A question to be answered in the play is whether or not Eddie is a closet homosexual. There are many signs that lead people to believe this and many double meanings such as, “I’ll show you a couple of passes.” Making a pass can also be a sexual thing.
Eddie and Rodolfo start to box and Eddie is very mentally sure of himself, “Come on, kid, put sump’m behind it, you can’t hurt me.” Everyone thinks they are boxing in a friendly manner but when Catherine enters with the coffee, she is shocked, “What are they doin’?”
Beatrice is a bit naïve as she thinks they are being friendly and can only see the comradeship in it. But not Eddie. We see the purpose of his actions as he lands a punch that staggers Rodolfo. Marco sees what is going on as we see when Catherine and Rodolfo begin to dance again. This is a very big moment of tension in the play. Marco proves he is stronger than Eddie by lifting a chair by one leg, something Eddie can’t do. This is a big visual pun in the play which would have the audience gripped. By doing this, he warns Eddie; I quote, “The chair raised like a weapon over Eddie’s head”, and, “he transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph, and Eddies grin vanishes as he absorbs his look.” Eddie is humiliated and this moment is one big step towards Eddie’s downfall.
When reading the play, visual imagery is important, especially when Rodolfo and Catherine are talking and then enter the bedroom: “If I take in my hands a little bird. And she grows and wishes to fly. But I will not let her out of my hands because I love her so much.” When watching the play, it can become so much more obvious what is going on than when merely reading the text.
Not long after Catherine and Rodolfo have entered the bedroom, Eddie appears. He is unsteady and drunk. The audience won’t welcome Eddie’s appearance. The fact that he is drunk only makes things worse as he could overreact or use violence. The audience wants to shout out like small children do at pantomimes, it wants to warn Catherine and Rodolfo. Eddie then takes three bottles from his pocket and places them on the table. The tension increases. These could be used as weapons.
Catherine appears and adjusts her dress. Why? Is it because she has put it on quickly or because she has just been sitting down and when she stood up it needed adjusting? We must make up our own minds.
Rodolfo then makes a big mistake. He appears in the bedroom doorway. This is a huge moment of tension during which there is a dramatic pause where the audience sits there thinking and waiting. Rodolfo coming to the doorway could show their innocence though, as Eddie tells Rodolfo to leave.
Another big moment is when Eddie draws Catherine to him and kisses her passionately on the lips.
The audience are shocked. In Italy this is definitely a sexual thing. The audience’s suspicions are confirmed. Eddie is drunk and has acted on impulse. Or is it that he is just drunk and doesn’t know what he is doing? Is he showing his true feelings for Catherine? But it could have been much worse than just a kiss, Eddie was drunk and could have stabbed someone.
There are more shocks for the audience when Eddie kisses Rodolfo. Italian men kiss each other all the time in Italy, but not like this.
Is this another hint to Eddie being a closet homosexual or has he just kissed Rodolfo to try and disguise the fact he kissed Catherine? Then he could just say afterwards that he kissed everyone and that it didn’t mean anything, he even kissed Rodolfo. This would be a pretty convincing explanation as he was drunk and wouldn’t know what he was doing.
Eddie then threatens Rodolfo that if he doesn’t leave now without touching Catherine, he’ll leave dead. He uses a euphemism, “unless you wanna go out feet first.”
“A View from the Bridge” contains a lot of tension and in the end Eddie is killed. The audience could see the inevitable was going to happen. Eddie was like a snowball rolling down the hill as he came to his downfall. Greek tragedy is very similar to this - the tragic hero dies but realises his faults beforehand. The tragic hero is Eddie and his Achilles’ heel is his lust for Catherine and his jealousy of Rodolfo.
Though many people disliked Eddie in the end, in a way he was honest and he stood up for what he believed.
