This book was written during 1955 and during that time there was a stereotypical view of what masculinity was, it was seen as being strong and having power, authority and responsibility and perhaps demanding respect. It could be that a man was only a man if he had a family and took care of them or if he dressed a certain way. I have added a list on my views of what characteristics should be seen in masculinity: power, strength, authority, responsibility, respect, control, in charge and pride. In “A view from the Bridge” the protagonist Eddie Carbone shows most of these characteristics at the start but as the story progresses he looses these characteristics and so is seen as less masculine, he looses his pride, authority, leadership he looses the control of his house hold and he looses his respect.
In act one of the play masculinity is shown in many different ways, a good example being Eddie carbone. He shows his masculinity in the way he acts. He cares for his family very much, he goes to work everyday or when ever there is work. He says “he took the food out of his mouth to feed his family” this shows he cares for them and shows his masculinity. Another example of his masculinity is when he drinks a beer or has a cigar this would be seen as a manly or masculine thing to do because women wouldn’t usually drink or smoke. He does this when he comes home after work he sits down and wants a cigar to relax and as a sign of his masculinity and authority, and the respect Catherine has for him she gets it because she has respect for Eddie and he has authority over her
Another reason for Eddie’s masculinity is his work, it could be that working as a longshoreman loading and unloading cargo all day is a different environment from any normal work, it is only men that work at the docks and he is surrounded by men all day so he Is masculine without realising and lifting heavy objects all day could be seen as masculine and only a real man could do this work.
Because of these views this could be the reason why Eddie does not like Rodolpho and why the audience sees him as not masculine. Rodolpho could be seen as childish and not masculine. This could be either because he cooks, cleans, helps make dresses and sings, or it could be because he is blond. Cooking, cleaning, sowing and singing are usually associated with women. This is a very stereotypical view and this could be the reason why Eddie believes Rodolpho does not fit in as a masculine. Also the audience could see him as childish because when the cousins first arrived Marco told Eddie “he dreams” referring to the motorbike Rudolpho wants to get and the audience could see this as something a child would do and not a grown man
Eddie wants to discredit Rodolpho and quickly finds a reason for this. Rodolpho is slightly-built, blond, a good singer and dancer, and he can cook and make dresses. Also Eddies friends, Mike and Louis seem to share the same view as him: "He comes around, everybody's laughing' ," After this, Eddie abuses his trust as Catherines uncle to persuade her that Rodolpho is a "hit-and-run guy" and "only bowin' to his passport" in an attempt to split them up but this dose not work.
However this could be interpreted in a different way. It could be seen as Eddie having incestual urges for Catherine and only hating Rodolpho because he wants Catherine for himself. He would not be challenging Rodolphos masculinity but he would be challenging his own because if he did like Catherine it would go against his stereotypical views of masculinity. This is brought about when Catherine’s attraction to Rodolpho brings Eddies love for her in the open. His love for Catherine appears in his obsessive concern for her. A good example of this is his concern with her appearance, he says “I think its too short” referring to her dress and “you walkin wavy I don’t like the looks they’re givin you in the candy store” “the heads are turning like windmills”. This shows Eddies obsessive concern for Catherine and shows he could be having feelings for her and is jealous when she has feelings for Rodolpho instead and so tries to discredit him.
In conclusion I would say that the audience could interpret Miller’s portrayal of masculinity in many different ways, one being that Miller portrayed masculinity in this story in the form of Eddie Carbone. I believe Eddie carbone is meant to represent every man, he is ordinary, decent, hard working and charitable and these are features of masculinity which should be shown in every man but during the story Eddie begins to break down because of his views on masculinity, he has certain urges which he dose not know how to control and begins to show he is not as masculine as he seems this is the cause of dramatic tension in the play and proves my hypothesis to be correct that masculinity in this play is essential to cause dramatic tension and Arthur Miller has portrayed this very well.