that?’ Eddie says this to Beatrice after she accuses him of wanting to keep Catherine in the house all her life. It is said in an aggressive manner; he says it as a rhetorical question to show that he is insulted by what she said. He does not expect Beatrice to answer it, but to apologise. The stage directions are written in italics, and when the characters names are mention in the stage directions they are in upper case. When Beatrice suggests that Eddie is jealous of Rodolfo, he replies, ‘Of him?’. The italics are used to stress the word him. Eddie is declaring that Rodolfo is too insignificant a person to be jealous of.

There are three main types of the English language used in ‘A View From the Bridge’; colloquial vernacular, used by Eddie, Catherine, Beatrice and Eddie’s friends on the pier, broken English, used by Rodolfo and Marco, and expressive, educated language, used by Alfieri, who also demonstrates wit and thoughtfulness. Alfieri is a lawyer; so presumably his time spent in college and university has enhanced his linguistic skills. He is philosophical thinker and therefore wise; ‘I often think that behind that suspicious little nod of theirs lie three thousand years of distrust’. Although Marco and Rodolfo both exhibit broken English, Rodolfo is often enthusiastic and humorous; ‘Everything in our town, you gotta push!’ He often laughs and jokes, and even sings on the piers. He loves to entertain, which is regarded to be unmanly. Marco is very quiet, but he expresses himself with aggressive language as the play is drawing to a close, ‘Animal! You go on your knees to me!’. This is crude and clearly aggressive towards Eddie. He as not as comfortable using his second language as Rodolfo is, but it is sensible to suppose that he is probably not a very talkative man in his native dialect either. Eddie’s languagew From the Bridge.asdPre-Install UserZC:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\AutoRecovery save of A View From the Bridge.asdPre-Install UserKC:\WINDOWS\Desktop\Pavan ;-)\ENGLISH COURSE WORK\A View From the Bridge.docPre-Install UserKC:\WINDOWS\Desktop\Pavan ;-)\ENGLISH COURSE WORK\A View From the Bridge.docPre-Install UserKC:\WINDOWS\Des

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This play was first written in verse in 1955, as one act. It was revised by Miller and developed into a two-act play; Miller was discontented with the unemotional way that the American cast portrayed the play, so the reviewed version was designed for a London audience. It emulated a Greek tragedy; based upon a main male character who’s destiny causes him to create his own downfall; which Eddie did by dictating to people he had no right to control and being stubborn and narrow-minded. So, the ideas of manliness, hostility and aggression in ‘A View From the Bridge’ are suggested to be weaknesses, character flaws, and the lesson is to compromise; ‘…we settle for half and I like it better’. Miller is insinuating that aiming towards an unachievable dream will eventually cause you anguish, and that perhaps it is better to lead a happier, if less ambitious, life.