This quote is showing that Eddie thinks very positively of Marco. He believes that as a man you should be physically strong. He is saying that Marco is serious; he wants to do work and send money he earns home, to his wife and children. Marco has come to America to do work, and that’s what he does do. Nobody kids around with Marco.
Marco shows much more masculinity when he says he cares so much about his family in Italy, that he is going to send everything, straight to them. He says this to show his masculinity:
"I send everything".
He says this quote when he is talking to Beatrice about his wife. He shows masculinity he talks about sending money home, and that’s why he has come to America, to work for his family. It suggests to us he is a man, because he sends money to feed his wife and children. It tells us that he is the man of the house.
Marco doesn't show off much of his masculinity, but at one point, he sticks up for his brother, Rodolpho and gives Eddie a challenge. Eddie is challenged by Marco and this is a point where he shows his masculinity. The point where Marco tells Eddie to lift the chair:
"Can you lift this chair?"
Eddie knows that at this point he has been challenged. He thinks he can lift the chair. He gives it a go, trying to show his physical strength, but unfortunately fails two times, to meet Marco's standards. Marco then shows off his physical strength by lifting the chair over his head. Marco doesn't like to really show off, in front of people, but at this point he defends his brother by making Eddie do something.
Eddie's view of how to be a real man and show the masculinity you have is to do certain things. He talks about these when he is talking to Alfieri or Beatrice. He considers a lot of things to be very manly. He refers mainly to Rodolpho when he says things to Alfieri. He wants authority and he acts like he is the man of the house. Eddie likes manliness to mean, physical strength, hard working and authority. But when he is talking to Beatrice, he implies that Rodolpho is gay. Of course we don't know this for sure, but he says it so it makes us believe that he is gay. It says that he cooks, sings and even makes dresses. Eddie certainly doesn't' approve of him, especially when Catherine is attracted to him. Eddie thinks he does a lot of women jobs. Eddie shows authority, this is shown, because when Catherine is going out with Rodolpho he doesn't let her. This is shown in the scene with a stage direction:
He moves to Catherine.
This shows that Eddie is protective. He stops Catherine from going out, with high heels on. He tells her to take her shoes off. Eddie wins the argument as Catherine listens and she takes off the high heels. This shows that Eddie has his authority. If he doesn't get this he includes physical aggression. Eddie is saying that men should have control of what women do.
Eddie also tells us what as a man you should do. He points out this when he is talking to Beatrice. She doesn't agree with something what Eddie says about Rodolpho. Eddie wants authority and so he shows this by saying that a wife should agree with what her husband has to say:
"A wife is supposed to believe he husband. If I tell you the guy ain't right, don't tell me his is right".
By saying this he means that Beatrice should agree with what the husband has to say, so if he says that Rodolpho ain't right, Beatrice should agree that Rodolpho ain't right. He is showing he has authority and is man of the house.
The ways in which Rodolpho during the play doesn't conform to the Italian beliefs of masculinity is when he says and does things those only women do. These included cooking, singing and making dresses. Eddies point of view is for men to work hard and be serious. Rodolpho tries to show his masculinity, but fails dramatically. This is clearly shown, when Rodolpho has been told to leave by Eddie, and Catherine says that she will also leave. Rodolpho gets quite angry and decides to tell Eddie, that he wants Catherine to be his wife. Eddie doesn't agree at all. It's obvious why, because he thinks Rodolpho is gay. Eddie doesn't conform of his masculinity at all. This is because Rodolpho doesn't at all show much masculinity. The consequence of this is that when Rodolpho gets angry, he tries to attack Eddie. He does not succeed in doing that and so Eddie pins him down. This is told by a stage direction:
Eddie pins his arms, laughing, and
suddenly kisses him.
This stage direction creates dramatic tension. The audience watching the play would be surprised as well as shocked. Eddie points out to Rodolpho that he is gay. He kisses him to point out to the audience as well as to Rodolpho that he 'ain't right'. Eddie kisses him to show that he is not manly. He doesn't have the physical strength you need to be a man. He is not serious as Marco. He has just come here to live an 'American Dream'. Eddie is saying he just wants to have a relationship with Catherine, because he wants to become an American citizen.
