Marco who has been quiet until now cautiously says yes, he does not want to interfere between Rodolfo and Catherine but does not want to answer Eddie ‘no’ as this would make Eddie distrustful of him, which he wants to avoid.
“Well he didn’t just drag her off though, Eddie.”
Beatrice on the other hand gets fractious by this and sharply replies to Eddie, Eddie aware of her criticising force softens up but doesn’t stop. He goes on to say –
“It might be a little different here, but it is just as strict.”
Rodolfo now realises Eddie’s anger for him and in a tender-hearted voice asks him-
“Did I do anything wrong.”
Eddie now propitiates and tells him that he is not her father, but before he could finish, Beatrice ungraciously interrupts and rebukes him to be her uncle. Eddie realising her indignation keeps his temper under control, as he wants to show Rodolfo who is the person in jurisdiction of the house
Marco who has been without intervention listening to the whole matter gets up in a censurable way and asks Beatrice and Eddie to tell Rodolfo, if he has made any mistakes. Marco probably does not fully actualizes Eddie’s anger against Rodolfo yet, he thinks it is ephemeral and tries to make things more transparent and satisfy Eddie. Beatrice tells Eddie that the reason why Rodolfo and Catherine came late was because the movie ended late, but Marco tries to calm Eddie by asking Rodolfo to come home early. Eddie sensing Marco on his side tries to restrict Rodolfo’s movements and stop him going out with Catherine by saying -
“Look, kid, I am not only talking about her. The more you run around like this more chance there is that you get picked by immigration bureau”.
Beatrice senses Eddie’s intentions and again ungraciously interrupts him between his conversations and says that there is the same chance in the daytime.
Paragraph 2.
Until now Eddie has been attempting to make his point Non contentiously, but after being ungraciously rebuked by Beatrice, he gracelessly tells cousins that he thought they were both coming here to work and earn money, not fool around. This exceptionally strikes with Marco as he has responsibility for feeding his wife and children. Marco confirms with Eddie, that this is still the case. This embarrasses Marco, because by saying that if you are here to work than you should work, Eddie is essentially saying you can only live in my house if, you work hard and particularly mind your own business. This is of exceptional significance to Marco as he has four children and a wife who he has to send money which provides for their food and medicine, or else they would die. This is also the first awkwardness between Marco and Eddie as until now Eddie has regarded Marco as a hard working man and always respected him.
Catherine who is the focal point of this entire repercussion between cousins and Eddie is now glowing with revolt against him. Catherine who is a grown up girl, who wants to be free and spend more time with Rodolfo views Eddie as someone preventing her from outside world, indeed, Eddie is obsessed with Catherine and is extremely over-protective towards her. He wants to dominate every aspect of her life, from the clothes she wears to the person she waves to and where she should go for a job. And now Catherine flushed with anger tries to disobey Eddie by inviting Rodolfo to dance with her on ‘Paper Doll’. Rodolfo, who is afraid that Eddie may make an issue of this, shows some fictional unwillingness in difference to Eddie. Beatrice countenances Rodolfo to go ahead and dance. Catherine takes Rodolfo’s hand and he stiffly rises, feeling Eddie’s eyes on his back they dance.
The tension between the characters can be easily seen in their actions. Catherine’s rebellious behaviour is easily visible, when she goes to Rodolfo and takes his hand in her hand and invites him to dance. Rodolfo doesn’t easily agrees to dance, he first shows fictional unwillingness feeling Eddie’s eyes on his back, but after being inspired by Beatrice stiffly rises and goes to dance.
Eddie perceiving the tension in the house does not react to Catherine dancing with Rodolfo, but turns his head away in a very deprecate demeanour.
At this point in the play, audience know that Eddie Carbone is very prophylactic towards his niece and he despises Rodolfo. This new crisis has taken a categorically different turn; Catherine is becoming more and more mutinous and Beatrice is advocating Rodolfo and Catherine. Eddie seems to be the only person secluded trying to what he thinks, protect Catherine from Rodolfo. Audience anticipate this extremity to be deciphered possibly by Beatrice. Throughout the whole play Beatrice has been impersonated by Miller as the most consequential person on Eddie Carbone, she has also actively tried to diffuse the tensions by jokes and in some contentions she has taken sides and silenced Eddie. She is also the person who is most consequential and proximate to Eddie.
Paragraph 3.
However, Carbone household is once again under strain, as Eddie Carbone the prophylactic, unpretentious character soon finds out that he is
Un-proficient to control his indignation, covetousness and detestation towards Rodolfo. Until now, Eddie has only been manifesting his indignation towards Rodolfo through declamation, but this melodramatically changes after Catherine, crimsoned with rebellion, disgusted with Eddie’s intervention in every countenance of her life invites Rodolfo to dance with her. This brings out an exorbitant indignation from Eddie, now we see Eddie expressing his vehemence not only through words but also through actions.
