'A view from the bridge' essay
'A view from the bridge' was written in 1995 by Arthur Miller. The play is based around an old man named Eddie and his family, living in a rough neighbourhood or slum on the north facing side of Brooklyn Bridge. The play was set between 1940 and 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. A character in the play called Alfieri narrates the play in the present tense and describes the events in the past. Another character, named Eddie Carbone and his wife Beatrice house illegal immigrant cousins from Italy. When one of the cousins falls in love with Catherine, the niece of Eddie, whom Eddie has incestuous desires for, Eddie betrays his family and calls Immigration to stop the marriage of his niece and cousin. In the end, Alfieri pays bail for Marco and Rodolpho, the two cousins and on the day of Catherine and Rodolpho's marriage, Marco unintentionally kills Eddie; the tragic protagonist.
Alfieri is a key character in this play. He is the symbolic bridge between American law and tribunal laws. Alfieri, an Italian-American, is true to his ethnic identity. He is a well-educated man who studies and respects American law, but is still loyal to Italian customs. The play told from the viewpoint of Alfieri, the view from the bridge between American and Italian cultures who attempts to objectively give a picture of Eddie Carbone and the Brooklyn community. Alfieri represents the difficult stretch, embodied in the Brooklyn Bridge, from small ethnic communities filled with dock labourers to the disparate cosmopolitan wealth and intellectualism of Manhattan. The old and new worlds are codified in the immigrant son Alfieri. From his vantage point, Alfieri attempts to present an un-biased and reasonable view of the events of the play and make clear the greater social and implications in the work.
From his narration, it seems that Alfieri has decided to tell the story for his own reasons as much as anyone else's. He does not find a conclusion or a moral after telling the Carbone story, but tells it nonetheless as he speaks and reveals his honest view of the facts. He is cast as the chorus part in Eddie's tragedy; heightening the drama and tragedy by hinting at what is going to happen. Alfieri informs the audience and provides commentary on what is happening in the story. He is the only character who speaks to the audience meaning he provides much of the dramatic irony and interest for the readers. He develops the drama and tragedy as well as drawing out the main themes of the play. The playwright also uses him to link the play and develop it. Alfieri is a key character as he starts and ends the play, he comments, explains and guides the audience through the play. He is an impartial observer of the events in the play but he also explains Eddies feelings more eloquently than they are put across with Eddie expressing himself. In a way he is relating to arguably the main character which makes himself a key character. The description of the people within the play and the narration at the beginning of every scene change helps to distinguish the short chapters of the tale. Alfieri is fairly inconsequential in the action of the play in general, but more importantly frames the play as a form of a modern fairy tale. Alfieri admittedly cannot help Eddie Carbone, although he tries briefly at the end of Act one, but must powerlessly watch the tragic events unfold before him. There is no illusion of reality, Alfieri purposely breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience during the re-enactment of the story. Alfieri is in many ways like Arthur Miller, when he first heard the tale of the longshoreman. He is the teller of the incredible story that he cannot change. These are the reasons for Alfieri being a major character in the play.
'A view from the bridge' was written in 1995 by Arthur Miller. The play is based around an old man named Eddie and his family, living in a rough neighbourhood or slum on the north facing side of Brooklyn Bridge. The play was set between 1940 and 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. A character in the play called Alfieri narrates the play in the present tense and describes the events in the past. Another character, named Eddie Carbone and his wife Beatrice house illegal immigrant cousins from Italy. When one of the cousins falls in love with Catherine, the niece of Eddie, whom Eddie has incestuous desires for, Eddie betrays his family and calls Immigration to stop the marriage of his niece and cousin. In the end, Alfieri pays bail for Marco and Rodolpho, the two cousins and on the day of Catherine and Rodolpho's marriage, Marco unintentionally kills Eddie; the tragic protagonist.
Alfieri is a key character in this play. He is the symbolic bridge between American law and tribunal laws. Alfieri, an Italian-American, is true to his ethnic identity. He is a well-educated man who studies and respects American law, but is still loyal to Italian customs. The play told from the viewpoint of Alfieri, the view from the bridge between American and Italian cultures who attempts to objectively give a picture of Eddie Carbone and the Brooklyn community. Alfieri represents the difficult stretch, embodied in the Brooklyn Bridge, from small ethnic communities filled with dock labourers to the disparate cosmopolitan wealth and intellectualism of Manhattan. The old and new worlds are codified in the immigrant son Alfieri. From his vantage point, Alfieri attempts to present an un-biased and reasonable view of the events of the play and make clear the greater social and implications in the work.
From his narration, it seems that Alfieri has decided to tell the story for his own reasons as much as anyone else's. He does not find a conclusion or a moral after telling the Carbone story, but tells it nonetheless as he speaks and reveals his honest view of the facts. He is cast as the chorus part in Eddie's tragedy; heightening the drama and tragedy by hinting at what is going to happen. Alfieri informs the audience and provides commentary on what is happening in the story. He is the only character who speaks to the audience meaning he provides much of the dramatic irony and interest for the readers. He develops the drama and tragedy as well as drawing out the main themes of the play. The playwright also uses him to link the play and develop it. Alfieri is a key character as he starts and ends the play, he comments, explains and guides the audience through the play. He is an impartial observer of the events in the play but he also explains Eddies feelings more eloquently than they are put across with Eddie expressing himself. In a way he is relating to arguably the main character which makes himself a key character. The description of the people within the play and the narration at the beginning of every scene change helps to distinguish the short chapters of the tale. Alfieri is fairly inconsequential in the action of the play in general, but more importantly frames the play as a form of a modern fairy tale. Alfieri admittedly cannot help Eddie Carbone, although he tries briefly at the end of Act one, but must powerlessly watch the tragic events unfold before him. There is no illusion of reality, Alfieri purposely breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience during the re-enactment of the story. Alfieri is in many ways like Arthur Miller, when he first heard the tale of the longshoreman. He is the teller of the incredible story that he cannot change. These are the reasons for Alfieri being a major character in the play.
