As their first talk comes to an end Alfieri shows his intelligence about his analysis of the situation and Eddie doesn’t like it. ‘Alfieri: But Eddie she’s a woman now. Eddie: He’s stealing from me!’ Eddie actually steers away from what Alfieri said about Catherine becoming a woman and refers back to his hatred and jealousy towards Rodolpho. Alfieri: She wants to get married Eddie, she can’t marry you can she? Eddie: What you talking about marry me! I don’t know what the hell you talking about! Eddie gave a furious response to the hint Alfieri had given. He reacted as if it was a preposterous idea and he was totally oblivious to what Alfieri had meant. But Alfieri and Eddie both know the truth and this just adds to the confused angry and helpless state Eddie was in.
In Act 2 Eddie and Alfieri meet again for the second time. Alfieri explains how he had stayed on late from work just to see Eddie. When Alfieri is introducing the it he sets the scene he says ‘his eyes were like tunnels’. Meaning Eddie had an unexplainable look in his eyes consisting of numerous emotions. His eyes had a set plan and now all he had to do was walk down the tunnels into the end result of all his problems. His eyes were deep and meaningful. This time Alfieri is more inquisitive and attentive to the conversation. The first time they met it was Eddie asking all the questions and now Alfieri is asking the majority of them. ‘Alfieri: What does Marco say? , ‘What did you do that for Eddie?’ And ‘She actually said she’s mourning for him?’ This all signals that Alfieri is taking a more interested view of things and is starting to view things from Eddie’s perspective. However Alfieri is still taking an authoritative approach to the conversation and expresses his views to Eddie in a slightly more ‘take my advice or leave it’ manner’. ‘Alfieri: This is my last word Eddie, take it not, that’s your business. Morally and legally you have no rights you cannot stop it; she is a free agent’. So Alfieri has taken a small step out of his role of talking about the law and is now talking about morals. He is actually showing some care to Eddie and attempting to persuade him to make the right decision by talking about morals to back up his argument. Eddie replies with ‘Didn’t you hear what I told you?’ The truth about the situation s hit Eddie hard and Eddie is refusing to give in. It was at this point Alfieri knew Eddie was going to make a big mess of things and tried his hardest to put Eddie on the right track. The relationship between Eddie and Alfieri has expanded into more of a deep and meaningful one. This is evident in Alfieri’s concern for Eddie and Eddie’s less manic behaviour towards Alfieri.
As the play is nearing the end Marco has a talk with Alfieri about what to do about Eddie. Alfieri reacts to Marco’s anger with a concern for Eddie. ‘Alfieri: You won’t touch him. This is your promise? Alfieri makes it clear to Marco that he won’t touch Eddie and makes Marco promise not to do so. So even now Alfieri knows this will end up traumatic, he is fighting against the inevitable and his care for Eddie shines through.
When Eddie is stabbed and then dies Alfieri comes on stage to conclude the play. He does this in an honest and thoughtful manner. ‘and even though how wrong he was, and his death useless, I tremble for I confess that something perversely pure calls to me from his memory’ Alfieri is making a compromise between Eddie’s good and bad points. When he says his death is useless, he means his death didn’t solve anything and didn’t make anything better. So he is saying even though his death wasn’t incredibly significant, his character is shining through in Alfieri’s mind. Alfieri is coming to terms with the fact that Eddie isn’t just another client, he is passed that, and their relationship progressed evocatively. Alfieri says ‘and so I mourn for him….. I admit it with a certain……..alarm.’ This line ends the play very thoughtfully. Alfieri is admittedly upset about Eddie’s death. He says he admits it with a certain……alarm. The pause is crucial, it means that even Alfieri knows what is going to happen is inevitable; he is still alarmed when it happened. He says he admits it with a certain alarm meaning it is a specific type of alarm. He acts as if he doesn’t know what word to use but alarm fits perfectly to emphasize on Eddie’s abrupt and tragic death.
As the play progressed it was clear to see an increase in the importance of the relationship between Eddie and Alfieri. Eddie obviously respected Alfieri a lot and actually gained his own respect back for being so strong willed and honest. Alfieri was alarmed when Eddie died even though he knew it was going to happen. This proves he has a lot of feelings for Eddie that only escaped when he had died. So throughout the play their relationship had developed into something that was significant and special.