After the dance, Eddie Carbone infuriated by his indignation delivers an atrocious dialogue to the whole of the household about Rodolfo.
“He’s lucky, believe me. That’s why the waterfront is no place for him. I mean like me – I can’t cook, I can’t sing, I can’t make dresses, so I’m on the waterfront. But if I could cook, if I could sing, if I could make dresses, I wouldn’t be on the water front.”
This speech is of un-describable significance to the play. In this speech Eddie nearly exposes the whole issue in front of the whole household, by his dialogue but more by his actions. Eddie, by the end of his speech is perfunctorily twisting the newspaper in his hand in to a tight roll when it unexpectedly tears in half. This shows exasperated and how fretful Eddie has become of Rodolfo’s relationship with Catherine, and now Eddie’s indignation has reached a new level against Rodolfo and now his furore and ire can be seen in his actions.
As seen throughout the whole play Miller uses melodramatic stage directions and often characters dramatize actions which changes the course of the whole play. For example, Eddie’s furore and ire against Rodolfo are disclosed, when Eddie rolls the newspaper in to a tight roll and then it tears in two. These types of actions not only give audiences clues of how this particular character will react to this character and to this kind of situation next time, but also gives them clues of what will happen next in the play.
Paragraph 4.
So far we have seen that Eddie Carbone blinded by his commotion and ire is now beginning to articulate his resentment against Rodolfo by his deeds. After unconsciously tearing the newspaper in half, which he did under the spell of his ire against Rodolfo, Eddie can not resist showing his recalcitrance against Rodolfo and showing the household, that he is more sovereign than Rodolfo. He does it by inviting Rodolfo to fight with him, so that he can teach him a move or two. Eddie invites him to fight him so that he can masquerade his real intentions towards Rodolfo, especially from Beatrice and Catherine, who are beginning to get aware of Eddie’s real intentions of making Rodolfo seem subaltern.
Eddie - “Well, come on, I’ll teach you.”
Beatrice – “What’s he got to learn that for?”
Beatrice is still incredulous about Eddie’s decision to teach Rodolfo a move or two. She senses the truth, but is disinclined to challenge Eddie over this, as it will start a quarrel which will bring back the issue of Rodolfo’s and Catherine’s relationship. However, she remains in the room where Eddie is teaching Rodolfo how to do boxing, so that she can keep both of them under supervision, in case the situation spills over.
Eddie - “You can’t tell, one of these days somebody’s liable to step on his foot or something else. Come on, Rodolfo, I will show you a couple a passes.”
Beatrice – “Go ahead, Rodolfo. He is a good boxer, he could teach you.”
Beatrice motivates Rodolfo to join in, she takes Eddie’s corner to balance the situation and in particular to make a point to Eddie, that she is not totally against Eddie, as there are doubts in Eddie’s mind about Beatrice. Rodolfo is embarrassed to join as he does not know how to do any boxing.
Rodolfo - “I do not want to hurt you Eddie.”
Eddie – “Don’t pity me, come on throw it. I’ll show you how to block it.”
Beatrice – “He is very good.”
Eddie - “Sure, he’s great! Come on, kid, put something behind it, you can’t hurt me.”
Eddie sarcastically says that Rodolfo is good, just to propitiate the strain in the house hold.
Eddie - “Now I am going to hit you, so watch out.”
Catherine – “What are they doing?”
Catherine with initial alarm asks Beatrice what is going on. She sensing Eddie’s nuisance against Rodolfo, but Beatrice tells her that they are lightly boxing against each other.
Eddie – “That’s it! Now, watch out, here I come, Danish!”
Eddie punches Rodolfo on his face, which mildly staggers him. Marco rises from the floor.
Eddie – “Why? I didn’t hurt him. Did I hurt you, kid?”
Eddie tries to propitiate the situation by giving an elucidation that he was only teaching him and he did not even hurt him.
This whole punching situation has a startling effect on the audience, who after Eddie’s perfunctorily tearing the newspaper, judged that
Eddie may try to manifest his ire against Rodolfo by physical contact. This has now been inveterated.
The tension again increases in the Carbone household after Eddie punches Rodolfo. As soon as Eddie punches Rodolfo, Catherine, who was unconvinced about Eddie teaching Rodolfo boxing, comes bustling towards Eddie and in a loud voice instructs him to stop. Beatrice who has been taking Eddie’s side to stabilise the situation and motivated Rodolfo to join in, is also dismayed and in incredulity tells Eddie -
“That’s enough.”
