The end of this act centres on Eddie Carbone and his family (Beatrice and Catherine) who are joined by Rodolpho and Marco (illegal immigrants), sitting together after a meal. The story so far has introduced tensions which are later developed and twisted into a devastating conclusion. We have already met Eddie Carbone the tragic protagonist of the play. He is constantly self-interested, wanting to promote and protect his own innocence. We are made aware at the beginning of the play of Eddie’s protection over Catherine, his niece. He says to her “you’re walkin’ wavy”, and “I don’t like the looks they’re giving you in the candy store”. This is a clear demonstration of the fact that maybe he feels a little more for her than ‘family love’, an issue which becomes inflamed when Rodolpho is introduced to the story. The relationship between Catherine and Eddie shows conflict, which effectively leads to and causes dramatic tension.
Eddie’s possessive and protective nature is channeled through Catherine, and initially an audience may perceive this to be an effect of the male-dominated society in which they live in. This explains why he is so cynical and nervous as well as angry when Rodolpho is asked to dance by Catherine. Tensions have appears to have formed with Catherine. Eddie is becoming increasingly jealous and aggravated by this which is shown before this scene has even started from the way he says to Beatrice, “the guy ain’t right”.
When Catherine asks Rodolpho to dance, he is immediately reluctant in deference to Eddie who, as it says in the stage directions, freezes, and Rodolpho claims “I-I’m tired”. Tensions have already risen within the past few pages between Marco and Rodolpho and Eddie after arguing about whether they paint oranges and lemons, which leads the audience to believe that Marco and Rodolpho’s joint defiance against Eddie’s behaviour will become more of an issue later in the play. Rodolpho’s initial hesitation to dance with Catherine shows his determination not to annoy Eddie any further, however, Catherine is insistent. Eddie reacts by questioning Rodolpho’s masculinity, which adds to tensions because in the area where the play is set, masculinity and dominance over others is very significant. Eddie’s speech “It’s wonderful. He sings, he cooks, he could make dresses…” shows that he is clearly trying to mock Rodolpho. He obviously feels as though his dominance in his house is being threatened by him, therefore creating tension.
Miller uses powerful symbolism in his writing to portray Eddie’s character and express his emotions to the audience. We are made aware of Eddie’s disapproval and anger of the situation, and Miller writes stage directions to express this. For example, Eddie seems to retreat to his rocker when he feels uncomfortable and wants to remove himself from the situation. This is his place, and as a male, he is very protective over his space and it belongs to him and only him. His newspaper is also symbolic. He uses it as his way of hiding away, for example, when the stage directions say “Eddie goes to his rocker and picks up his newspaper” after being told about Marco and Rodolpho having been to Africa. He later “lowers his paper”, indicating that he has chosen to engage in the situation. This is another example of his desire to keep himself to himself, which effectively communicates unease to the audience.
The use of the pause is also significant in the build-up of dramatic tension. For example, when Eddie has just insulted Rodolpho, there is a silence: “Eddie – Well, that's all I'm asking”. “Eddie reads his paper. There is a pause, leading to an awkward atmosphere. Now Catherine gets up and puts a record on the phonograph…” This is an uncomfortable moment of tension. Catherine breaks the silence by putting on Paper Doll, but it creates more tension by increasing the friction between Catherine, Rodolpho and Eddie. Catherine also uses it as a way of provoking Eddie by asking Rodolpho to dance. This scene is a complete contrast to earlier on in the play where Miller showed Catherine to be obedient and respectful towards Eddie. This sudden change in Catherine's behaviour is partly due to the conversation earlier on in the play with Beatrice about how Catherine needs to become more independent from Eddie.
Miller also uses dramatic devices to create tension such as violence when Rodolpho boxes with Eddie at the end of act one. When the stage directions say, “rubbing his fists together”, it shows that Eddie is trying to release his anger and frustration on Rodolpho for interfering with Catherine and his relationship with her. This creates tension as they boxing at each other. Soon after, when Marco challenges Eddie and says ‘Can you lift this chair?’ and he cannot, Marco then does it and holds the chair high above his head, whilst glaring at Eddie. This threatening pose creates very visual tension for the audience, as Marco has upstaged Eddie and robbed him of his male dominance in his own home.
When the end of act one arrives and the play has an interval, the audience are left on the edge of the their seats and feel anxious to know the outcome of the events they have just witnessed. The tension build-up up until this point leaves the audience at a great ease, because the play so far has left questions unanswered and problems unsolved, meaning that the audience are spending the interval relating to the characters’ discomfort in the play.
This scene in particular is significant to the climax of the play because it sets up Eddie’s destiny to fail and lose his self-control. The events that happen at the end of this scene could be described as ‘the beginning of the end’, as it is this moment that effectively leads into and foreshadows the escalation of tension and drama right to the end of the play. Eddie’s frustration at the situation of Catherine and Rodolpho’s increasingly passionate relationship lead him into his feud with Marco, which in the end is what kills him. Eddie sets himself up for his own downfall, and this is the scene where it all escalates from.
