In this extract, Eddie behaves differently from the first couple of scenes. Since Rodolfo and Catherine start going out and like one and other, Eddie’s character has seemed to change from the point and has hatred for Rodolfo. This shows when Eddie is teaching Rodolfo to box and hits him quite badly on purpose. Marco shows that he is not going to stand back and decides to take action by lifting a chair over his head. By doing this, Marco is demonstrating to Eddie a warning of how strong he is and warns him not to mess with him and his family. Before this scene Marco was listening to Eddie and following his orders but now Marco has realised Eddie’s character has changed, mainly towards Rodolfo. Therefore Marco by lifting the chair over his head, giving Eddie a warning tells the reader that the next Act will be very dramatic as the end of Act One was tense. In this scene Rodolfo dances with Cathrine, this shows us that Rodolfo cares about Catherine, as at first when Catherine asked Rodolfo to dance with her, Rodolfo says he is tired. “No, I-I’m tired.” I think that Rodolfo is not really tired however says he is tired because he is afraid that Eddie might have more hatred towards him if he dances with her in front of him. Catherine plays an important part in the scene; she is the centre of the action taking part in the scene. This is because Eddie is resentment towards Rodolfo because he is jealous of him as Catherine is with Rodolfo and not him. With all the tension mounting in the scene, Beatrice is trying to end the tension. You can tell when Beatrice say’s to Eddie “that’s enough”. She says this when Eddie is boxing with Rodolfo and when Eddie is starting to really hurt Rodolfo.
The scene is set in the living room and the significance of the setting is very important as it is set in the living room of Eddie’s apartment. It is important as the setting tells us that the scene is going to be with all the family as a living room symbolises family. This suggests to us something will happen in the scene, as all he family are together mainly Rodolfo and Eddie, as Eddie at the point has bitterness towards Rodolfo. We are told in the stage directions that the scene is set in the apartment. “ Lights rise on the apartment.” The setting of where the scene is set is very important as Marco beat’s Eddie in Eddie’s own living room by doing it quietly and making it very clear by giving him that warning, if Marco can beat Eddie in his own living room, what can he do at another venue?
The end of Act One is very important and dramatic. It gives the reader a hint that the next act is going to be very dramatic and interesting. Many stage directions show us that Miller is trying to create dramatic tension at the end of Act One.
“(He kneels. Gasps, and with strain slowly raises the chair higher and higher, getting to his feet now. Rodolfo and Catherine stopped dancing as Marco raises the chair over his head.
Marco is face to face with Eddie, a strained tension gripping his eyes and jaw, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon over Eddie’s head- and he transforms what might appear to look like a flair of warning to smile of triumph, and Eddie’s grin vanishes as he absorbs the look.)”
I think the main event in the stage directions is “with strain slowly raises the chair higher and higher” this creates a lot of tension between Marco and Eddie, at the end of Act One.
In the end of Act One, the themes that are touched upon are; Masculinity, family and honour. The role of family is addressed in the scene. This is particularly apparent when we see all the family talking about Rodolfo and Marco’s visit to Africa. Masculinity runs throughout the whole play, but becomes particularly clear, when Eddie and Marco have a “ Masculinity match.” I think Miller wants to show the audience, that Masculinity is the main theme at the end of ‘Act One.’ The theme ‘honour’ is joint with ‘Masculinity.’ This theme is fundamental to both Eddie and Marco as who ever does not complete what Marco challenges Eddie to do looses their pride and honour. The only reason why Marco challenges Eddie to this match is because; Eddie keeps questioning Rodolfo’s masculinity and is trying to imply that he is not a real man.
“It’s wonderful he sings, he cooks, he could even make dresses…”
The quote obviously shows that Eddie is trying to mock Rodolfo, as he is not a real man. Eddie then compares himself to Rodolfo saying he cannot do what Rodolfo can and saying he is a real man but Rodolfo is not.
“I can’t cook, I can’t sing, I can’t make dresses.
I feel ‘Love’ is also an important theme in the scene. When Rodolfo and Catherine are dancing it suggests to he audience they may love each other. Also Eddie is overprotective towards Catherine, showing that he also loves and is trying to protect her. I think ‘Love’ is one of the main themes, as I believe love could drive a person to do anything. As Eddie’s love towards Catherine may make him do something not usual to Eddie’s character.
It is important to understand the social and historical context of the play. Both Marco and Rodolfo are immigrants, in this scene this is touched upon when Marco and Rodolfo are telling the rest of the family why they came to Brooklyn and what they did in Sicily. The role of men and women in this scene can be linked to the traditional sexes at the tine this play was set. The male characters run the play as Marco and Eddie are the main tension at the end of Act One.
All the elements I have discuss above make this scene dramatically powerful and tense. I think, ‘ A View from the Bridge’ was a terrific play. The reason for this is because I feel it is very different to the books ad plays I normally read. One of the main parts I really enjoyed was at the end of Act One, the scene that I wrote about in this essay. What I enjoyed about the end of Act One was the way Miller made it a turning point of the play by making Marco give Eddie that warning. It caused much tension between the characters and indicated to the audience that the next Act would be even better and contain violence between Marco and Eddie.