And for the first time Marco the who has been the silent personality right through the whole play is getting uncomfortable by Eddie’s approach to his brother. After Eddie punched Rodolfo, Marco get’s up from the floor, although Eddie stopped after just one punch Marco may have interfered and stopped the fight. Arthur Miller includes Marco’s standing up, at this point in the play to tell the audience that Marco may be the quiet character but he is just as significant in the play as the other characters. After Eddie’s punching Rodolfo and Marco’s near interference this gives audience clues although Marco is not over-prophylactic towards his younger brother Rodolfo, like Eddie is towards Catherine, but he should leave his
Brother alone and he will interfere if Eddie crosses that line. This gives audience clues of the coming dissension between Eddie and Marco.
However, tensions rise again in Carbone household, but this time it is not procreated by Eddie and the subject is not Rodolfo, but this time it is
Constituted by Marco. Marco who has been becoming progressively more solicitous about Rodolfo’s treatment, at the hands of Eddie o tries to show him that, he is not the absolute master of the family circle.
Marco - “Can you lift this chair?”
Eddie – “What do you mean?”
Marco gets on one of his knee with one hand behind his
Back, and grasps the bottom of one of the chair leg but does not raise it.
Eddie – “Sure why not?”
Eddie tries the same. He lifts the chair one inch, but it leans towards the floor. He tries again and again but fails.
He explains –
“It’s on an angle, that’s why, heh?”
Marco – “Here.”
Marco kneels grasps and slowly raises the chair higher and higher. The chair is raised like a weapon over Eddie’s head. This scene is of inexpressible connotation to the play as this scene shows the power shift in the Carbone household. So far in the play Eddie has taken Marco as a quite character who does not want to interfere between him and Rodolfo, but by the chair scene Marco has sent a clear message to Eddie hat he is not something he can take lightly, and he should leave his brother Rodolfo alone, or else, the result of that won’t be very gratifying.
Arthur Miller chooses to end the scene with all the characters on the corner of the room, looking at Marco and Eddie at the centre of the room with Marco holding chair over Eddie’s head and Eddie captivating what might materialize like a frown of caution into a smile of conquest. This scene probably confirms audience suspicions of a contention between Eddie and Marco which we see later in the play becomes bloody.
Paragraph 5.
Since the tension in the household has begun. Catherine has been cogitating, that it is all because Eddie thinks that Rodolfo does not love her, he is only after her because he wants to be an American Citizen. So, Catherine tries to clear things from her mind by asking Rodolfo if this is the case. Also, until now nobody has directly asked Rodolfo, that does he wants to marry Catherine.
Catherine – “Suppose I wanted to live in Italy.”
Rodolfo – “You going to marry somebody rich?”
Catherine – “No, I mean live there – you and me.”
Rodolfo – “When?”
Catherine – “Well……. When we get married.”
This is the first time Catherine has asked Rodolfo, that does he want to marry her, face to face.
Rodolfo – “You want to be an Italian.”
Catherine – “No, but I could live there without being Italian. Americans live there.”
Rodolfo – “Forever.”
Catherine – “Yeah.”
Rodolfo – “You’re fooling.”
Catherine – “No, I mean it.”
Catherine wants to test Eddie’s presupposition that Rodolfo just wants his passport, that’s why he wants to marry you, she asks Rodolfo that can she and he live in Italy without being Italian citizens. The response she gets from Rodolfo seems to subsistence Eddie’s claims. He keeps saying that Italy has no jobs, people will call me crazy and there is no food to cook. However, Rodolfo gives her a more proper reason why he does not want to take her to Italy.
“How can I bring you from a rich country to suffer in a poor country? What are you talking about? I would be a criminal stealing your face. In two years you would have an old, hungry face. When my brother’s babies cry they give them water, water that boiled a bone. Don’t you believe that?”
But Catherine gives him a reason that she is fearful of Eddie here. For the first time Catherine unveils to the full extent how afraid she is from Eddie. This is a very momentous era in the route of the play, as we later see Catherine’s disobedient demeanour against Eddie; this is the start of that demeanour.
Soon after this, Rodolfo finds out what Catherine meant by being fearful of Eddie. Eddie once again tries to take his anger out on Rodolfo by using physical force. But his time ho goes too far, because he is drunk.
This time Catherine does not remain gentle, for the first time Catherine, entirely expresses her anger against Eddie, by shouting on him –
“Eddie! Let go, ya hear me! I‘ll kill you! Leggo of him!”
