A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller -An analysis of Eddie Carbone’s character-

The first 200 words of this essay...

A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller -An analysis of Eddie Carbone's character-

In "A View from the Bridge", Miller describes a situation in which a man is forced by his emotions to betray himself and the local society, to betray something he believed his whole life. The man in question is Eddie Carbone, a poor and hard-working longshoreman of Sicilian origin. His character is defined both by his society's values on the one hand and by his forceful and emotive nature on the other. The conflicts between these two aspects of Eddie's character ultimately result in his self-destruction.

Eddie lives in a Brooklyn slum with his wife, Beatrice, and his niece, Catherine, who he has brought up as his daughter since the death of his sister. Eddie has an unacknowledged and obsessive love of Catherine who is now an attractive young woman. This hidden love is the "driving force" behind Eddie throughout the play; mixed with jealousy it is the cause of his actions leading to self-destruction. Eddie's wife invites two Sicilian cousins, illegal immigrants, to stay at their home, a fact that must remain hidden from the Immigration authorities. The elder cousin, Marco, is a strong