Analyse how and why Arthur Miller utilises the character of Alfieri to contribute to the dramatic impact of “A view from the bridge”
Analyse how and why Arthur Miller utilises the character of Alfieri to contribute to the dramatic impact of "A view from the bridge"
Arthur Miller wrote a View from the Bridge in the 1950's. He wasn't influenced by his contemporaries, but by Greek theatre. It was different from other plays at the time. He was interested in the individual, but only within the context of society/community. The play is a comedy & tragedy, which is what Greek Theatre plays were like. The reason why he chose this is so that it would put across the points of the play more strongly and makes people think more about the plays themes.
The play suits Greek Theatre style, as the structure of the play was continuous action followed by an "explosion", which is Greek.
His earlier plays were intended to have a didactic purpose, but the audience and critical responses suggested that he was not successful in getting his message across. An example of a play in which he did this, is "Death of a salesman"
Alfieri is used like a chorus as he offers the audience common sense, ideas & themes to think about. He keeps the audience aware of the action. He is there constantly throughout the play emphasising themes (e.g. compromise) and moving the action along.
The main themes of the play are human psychology and emotions. The law is also an important theme. There are two main sets of law an the play - the written law and the unwritten law.
An example of the need and importance of justice, and the idea of unwritten law in the play is after Eddie has phoned the immigration Bureau and Marco is in prison. Marco says the Alfieri "In my country, he would be dead now" and later he says "The law? All the law is not in one book" This quote shows that Marco strongly believes in another law...an unwritten law.
Another theme is justice. When Marco says to Alfieri "I have no chance?" Alfieri replies, "No Marco, you're going back". Marco is an illegal immigrant, and he's going ...
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An example of the need and importance of justice, and the idea of unwritten law in the play is after Eddie has phoned the immigration Bureau and Marco is in prison. Marco says the Alfieri "In my country, he would be dead now" and later he says "The law? All the law is not in one book" This quote shows that Marco strongly believes in another law...an unwritten law.
Another theme is justice. When Marco says to Alfieri "I have no chance?" Alfieri replies, "No Marco, you're going back". Marco is an illegal immigrant, and he's going back to Italy.
As a character, Alfieri plays different roles.
For one, he is a lawyer. An example of this is when he says "Im only a lawyer" which also emphasises the limits of his power as a lawyer.
He is a confidante. The people who confide in him & trust him are Eddie and Catherine. They confide in him throughout the play.
An example of this is when Alfieri said in his speech on page 59 "Catherine told me later that this was the first time she and Rodolpho has been alone together in the house"
Eddie tells him his concerns of Catherine & Rodolpho's relationship, in trust and confidentiality...but he also asks him when he wants advice about it from a lawyer's point of view.
Alfieri's relationship with Eddie is unusual. Sometimes they act as very close friends, other times quite distant as if Eddie just wants him for advice on family terms. He speaks to him as a friend and lawyer. His friendship with him allows the audience to understand Eddie more.
But Alfieri plays both parts well - he is honest with Eddie when telling him he can't help any more than he has.
At the end of the play, we find out that Alfieri admired Eddie for standing up for himself and not compromising and doing things his own way.
As a narrator, he's involved in the action of the play, acting as a go-between. He tells us of what's happening in the pay, and draws out the significance of the events going on, for example by introducing the time and places and characters.
Miller uses Alfieri to say what he thinks.
He sums up the scenes, and is a sage. He makes the themes of the play explicit, and creates a connection between the characters and the audience. He also predicts the future saying how he thinks things will happen.
He could be seen as the character with the view from the bridge, looking over the action of the play.
The dramatic impact of the play involved Catherine & Eddie's relationship.
Eddie is Catherine's uncle. She lives with him and his wife, Beatrice. However, the relationship between them isn't as pure as it seems, as Eddie has more than parental feeling towards Catherine, almost sexual feelings.
Catherine doesn't feel the same and has a boyfriend, Rodolpho. Beatrice knows of his feeling for Catherine, and tries a subtle touch to tell Catherine to move on "It's wonderful for a whole family to love each other, but you're a grown woman, and you're in the same house with a grown man. So you'll act differently now" She also tells her to grow up and stop acting like a "baby".
In one of Alfieri's speeches, he says "But sometimes...there's too much [love]. You know? There's too much [love]". This is him saying how sometimes you fall in love with someone you shouldn't, which is the situation for Eddie & Catherine.
The play is dramatically interesting because it reflects how people cope with awkward situations. The audience could either think how compromising resolves situations, or that you should stick to your heart and not let other people stop your feelings.
The reaction to Eddie's character would either make you feel sympathy towards him, or pity him & disagree with his actions.
The language he used is usually quite complex, but sometimes he uses simple & easy to understand words (e.g. when he's talking about Catherine & Rodolpho)
Alfieri often mentions useless information in his speeches - "A case of Scotch whisky slipped from a net while being unloaded, as a crate of Scotch whisky is inclined to do..." It appears to have no meaning to the play, but does as it's saying how people will carry on life as normal whilst tragedy is happening without you knowing.
The first speech emphasises his distance from the other characters, when he says, "You see how uneasily they nod at me?" this shows that he isn't too popular because of him being a lawyer, and seeing a lawyer in the street is known as unlucky.
He says how he is important, but not very powerful and things wont change in the sense of problems. Lawyers cannot change what's going on, only help things move along.
The last two lines of his speech, he says "and sat there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course" this tells us how the play ends in tragedy.
Alfieri making his last speech drawing out the ideas of the play ends the play. He tells us how "it's better to settle for half". This has the idea of compromise and having to settle for less to make more peace.
Eddie didn't settle for half, he did things his own way and it lead to him having a useless death.
Alfieri was an important part of the play, without him the audience would be clueless as to some of the events going on.
He was effectively used throughout the play, as a narrator and character.
The audience is presented with themes and ideas, which Alfieri offers them to think about.
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