Eddie lets Rodolfo go but asks him to get out of his house, which suggests that Eddie has reached the farthest of his forbearance and can’t take any more. The tensions further develop when Beatrice tells Eddie that she has moved Catherine upstairs with Rodolfo. Eddie loves Catherine and looked after her since she was a child, but Eddie can’t accept her moving upstairs, because that means she is living independently and separately from Carbones and in particular, she is now living with Rodolfo, which further brings out indignation from Eddie. This leads to a contention between Eddie and Beatrice, he is off-colour and exhausted of Beatrice doing things without his consent and when he finds out that she has authorized for further two immigrants to come and live in their house, he becomes enraged. The motivation behind his resentment is undeniably, that no body in his house seems to follow his orders and the influence in Carbone household in no longer in the hands of Eddie Carbone, but everyone is now having their own say, particularly Catherine who has become immensely seditious.
Eddie Carbone at this point of the play has developed into an absolutely different person from the one he was at the opening of the play. When Catherine and Beatrice tell him that Catherine and Rodolfo are arranging to get married, he is incapable to direct his ire and resentment, which leads him to give up the cousins to Immigration Bureau. Eddie thinks that by undertaking this he will be able to split the marriage, but this only makes the circumstances problematic. Marco, who just like Eddie is a man of Respect, Honour and especially Justice, wants his retribution from Eddie Carbone for breaching his confidence and virtually killing his wife and children, because without Marco they just wouldn’t have the money to provide for themselves. When Immigration Bureau arrests Marco, he spits on Eddie’s face in front of the whole of the neighbourhood, which Eddie takes as impertinent. Eddie at this stage of the play is full of ire against Marco. The only thing he can envisage at this stage of the play is of making Marco apologetic in front of the entire vicinity for disrespecting Eddie Carbone.
At this point in the play,
audience can notice that there are a lot of similarities and difference between the act 1 and act 2. For example at the end of Act 1 Marco and Eddie are facing each other and Marco has a frown of warning on his face for Eddie to leave his brother alone. At the end of act 2 we see Eddie ignoring that forewarning and therefore, losing his life. There are also lots of differences between the two acts, for example Catherine in act 2 is launching more circuitous attack on Eddie, she even says I will kill you, or you let go of Rodolfo. She even calls him a rat and says he deserves to live in a sewer. She accuses him of poisoning her life. Beatrice in the second act has become more sympathetic of Eddie. She senses that things are heading for a bloody end and she senses that Eddie needs facilitating and someone to guide him. In the first act however, Beatrice was launching more direct attack on Eddie, persuading him to let Catherine go.
Paragraph 6
The audience can easily see the inconsistence deciphered in the way the characters articulate and behave towards each other. For example Catherine is much more audacious towards Eddie. She calls him a rat and says he belongs in a sewer. Beatrice is more compassionate towards Eddie, as she senses his covetousness to get his esteem back. Eddie’s furore becomes more obstreperous as the audience see tears of furore rolling down his cheeks on numerous occasions when Beatrice is trying to alleviate him. When Beatrice tries to calm Eddie –
“The truth is not as bad as blood, Eddie! I’m telling you the truth – tell her good-bye forever!”
This brings out a flow of furore from Eddie, since he never expected Beatrice, his wife to think this way; this brings out tears in his eyes, tears of ire and resentment.
At this phase of the play, there may be differences in the audience’s expectations. Some of them might still be thinking that the whole of circumstance is heading for a non-violent end. In the end may be the whole of Carbone household will go to the wedding of Rodolfo and Catherine. This anticipation may have been generated; when audience see the hard work Beatrice has been doing to calm Eddie down. She gives him examples and tries her best for him to bless Catherine and Rodolfo. When Rodolfo tries kissing Eddie’s hand she is there in the background trying her best for Eddie Carbone to forgive Rodolfo.
Beatrice – “Eddie, he’s apologizing!
“Listen to him! Eddie, listen what he’s telling you!
“Eddie, give him a chance!”
She tries her best to calm Eddie. This may manipulate the views of some audience that the situation will turn peaceful at last, as Beatrice has been portrayed by Arthur Miller as the person with most influence on Eddie.
Nevertheless, overwhelming majority of the audience would still think that the play will end for a bloody end. We have seen that when Alfieri tries to make a promise with Marco in the prison, he will get him out of the prison, if Marco promises to leave Eddie alone.
Alfieri – “No, Marco. You are going back. The hearing is just a formality, that’s all.”
Rodolfo – “Marco, tell the man.”
Marco – “What will I tell him? He knows such a promise is dishonourable.”
Alfieri – “To promise not to kill is not dishonourable.”
