A view from the bridge Discuss how miller shows the audience how tension increases between Catherine and Eddie in Act 1.

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Mary Ewumi

A view from the bridge

Discuss how miller shows the audience how tension increases between Catherine and Eddie in Act 1.

The play "A View from the Bridge" is set in Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the 1950's. The main character, Eddie Carbone, lives with his wife, Beatrice, and his 17year old niece (who he has brought up as his daughter) Catherine. Eddie is a typical 1950's man. He works as a longshoreman whilst making sure his wife stays at home, taking the role of 'the little housewife', and that his 'daughter' goes to school to get a good education. Eddie Carbone is a very proud and very strong-willed man. He likes to feel in control of himself, his family and his home, and because of this, he will not allow himself to be criticized. Eddie is a very possessive over his 'daughter' and becomes almost obsessed with what he thinks is her welfare, but clearly isn't, and he is in fact jealous that he is no longer the only man in her life.

At the beginning of Act1, Eddie seems like an ordinary hard working man and his outer appearance looks tough and strong. Eddie is “highlighted” among other Italians and this shows that Eddie is treated as a respectable man by his friends and is powerful enough to control people around him. At beginning of Act 1 Catherine seems like a young adult who's not a complete teenager or a fully grown up adult and she is trying to find her own way to become independent. Catherine is shown in the play as a perfect daughter of a family. She respects Beatrice and especially Eddie. In the beginning,, Eddie and Catherine have an extremely secure father-daughter relationship, and it just seems that he is looking out for her because he wants to prevent her coming across any danger. This is visible now, “don’t aggravate me Katie, you are walkin’ wavy! I don’t like the looks….and with them new high heels on the sidewalk-clack, clack, clack. The heads are turning like windmills”. As Eddie complains about things like short skirts, high heels, and men looking at Catherine, he is not giving her a chance to grow up in to a young lady, so clarly she wouldn’t understand. “Heels on the sidewalk clack clack, clack”.” The heads are turnin' like windmills”. Eddie is immediately starting to show his jealousy of other men taking interest in Catherine even at this early stage of the play.  Eddie makes Catherine feel like a child, and she obviously likes this feeling. She doesn’t mind the fact that she sees Eddie in his underwear. When Rodolpho comes into the picture, at which point she then decides she no longer wants to be a child, but a woman, to get married and maybe have children of her own. Catherine expresses this as she says, “ Eddie I’m not gonna be a baby anymore!”.

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Catherine loves Eddie very much, but is surprised when she realises he feels the way he does about her and when his jealousy of Rodolpho is made clear. He obviously feels very mixed up because he shows his feelings towards Katy, and his jealousy, by kissing both Catherine and Rodolpho on the lips, to prove Rodolpho's 'sexuality'. Catherine does go against Eddie's wishes, making him feel disobeyed, but she obviously didn't feel the hatred she showed, because as Eddie is dying she says to him "I never meant to do nothing bad to you." Eddie particularly didn't like the ...

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