A View From The Bridge - character study of Eddie

Catherine his wish to protect her is so great he tries to be in command of her life. But it could also be said that the reason why Eddie tries to protect Catherine is since he doesn’t like the male attention that Catherine gets. “What job she’s gonna finish school” “Eddie you won’t believe it” “No, no you gonna finish school, what kinda job? What do you mean?..” “Listen a minute.” “…Why didn’t you ask me first before taking a job” In this particular extract, we observe that Eddie insists that Catherine ought to finish school, because he knows that if she goes to work she will meet new individuals and Eddie is worried that he will lose her and also because he feels endangered by this. In this extract there is another instance of Eddie’s manhood because he believes that he should have been consulted first. This also proves the point that he is overprotective towards Catherine before Rodolfo arrives and becomes close to Catherine.In ‘A View From The Bridge’ it is observed that Eddie treats Beatrice very differently in the way in which he treats Catherine. Beatrice tries to put some distance between Eddie and Catherine; this is why he treats Beatrice badly. She explains to Catherine that since she is beginning to develop into a woman she ought to act in a different approach towards Eddie. She says to Catherine “You still walk around in front of him in your slip”. Beatrice may deem that if Catherine didn’t do these things any more, then perhaps Eddie will stop liking Catherine and start to like her again. It seems to the reader that Eddie begins to recognize what Beatrice is trying to do. As a result of this he tries to render Beatrice as a woman who is stupid. He does this so that Catherine does not listen to Beatrice’s suggestions and views. The family have a talk about whether or not Catherine should go to work. Beatrice: “Be the way you are, don’t listen to him” Eddie: (to Beatrice strangely and quickly resentful)      “You lived in a house all your life, what do you know about it?” Act one This noticeably shows that Eddie does not like the fact that Beatrice is giving advice to Catherine. He says to Beatrice that since she has lived in a house all her life, she doesn’t know anything about the outside world. This again is discrimination against women. Another thing that Eddie seems not to like and which makes him angry is Beatrice disagreeing with him. Eddie is trying to make the point that, because Beatrice is a woman and that she is domesticated she doesn’t know what the world is like outside of the home. But then one could argue that she is not stupid at all since she notices that Eddie has become fond of Catherine and the way in which he treats her is not as a father but as a lover and he does this for his own individual satisfaction. In ‘A View From The Bridge’ Eddie has strong suspicions that Rodolfo is homosexual, this most likely would have not concerned him as much if Catherine wasn’t fond of Rodolfo. He comes up with the most absurd reasons for why he thinks Rodolfo is to some extent feminine. It seems that he will go to any degree to verify what he thinks. He does this as he believes that if Rodolfo is not in the way then he can get closer to Catherine. On the whole it could be understood that Eddie is jealous of Rodolfo because Catherine is attracted towards Rodolfo and not him. Eddie: “And that wacky hair, he’s like a chorus girl or sump’m” Act one This shows us that just because Rodolfo doesn’t have black or brown hair Eddie believes that he is effeminate. This statement proves how absurd Eddie’s view’s are. Beatrice: “Well it’s good he could always make a living” Eddie: “It’s wonderful he sings, he cooks, he could make dresses…..” Act one At this point in ‘A View From The Bridge’ it is apparent to see that Eddie is being sarcastic about what he says, on the other hand Beatrice is very serious and she praises Rodolfo. It appears that Eddie is fairly jealous that Beatrice is praising Rodolfo. The statement tells us that Eddie believes that these activities are only expected to be for women. Eddie believes that a man should not do anything in the least which is domesticated. It may well be said that he is fairly jealous that Rodolfo has all these skills, but he is too scared to carry them out as he might lose his high opinion from the area. Eddie is very stereotypical and sexist and rather backwards, it is since he has no solid proof or evidence that Rodolfo is gay he tries to take snide digs at him and try to disgrace him. When all Eddie’s strategies fail in trying to confirm that Rodolfo is homosexual to Catherine, so that she is turned off from Rodolfo, Eddie consults Alfeieri, the lawyer. Alfieri explains to Eddie to let Catherine do what she wants to do. But he ignores his advice and decides to report the two illegal immigrants Marco and Rodolfo to the immigration Bureau, for the reason that he believes that this is the only way in distancing Catherine and Rodolfo. But instead of distancing them from each other, he manages to distance himself from Catherine. This is because Catherine sees what kind of a man Eddie really is. We know Eddie’s name and reputation in the neighbourhood are vital to him because he entirely forgets about what he is doing to the individuals close to him and all he is concerned about is getting respect of