Throughout most of the play a lot of aggression movements of men are shown. This is when men's masculinity is challenged by another person. When men's authority is exerted, it is then when aggression starts. When people in the play say something which Eddie may not like, he is challenged. When Eddie knows that he has been challenged, he most of the time always turns his head round. It shows Eddie and Beatrice's relationship. This stage direction tells a lot when Beatrice is talking about Rodolpho to Eddie:
He keeps his head turned away.
This stage direction tells us, that because Beatrice is talking about Rodolpho, Eddie doesn't want to hear it. He is being challenged here, because Beatrice is making him listen to what she has to say. Eddie thinks he is weird and doesn't want to hear anything about him. He is being challenged here as Beatrice does not approve of Rodolpho being gay. Beatrice is not agreeing with Eddie and so by turning his head away, it tells us he wants authority.
The use of language in the play is quite awkward. Especially in the way Eddie talks. This is mainly due to the fact that he hasn't been well educated, and the fact he does manual work. Eddie lives in a slum area, so words he says and the way he talks is most of the time always grammatically incorrect. Therefore due to lack of education Eddie finds it quite hard to articulate his emotions. This results in to him turning very aggressive, when his masculinity is challenged. Eddie as he has very little education finds it very hard to put his emotions into words, so therefore turns aggressive.
An example of this aggressiveness is when he is talking to Alfieri. Eddie goes to talk to him, to tell him how much he doesn't like Catherine's relationship with Rodolpho. He tells how hard he has worked for Catherine, and how a wired person like Rodolpho wants to marry her. He is trying to explain to Alfieri how his authority has been exerted. Eddie is than challenged by Alfieri as he says, that he you should let her get married if she wants, and that she is a women now. Of course we know that Eddie doesn't like his authority to be exerted. Eddie gets quite furious and can't put his emotions into words. He therefore talks about Rodolpho, but doesn't call Rodolpho be the name and swears instead. A quote by Eddie shows this:
"Son-of-a-bitch punk".
The quote said by Eddie states to us and the audience, that his is not keen of Rodolpho at all. He doesn't trust Rodolpho to be with Catherine, even though she is a woman now. Eddie can't show how much he hates him. He can't show his emotions towards him and so gets very aggressive and swears. This shows he hasn't been given his authority ands get very angry.
The people in the play and on which hostility and aggression is avoided, is when somebody doesn’t act in a conventional masculine way. This is a group of people, mainly women. A person who considers avoiding hostility and aggression is Alfieri. Although he is an Italian man, he says that he is more of an American now. He says this at the start of the play when he introduces it to the audience:
"I no longer keep a
pistol in my filling cabinet".
This quote is said by Alfieri at the introduction of the play. What he means by this quote is that he is much of an American now. He no longer believes in Italian beliefs. This means he no longer believes that if someone does something to you, you do it back. Alfieri's non-masculinity leads to characters avoiding conflict. He therefore doesn't need a pistol, for defence because he wouldn't do anything back. Alfieri avoids conflict and aggressive behavior. Alfieri does not have belief, therefore he has no conflict.
Alfieri doesn't like aggressive behavior and he is always trying to stop people doing things which are wrong. He tries to talk people out of something they are going to do, and tries making them change their mind. This is shown by Marco when he says to Alfieri that he wants to kill Eddie, he wants revenge:
"In my country he would
be dead now".
Marco is trying to say that, the way he has been behaving, he would be dead in Italy. If anyone messes with Marco, they will be killed. In Italy the justice system works very differently. But Alfieri tries stopping what Marco is saying, because he doesn't want anything to go wrong.
The examination of hostility, manliness and aggression leads to me saying that the play is a tragedy. It has a lot of aggression included. Manliness plays a huge role in this play; most of the men have masculinity, which takes part everywhere. Manliness, hostility and aggression are all connected, in a way, because the characters which have manliness also have aggression and hostility. This is shown, because if men don't get what they want they always turn aggressive, and this includes physical aggressiveness. Men want there authority, they wants things done by there order. I know that manliness leads to people being aggressive, although they have hostility.