A view from the bridge: arthur miller

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Rickie hurlstone 10vc

english coursework25/10/02

a view from the bridge:

arthur miller

Arthur Miller wrote A View from the Bridge in 1955. The structure of this play is relatively uncomplicated. It is set in the late 1940’s amidst the Sicilian community in Brooklyn, New York. It is supposed to be modern version of a Greek tragedy with its powerful speeches and references to fate. A lawyer, Alfieri re-tells his account as he oversees the events that take place. The play is in two acts, but careful discussions by Alfieri help the audience to reflect on the events that have just hapened. The title of the play is based on the Brooklyn Bridge and Alfieri having a view from on top of it. Since this play is supposed to be a modern version of a Greek tragedy, tragic events take place throughout the play. The concept of approaching tragedy is something that is threatening to happen, and throughout this essay, I will go into depth about how Arthur Miller created this atmosphere through his written language and stage directions. This thrilling and tragic drama is about love, jealousy and betrayal.

Alfieri is a lawyer who works for the Sicilian community in Brooklyn. He opens the play with a very revealing account of what life used to be like and what it is really like in that particular community.He launches into clear detail about past outlaws and murders and about how justice is very important to the Italians. The community is the ‘gullet of New York,’ which is ‘swallowing the tonnage of the world.’ This sentence is quite sarcastic since Red Hook is a fishing town and tonnage is another word for cargo. Alfieri is essential to the structure of the play as he opens and closes the play. I believe that he is Arthur Miller's mouthpiece and he moves the action that Miller has once witnessed.
Eddie Carbone is then introduced as a ‘slightly overweight longshoreman’ and we see straight away that he is a character of authority when Catherine appears and waits on him in an affectionate way. Catherine is an 18-year old who, because of her mother's death is living with her Aunt Beatrice and her husband, Eddie. Eddie has taken upon himself to be a father to Catherine and to give her the very best in life. Therefore, because of his ‘fatherly’ affections Eddie and Catherine have developed a close family relationship which becomes confusing later on in the play. Eddie’s first comments to Catherine this early in the play are all centred on Catherine’s appearance. Refrences made about her hair, clothes and about her ‘walkin’ wavy.’ This obsessive attention to Catherine’s physical appearance is extremely questionable especially when he asks her to turn around so he can see her back. When Eddie becomes quite firm that he disapproves of the way she walks, Catherine is ‘almost in tears.’ This simple act of crying shows the audience immediately how naive and vunerable she is. In today’s society, it would be very unusual to see a girl of eighteen so dependent on her guardian to live at that stage. It is obvious however that she views him only as a father figure because she gets upset over the things that he says. She almost reduces herself to a baby just for him, to please him and in this way, she is almost behaving in a modest way towards Eddie. She is always running around after him, getting him a beer or a cigar and she keeps looking for his approval. Eddie’s intentions here are and throughout the next section of the play, questionable. Is he attracted or is it just parental pride? Although the audience do not know what to expect from this first section, it is already obvious that the relationship that Eddie has with Catherine is not natural. When Catherine forms a barrier with Beatrice and asks Eddie if she can accept a job, Eddie’s emotions become confused. Eddie seems to dimish everything that Catherine wants to do, however with further persuasion from Beatrice he gives in after calling Catherine, ‘Madonna’ and carrying on for a long time. It is very apparent the obsessive concern that Eddie has for Catherine is out of place. When Beatrice confronts him, ‘are you goin’ to keep her in the house forever?’ Eddie is very defensive, almost overly defensive. If Eddie does not settle for half and he wants Catherine, heavy events could certainly follow because he certainly cannot get Catherine.The play then plummets into the arrival of Beatrice’s two cousins from Italy who are illegal immigrants. Eddie is shown here as a very caring husband over the incident with the tablecloth and he offers to go down and buy a new one if it would make Beatrice happy. The ‘honour’ that is presentented upon the family as Eddie says, is pride. The law does not matter in this community - they make the rules, in fact, what the community thinks of you is more important than the authoritys actions in this scenario. Eddie produces the framework by telling the tragic story of Vinny Bonzano who told the Immigration Bureau that his uncle was an illegal immigrant and staying with them. He was then disowned from the community. This states the harsh reactions that the community has against someone who ‘breaks the code.’ The result is always violence. The arrival of the cousins creates aprehension and Marco who is the oldest is very mannerly towards Eddie. Rodolpho is the younger of the two and he is blonde. This fascinates Catherine and she speaks of her fascination, like a child who is curious about something. The two brothers speak of their home in Italy and Rodolpho does all of the

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talking. Marco seems occupied with other thoughts. After they talk about Marco’s family Catherine asks Rodolpho whether he is married. This direct action causes Beatrice to ‘cover up’ what Catherine has just said. When Rodolpho says that he can sing and he sings ‘Paper Doll,’ for Catherine, Eddie can see Catherine’s eyes shinning as she is captured in the music. Eddie cannot stand this attention, so he stops Rodolpho with the excuse that he will be ‘picked up.’ Eddie realises that because he was able to get Rodolpho to be quiet so swiftly he is ...

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