the neighbourhood. This is revealed when at the final stages Eddie keeps on demanding Marco to get his respect back “wiping the neighbourhood with my name.” It could be argued that if he wasn’t concerned so much about respect he would have not been killed by Marco. In ‘A View From The Bridge’ it is plainly seen that both Rodolfo and Marco are very unlike to Eddie. It is also seen that from the instance the immigrants arrive Eddie attempts to express his manliness and to try and prove that he is just as Sicilian as them. Throughout the play Marco is seen as a quiet, self-contained and polite person. But when Eddie tries to test Rodolfo’s strength by challenging him to a boxing match, things begin to change. It appears that Marco has realised what Eddie is striving to achieve, it also appears that Marco could accept it when Eddie made snide digs at Rodolfo such as “he cooks, he sings etc, except when he hits Rodolfo, we see the other side of Marco for the initial time in ‘A View From The Bridge’. Eddie challenges Rodolfo to a boxing match to try and indicate to Catherine and Beatrice that Rodolfo is homosexual. This makes Marco fairly angry, but because Marco is living under Eddie’s roof he doesn’t say anything. He tries to get vengeance in some way because he cares about his relatives very much that is the reason why he came to America, so that his family could live an improved life back in Italy. To get revenge and demonstrate his masculinity, Marco give Eddie a challenge of his own. He asks Eddie to lift a chair with only one leg. He does this because he is trying to disgrace him, like he attempted to do to his younger brother. Eddie attempts the task. “He tries again, but fails” “Marco is face to face with Eddie, a strained tension gripping his eyes and jaw, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon above Eddie’s head….” Here we can see that Marco is inquiring Eddie’s authority because Eddie had violated his. Marco sought to demonstrate to Eddie that he has strength and he is there to defend Rodolfo. One could argue that Marco set this task for Eddie because he thought that no matter how many times Eddie will attempt to do this, he will still fail. Marco is attempting to hint to Eddie that he is weak because he failed the task, and that he is not as manly as he thinks. At this point in ‘A View From The Bridge’ one could say that Arthur Miller has used the word weapon in the stage directions, to make it unambiguous to the audience that Marco is intimidating Eddie. In other words one could say that Marco does not like to use his tongue as a weapon but he prefers to use his bodily strength as his weapon. We can see that Marco contrasts with Eddie however he keeps his views to himself and does not open his mouth to show what he thinks; he demonstrates his views in other ways like intimidating Eddie with a chair. The only point in ‘A View From The Bridge’ when Marco argues or shouts is when he discovers the reality that Eddie was the one who reported him to the immigration Bureau, but this was because he was concerned about his suffering family in Italy. Unlike Eddie who carries out actions for himself and not for the benefit of others e.g. his family. Rodolfo is a man who is viewed by some people in the play as effeminate. This may be true in some extent but at the end of the day he is just as masculine as anybody else. It is because of his looks and the activities that he takes part in, is why people assume he is gay, above all Eddie and his friends Louis and Mike. Eddie tried to prove in every way feasible that Rodolfo is gay, for instance by having a boxing match to establish that he was weak, but every plan failed. But being weak does not mean one is gay; it just means that the person in question is weak. One could say that it may be that Eddie is the gay character in ‘A View From The Bridge’ because he is not attracted to his wife and he might just use Catherine as a reason, but who knows. Another thing that we can say about Rodolfo is that he understands and his intentions in the direction of Catherine are genuine not like Eddie. It is clearly seen that Rodolfo’s masculinity is of a dissimilar sort and he does not compare with anyone in the play. It seems that he is just as masculine as Eddie, but in a different way. Just because he doesn’t like violence, drinking and being prejudiced towards women does not mean that he is any less masculine than Eddie. In ‘A View From The Bridge’ it is clear to see that Eddie has come to America to escape from the hunger in Italy, like the mainstream of Italian immigrants do. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that Eddie says “Still bad there, heh?” then Marco says “Bad yes” and then Rodolfo says “it’s terrible…” The condition in Italy of hunger and deficiency must have been terrible when Eddie used to live there that is why he must have immigrated to America. From the play an individual could say that the other immigrants are hoping to live improved lives in America and ultimately move out of the area of Red Hook, which is a like a cheakpoint for immigrants before they move on to other areas of America. Most immigrants don’t just flee to America to flee hunger and shortage they come because they trust that they will live healthier lives in America and get a possibility to be part of the ‘American Dream’. Rodolfo: “Me? Yes, forever! Me, I want to be an American. And then I want to go back to Italy when I’m rich, and I will buy a motorcycle.” Act One This obviously proves that other immigrants in the play are expecting much more from America, than Eddie wants. Rodolfo wants to be rich and he says that he wants to be an American, which indicates that he wants to be part of the American Dream and not struggle. However in the play Eddie implicates that all he is bothered about is feeding his family and just surviving. It seems that he doesn’t want to have fun or enjoy himself in America and be part of the American Dream. Eddie: “…If he’s here to have a good time then he could fool around! (to Marco) But I understand Marco that you was both comin’ to make a livin’ for your family…” Act One At this point in ‘A View From The Bridge’ Eddie is trying to imply that you must only come to America for your family and to break out of hunger and that you shouldn’t endeavour to be part of the American Dream. From the title ‘A View From the Bridge’ it can be seen that there are two aspects of the bridge. One for the immigrants who desire to move on from Red Hook and who see the bridge as a first step to the rest of America to in due course turn out to be part of the ‘American Dream’. Yet there are the other type of immigrants together with Eddie Carbone who see the bridge as a obstruction between the Italian community and the rest of America. It seems that Eddie has lived in Red Hook for a long time because feels at ease around his Italian people, it may be that he senses a little bit of Italy in America here. It appears that in ‘A View From The Bridge’ all the other immigrants have come to accept that life in America is different for illustration Beatrice and Rodolfo grasp this. It seems that Eddie believes that because he lives in an Italian community people around him have to live their lives how Italians do in Italy. In ‘A View From The Bridge’ there are any examples readily available at hand of Eddie not being able to accept things are different in Italy. For example, when Rodolfo takes Catherine out for the night. Eddie: “I know but in your town you wouldn’t just drag off some girl without permission, I mean….” Eddie is impressing upon Marco to control his younger brother Rodolfo by telling him that he shouldn’t take Catherine out and bring her back so late at night. He compares Italy with America by saying in your town this would not happen. It appears to the audience that Eddie does not recognize that he is in America; it seems that he still thinks he is in Italy, or it may be that he thinks if it doesn’t happen in Italy it shouldn’t happen in America, since they are all Italian and they should stick to their roots.As you know ‘A View From The Bridge’ is seen as a play and not a text, so it is obligatory to examine how an actor playing Eddie Carbone could be put across to the audience. It appears to me that an actor would have to be very gifted to play the character of Eddie. The actor would almost certainly have to take centre stage and dominate in the amount of performance space he has available. The actor should also be able to throw a distinctive Brooklyn accent, be extremely loud and have a high pitched voice. All of the preceeding things about the actor playing Eddie should be in my opinion have to be taken into account to make certain that Eddie is seen to be the most important and the most masculine character in the play. He should have a loud voice and he would need to take centre stage and have the most performance space to make sure that most concentration is drawn to him in the play. The fact that he should have a typically distinctive Brooklyn accent is to portray him as an uneducated man. All of these steps have to be taken so that it is left up to the audience to decide whether or not if Eddie is a hero or not, since before the audience watch the play, they may read a short introduction or guide to the play, which will indicate to them that Ediie is the hero, so this is why it is necessary to dominate in the play. After examining the character of Eddie Carbone, one could argue that he is not doing the best for his family at all, contrary to Eddie and Alfieri’s belief, and no doubt the majority of the audience and some of the other characters in the play. It can also be said that he is absolutely not persevering to install positive values and support Catherine. If he wished to support Catherine and install positive values in her life, he wouldn’t do things like kiss her on the mouth or try to set up barriers between her and her man just because Eddie dislikes him. It can be said that he is not doing the best for his family in any case seeing that he is too concerned about his respect from the neighbourhood and his rank in the household that he doesn’t identify what he is doing to his family and the way in which he is hurting them. The words that match Eddie Carbone adequately are selfish, ignorant and self-centred, this is because in ‘A View From The Bridge’ all he too concerned about himself and anything he does is for his gain and no one else’s. From all of the preceeding points I have put forward in this essay, it can be clearly understood that Eddie is not doing the best for his family at all and he is without doubt not misunderstood. by:          Kamran Ali 10.1 Kamran Ali                A View From The Bridge