“They grabbed him in the kitchen and pulled him down the stairs-three flights his head was bouncin’ like a coconut. And they spit on him in the street, his own father and his brothers”
This shows the importance of family and loyalty in the Sicilian community. It also shows what happens to those who betray. This whets the audience’s appetite as we now become aware of the dangers of keeping an illegal immigrant and looks forward to what Eddie will do and it foreshadows the end of the play.
Later on that night the illegal immigrants arrive. The way Miller uses Alfieri to introduce them is very effective, as he talks about Eddie being a “good a man as he had to be in a life that was hard and even”. When reading this I feel as if something bad is going to happen because Alferie is making out that Eddie is a good, clean man and something is bound to happen to him for taking in illegal immigrants. The stage directions and the cousin’s actions put images into our minds of what they look like; Marco ‘Is a square built peasant of thirty two, suspicious, tender, and quiet-voiced’. Marco’s actions towards the Carbone family prove him to be a very respectable man as when he meets his cousin, Beatrice, ‘He kisses her hand’. Rodolpho is made out to be a young man who is naïve, when standing outside the Carbone’s house he says, “This will be the first house I ever walked into in America! Imagine!”
Marco shows to the audience that he has to look after Rodolpho and tells him to be quiet.
Once Marco and Rodolpho are in the house and settled down they start to introduce themselves a bit more fully to the family. Marco acts as a father figure to Rodolpho, comes across as down to earth which contrasts with Rodolpho who just “Dreams”, and has no sense of proportion. Rodolpho is very loud and forward, “I have a nice face, but no money.”
The first sign of trouble arises not long into the cousins’ arrival when Rodolpho starts to sing “Paper Doll.” Eddie does not give positive reactions from this. Miller uses visual tension with Eddie rolling up a newspaper and showing an explicit look to show the friction in the house
Once the cousins have been there for a while Eddie tells Beatrice that he “ain’t been feelin’ good.” This shows tension between the couple. Eddie admits to Beatrice “They bother me since they came.” this increases the dramatic tension; is Eddie anticipating that something bad is going to happen? Friction is suggested when Eddie says he “Can’t talk about it”
Eddie is not giving Beatrice enough attention and their relationship is on a rocky stage, which is affecting their emotional and sexual relationship. Beatrice is becoming worried about this problem and asks Eddie “When am I gonna be a wife again?” This is a euphemism and shows the break down in verbal communication between the married couple. Beatrice wants Eddie to confront his problem because of the trouble he is having with expressing his emotions. The failure of communication within the marriage is affecting the physical relationship. Beatrice is feeling ignored and craves the attention of her husband even though he is neglecting her and putting her in the background of his life. On the video the tension between Eddie and Beatrice is very clear as when Eddie is talking about sex he cannot look his wife in the eye and share his feelings.
The relationship between the family is showing Beatrice to have developed some jealousy towards Catherine as Catherine is getting more attention from Eddie than she is. The relationships have become implicit and have now more reason to question the developing relationship between Eddie and Catherine to be more than just a father daughter relationship. This developing relationship becomes more apparent near the end of act one when Eddie is on his way home from work and he bumps into Catherine and Rodolpho who seem to be getting on well. Eddie becomes upset at the fact that maybe Rodolpho has won over the affection of Catherine and Eddie has been unsuccessful. Once Eddie and Catherine are alone, Eddie tries to tell Catherine that Rodolpho is using her for an American passport. The audience now question the reality of what Eddie has told Catherine but at the same time we are asking if Eddie is only saying this in hope that Catherine will believe this and dump Rodolpho.
The stage directions add to the dramatic tension, as Catherine is ‘smiling but tense’. It is as if you can feel the friction in the air. We sympathise with Catherine as she only wants to grow up and Eddie is holding her back and still treating her like a child. Eddie is doing this because he is scared at the fact that Rodolpho is taking his “Baby” away. But is this fair to Catherine and also to Beatrice?
There is a lot of jealousy developing in the relationships; Eddie is jealous of Rodolpho because of the feelings Catherine has for him and Beatrice is jealous of Catherine because she gets more attention paid to her than Beatrice but she will not admit it, Beatrice asks Catherine, “You think I’m jealous of you honey?”
I think when reading the script you can see Beatrice’s plan of getting Catherine out the house. If Catherine marries Rodolpho, the two of them will be out the house and she will be able to have her husband back. Beatrice asks Catherine,
“You wanna get married, or don’t you wanna get married!” she tries to make out to her that Eddie will not like Rodolpho but she should have realised by now that “If it was a prince came here for you it would be no different” implying that no man will ever be right for her in his eyes. Beatrice tells Catherine that she should become more “independent” and “if you act like a baby and he be treatin’ you like a baby.” These are Beatrice’s hints to make her realise the fact that she is not a child and should not be constantly relying on Eddie.