Marco – “No.”
This may manipulate the views of overwhelming majority of audiences that things are, indeed, heading for a bloody end.
Paragraph 7.
Miller creates the tension that climaxes in Eddie’s death by using celebrated melodramatic stage directions. He does it by creating an atmosphere where Beatrice and Catherine are crying, both woman are weeping with culpability and trying their best to stop Eddie from going out and face Marco. Eddie himself is weeping with furore and is vehement to get his esteem back. Even Rodolfo tries to stop him from going out and facing Marco.
Rodolfo – “Eddie?”
“Marco is coming, Eddie. He’s praying in the church. You understand? Catherine, I think it is better we go. Come with me.”
Rodolfo almost certainly knows his brother better than anybody. He knows that if Eddie goes out and faces him, he will be dead, so he tries his best to stop Eddie, but Eddie’s furore and ire against Rodolfo makes him completely disregard Rodolfo.
Arthur Miller also creates the strain by setting the climax of Eddie’s death in a very precise location, the street outside Eddie’s house. Exactly the same spot where Marco spat on Eddie’s face. We as audience see in the background lots of people including Louise and Mike, ready to watch Marco and Eddie’s fight. We hear Beatrice and Catherine making last minute efforts to stop Eddie. The actions of the characters also add to the climax of Eddie’s death. For Example, before the fight Eddie is spreading his arms and Marco is doing the same. Eddie’s speech also adds to further tension.
Eddie – “Maybe he come to apologize to me. Heh, Marco? For what you said about me in front of the neighbourhood? He knows that ain’t right. To do like that? To a man? Which I put my roof over their head and my food in their mouth? Like in the bible? Strangers I never seen in my whole life? To come out of the water and grab a girl for a passport? To go and take from your own family like from the stable – and never a word to me? And now accusations in the bargain! Wiping the neighbourhood with my name like a dirty rag! I want my name, Marco. Now gimme my name and we go together to the wedding.”
During the time Eddie is giving his speech, his eyes are murderous and he is coming in a fighting stance which should convince audience that both man are blood thirsty for each other.
Paragraph 8.
The climax of the play derives straight from the themes of the play mentioned in Alfierie’s prologue. The themes of the play are justice, loyalty, honour and respect. Eddie’s exhort to get his esteem back from Marco in front of the whole neighbourhood is all about respect described in Alfieri’s prologue. Marco’s aspiration to kill Eddie is all about justice, justice for his wife and children, because without Marco sending them money they will almost certainly die and Marco wants justice for his family by killing Eddie Carbone.
The climax of the play satisfies what audience’s expectations. Audiences had hoped for a clash between Marco and Eddie, since the power shift in the Carbone household, when Marco is holding a chair over Eddie Carbone’s head. However, as the play progressed the rift between Marco and Eddie deepened and when Marco spat on Eddie’s face while being arrested by Immigration Bureau, it became clear to audience that both characters Eddie and Marco, obsessed with the culture of revenge which they inherited from their homeland Italy, were heading for a bloody conflict.
Arthur Miller ends the play with Eddie’s body lying in the centre of the stage with Beatrice and Catherine covering it, Marco stands their with knife in his hand and in the background we hear the prayers of people. We see Alfieri saying -
“Most of the time now we settle for half and I like it better. But the truth is holy, and even as I know how wrong he was, and his death useless, I tremble, for I confess that something perversely pure calls to me from his memory – not purely good, but himself purely, for he allowed himself to be wholly known and for what I think I will love him more than all my sensible clients. And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be! And so I mourn him – I admit it – with a
Certain… alarm.”
Miller ends the play with Alfieri explaining that in Italy they would have killed the whole family for this crime, but now they are quiet American, they settle for half, meaning that Eddie’s death is enough for Marco who has virtually lost his whole of his family.
Paragraph 9.
There is no doubt that ‘A View from the Bridge’ is a phenomenal play which profoundly manifests Arthur Miller as a proficient knowledgeable dramatist who had a talent of composing tension and dramatic structures. ‘A view from the Bridge’ devours a lot of Millers skill of creating dramatic structure. From the start of the play, from the point when the cousins first arrive in the house, tension begins as Eddie disregards Rodolfo and Embraces Marco.
Throughout the whole play we see tension exceeding and some characters trying tirelessly to ease the tension and calm the household.
My personal response to ‘A View from the Bridge’ is that it is a remarkable play which gives you an exceptional insight into the culture and communities of dockworkers and longshoreman of Brooklyn Harbour. It
tells the story of Italian American people trying to balance their culture of Loyalty, Honour and Respect with the American views of Justice and settling for half.
