A View from the Bridge: Diverse Cultures Essay.

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         A View from the Bridge: Diverse Cultures Essay

                                 Matt Wilson 10-1

“ A lawyer means the law, and in Sicily, from where their father came, the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten – But this is Red Hook, not Sicily. This is the slum that faces the bay on the seaward side of Brooklyn Bridge. This is the Gullet of New York swallowing the tonnage of the world…”

This is an extract from a speech made by the character of Mr.Alfieri in Arthur Miller’s 1955 play A View from the Bridge. This quote is definitive of the character, and a vital theme in the entire play. Alfieri is a Sicilian, but has lived in Red Hook since before the days of Al Capone and Frankie Yale. He is a perfect amalgamation of two cultures, and the overall impression that we are given is that Alfieri is a man who knows the balance between these two sides of his personality.

Alfieri’s role in the play is unique among many other modern scripts. He has two roles in the play. Firstly he is a character; a lawyer mixed in with Eddie Carbone and the events leading to his self-destruction. Secondly he is a narrator, not dissimilar to a Greek Chorus of old, who watches and speaks over the events to the audience. This idea is even referenced in the title of the play, Alfieri watching from afar, with a ‘view from the bridge’ perhaps. It is the second role that we will be focusing on in this essay, for it is within this role that we can glimpse many of the plays hidden messages and warnings.

Alfieri in many ways provides the contrast between Sicilian and American cultures in the play. It is through his relationship with other characters (in particular illiterate longshoreman Eddie Carbone) that we see this contrast in full. Eddie is illiterate and inarticulate. He speaks in a colloquial manner that donates a New Yorkian accent when read aloud as opposed to viewed as a play: “You mean to tell me that there ain’t no law which a guy that he ain’t right can go marry a gal and…”

The reader/ audience’s general impression of Eddie is one of unintelligence and stupor.

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Alfieri however, virtually radiates a calm, articulate manner. Arthur Miller uses non-colloquial language with no hint of an accent. Alfieri also speaks with a greater use of metaphors and a greater descriptive flourish than other characters: “I will never forget how dark the room became once he looked upon me… his eyes were like tunnels.”

Through his excellent choice of dialogue and stage directions Arthur Miller paints a picture of Alfieri as a man of intelligent upbringing: “And now we are quite civilised, quite American. Now we settle for half, and I like it better. I no longer keep ...

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