Eddie goes to see Alfieri and from the meeting they have Miller presents Eddie to be irrational and confused. We pity Eddie and feel sympathetic as we can foresee tragedy, as it is inevitable. While Eddie is speaking to Alfieri, Eddie makes Rodolpho out to be effeminate as he can sing and sew.
Later that evening when Eddie arrives home there is still friction between Eddie and Rodolpho. Catherine resumes annoyed with Eddie so she torments Eddie by playing paper doll on the phonograph and then asks Rodolpho to dance, knowing that this will torment Eddie by seeing the pair together. Rodolpho recognises the tension and tells Catherine that he is too tired to dance, of trying to calm the situation. Beatrice makes Rodolpho get up and dance but Rodolpho can feel “Eddie’s eyes on his back.” While dancing with Rodolpho, Catherine is flaunting her independence and both Catherine and Beatrice are revolting Eddie. Marco and Rodolpho are deferential and recognise the tension and friction that is in the house.
Eddie is still trying to show Rodolpho up and prove to Catherine that Rodolpho is effeminate by having a Masculinity contest of boxing. In the Sicilian community the men are always seen to be big, strong, and able to look after and protect the women. By Eddie hitting Rodolpho he tries to show Rodolpho up and make him look weak. Rodolpho gets his own back by asking Catherine to dance. He becomes provocative once he realises Eddies plan. Eddie humiliated Rodolpho by showing to Catherine he’s more masculine and then Rodolpho shows Eddie that he can hit him in the stomach but he is the winner overall because he can still get Catherine.
The ending of Act one is poignant and creates more visual and dramatic tension than verbal tension, which has been more common so far in the book. Marco shows Eddie that he will stand up for Rodolpho and uses a “chair like a weapon” and as a silent threat that has more meaning than words. The visual tension lets the audience see and feel the tension. Before now Eddie has felt in charge but Marco has turned things around after the chair-lifting test, ‘Eddie’s grin vanishes as he absorbs his look.’ This is dramatically effective in both the script and in the video as the audience can almost feel the tension in the living room.
Act one finishes and act two starts. Act two brings about development in the characters relationships. The development is mainly the disintegration of the relationships, but also new relationships are developing.
When Catherine and Rodolpho are alone in the house for the first time we see Catherine actually share her emotions and express what she has been feeling. Now we see the closeness of their relationship as Rodolpho now calls Catherine “my little girl.” This indicates that Rodolpho has taken Eddie’s “Baby” and so when he comes home after a heavy drinking session and realises the pair are together, he orders Rodolpho to “Pack it up” and move out. Catherine wants to move out with him but Eddie will not let her go. Eddie kisses Catherine when she announces she is leaving, “As she strives to free herself he kisses her on the mouth.” This is wrong and immoral; Eddie is shaming her. But then we see Rodolpho stand up for Catherine. “Suddenly” Eddie kisses Rodolpho. This is a dramatic change in relationship. At the start of this scene Catherine loves Eddie in a father daughter way, then, by the end of the scene ‘she is staring at him in horror’ and says, “I’ll kill you.” This is a very emotional scene whereby we see two relationships dramatically change; Catherine and Rodolpho want to get married and have stood up to Eddie, and Catherine has change her feelings towards Eddie and is now ‘frightened’ by him. This scene makes us question the characters, as we are shocked and embarrassed. With this scene the books drama is more effective as we are able to read what is going on in the house with Rodolpho and Catherine, yet at the same time we can read the stage directions and see that Eddie is staggering along the side walk outside the house after a heavy drinking session. With the play we only see one picture at a time and it doesn’t feel very realistic as you don’t see the two scenes going on a t the same time.
Eddie leaves Catherine and Rodolpho, and goes on to see Alfieri. From Alfieri’s opening speech we see Alfieri to feel “powerless” and from the repeated encounters of Eddie and Alferie, we realise all Alferie can do is lend an ear to Eddie and let the situation “run it’s bloody course. ” All Alfieri can do is warn Eddie of the consequences if he takes drastic actions.
The dramatic effects are less powerful on the video in my opinion because in the book we read of a ‘phone booth begins to glow on the opposite side of the stage; a faint, lonely blue’. It is as if the phone booth pulls Eddie in. Yet on the video all we see is Eddie on the phone to the immigration bureau with no real dramatic build up. Eddie rings the immigration bureau on Marco and Rodolpho, and now Eddie has broken the code of loyalty, we recognise the fact that Eddie has “Snitched” like Vinny Bolzano. I think halfway through the phone call Eddie realises what he is doing and has ‘greater difficulty’ because he his conscience is telling him he has betrayed the whole community. There is dramatic irony, as only the audience know of what Eddie has just done.
When Eddie has finished the phone call to the immigration bureau and is on his way home he bumps into Louis and Mike, they ask him to come bowling but Eddie but at this time Eddie turns down the offer, as he is feeling guilty.
When he is in the house Miller presents to the audience the development in Eddie and Beatrice’s relationship. Eddie expects Beatrice to respect him and do as he says, “A wife is supposed to believe a husband.” Beatrice wants to respect Eddie but at the same time she wants some peace and wants to repair things in the family, as the family is broken and drifting apart. Up until now in the story Eddie has always had authority and what he had said would have gone, but now, Catherine is standing up to him and going against his command and getting married to Rodolpho while Beatrice is trying to compromise so every one is happy. Beatrice is caught in the middle, as Catherine wants her to be present at her wedding and Eddie wants her to show some respect and stay with him at home. With whatever choice she makes she will be going against another persons plan.
There is dramatic irony in the plot as we expect the Immigration officers to come and so when Eddie finds out that there are two more “Submarines” upstairs with Marco and Rodolpho he becomes frightened and very anxious as he knows “Lipari’s liable to blame you or me”. The tension is building up as Eddie can not tell his family what he has done as he knows it is very shameful and now other family’s are involved in it he will lose all respect in his neighbourhood.
The crescendo is very dramatically effective both in the video and in the script as we see the family inside and the immigration officers coming up to the door. When they ‘knock on the door’ there is tension in the air and a pregnant pause, ‘they all stand motionless’, which after a few seconds is followed by the moment of realisation. Beatrice sees what Eddie has done; ‘she looks at him and sees his terror’. The audience knows the irony of what Eddie is denying and that he has gone against his word when he said he “wouldn’t do that” earlier on in act one with a previous meeting with Alfieri.
In the script when Marco and Rodolpho are being taken away by the immigration officers we are told, ‘Marco spits into Eddie’s face’ this is a sign of disrespect and a manly thing to stand up to Eddie. In the Video we see Marco break from the Officers but once he spits in Eddie’s face he backs away and looks unsure of what he had just done. This one scene contrasts in both script and the play, I see the script to be more effective as it shows Marco to be the stronger character and that he is really shaming Eddie for what he has done.
Catherine and Eddie’s relationship has taken a turn whereby Catherine no longer seems friendly to Eddie. Catherine and Rodolpho’s relationship has developed to be very strong and she stays by his side all the way and tries to save Rodolpho by saying he was born in Philadelphia.
Once Marco and Rodolpho have been taken away, they are allowed to see their Alfieri. Alfieri makes Marco promise that he will not kill Eddie and has trouble in deciding whether to make the promise or not. When he finally realises that he will not be allowed out unless he makes the promise he says “all right” but Alfieri can tell something will happen and when he is ‘nodding’ to say he has done the right thing it is ‘not with assurance’.
When Catherine goes back to the house to collect her aunt we see the final break between Catherine and Eddie. The relationship between Catherine and Eddie started out to be very close, she has loved him for 18 years and then one day she stands up to him and tells him he is a “rat” and he has no right to tell her what to do. Beatrice is stuck in the middle and does all her best to get them to see eye to eye but in the end she gives Catherine her blessing and stays at home with Eddie.
Before Marco arrives on the scene we see Rodolpho come up to Eddie and try to make some peace by blaming everything on his own back,
“It is my fault, Eddie. Everything. I wish to apologize. It was wrong that I do not ask your permission. I kiss your hand.”
Eddie does not see Rodolpho to have the power to give him his name back. All Eddie wants is his name back in the community, and Marco is the person who can do that.
When Marco is coming down the street Calling for Eddie we know that something is going to happen. We can feel the tension when they all ‘stand transfixed’. Eddie expects Marco to apologise to him as he still sees himself to have done nothing wrong and that he is innocent with everything. When reading the script we foresee death as the stage directions ‘as his eyes are murderous’. I think at this stage we are unable to predict who is going to die, as both Eddie and Marco are full of rage.
When the climax scene is on stage I do not think the drama on the video is as effective as the stage directions in the script. On the video it all happens very suddenly and you don not get as much feel for the action, as there is not as much suspense created as there is in the script. When reading the script you are able to read the lines and the stage directions slower to make a bigger impact on the climax, whereas on the video it all roles on then it is over. I think Alfieri’s speech at the end is very powerful and the way the lights are projected, with Spotlight on Eddie and Beatrice, is very effective.
Eddie’s death at the end makes the audience pity him. We are sympathetic towards him as his death was futile yet inevitable. Eddie dies a tragic hero and did it out of pure love. Even though we are against what Eddie’s doing we still fell a loss. It is an explosive and moving climax with the end picture showing Beatrice with her dead husband because she really did love him and his last words, “My B” show where his heart lies and he love Beatrice.
The final paragraph uses poetic language and Alfieri says it in an emotional more than factual tone. Alfieri shows some admiration in his ending speech for Eddie, “I will love him more than all my sensible clients.” Alfieri admires Eddie as his heart was in the right place and he didn’t settle for half. Alfieri said,
“Most of the time now we settle for half, and I like it better.”
Alfieri can relate to preferring the whole thing then compromising but then he carries on to say,
“And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be!” This shows that if Eddie had compromised he may still be in the last scene. The play closes with the question lingering over the audience, was Eddie’s death suicide or just a naïve misjudgement in the moment of anger?