At the end of the play, Alfieri tells the audience, “Even as I know how wrong he was… I confess that something perversely pure calls to me from his memory.”To what extent is it possible to feel sympathy for Eddie? Consider in your answer th

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2/12/00 English Literature Coursework Essay Danielle Orchard- 10H

'A View From the Bridge' Arthur Miller

At the end of the play, Alfieri tells the audience, "Even as I know how wrong he was... I confess that something perversely pure calls to me from his memory."To what extent is it possible to feel sympathy for Eddie? Consider in your answer the part played by the Italian community in his behaviour.

When Alfieri concludes his feelings at the end of the play, he is suggesting to the audience that although we recognize Eddie's actions as immoral and wrong, perhaps we may still be able to sympathise with him. In order to answer this, we have to delve deeper into what provoked Eddie to commit the crimes he did, which ended eventually in his own death.

At the beginning of the play, Miller wants us to recognise just how good a man Eddie can be. With his Italian roots and having been submerged into an Italian American community, being a good man is harder than it might otherwise seem. Miller describes him as "a hardworking longshore man", which signifies some of the characteristics an Italian man should possess. He should provide for the family, he should be physically strong and hardworking. Miller also demonstrates him to be a protective father, as Eddie makes a reference to the length of Catherine's skirt, "I think it's too short, ain't it?" Not only does he care for Catherine, but also on the surface his relationship with his wife, Beatrice, appears to be positive, and we can notice he compliments her frequently by saying things like, "you got too big a heart." With all of this obvious evidence to suggest and prove that Eddie is a good man, we have to identify what happened to make him suddenly carry out actions that appear to be completely foreign to a man with his nature.

The problems can really be identified when Rodolpho and Marco arrive in New York, and begin their stay with the Carbone family. Eddie had already stated, "It is an honour, B" and from this we would believe that he really does want to help his wife's family. It is at this point when I believe the audience start to feel some sympathy for Eddie. As Miller has already said, Eddie is hardworking and it is obvious from previous conversations about the size of their home that it is not all that spacious. When two more people intruded upon the family's personal space, tension immediately begins to build. Eddie is only living up to his expectation as an Italian man, to be hospitable and by putting up with these guests, he is also likely to be pleasing Beatrice. Eddie's behaviour changes because of this tension, and he noticeably becomes more short-tempered and sarcastic as Miller writes, "Just lay off me will ya!"
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The reason why Eddie suddenly changes is predominantly because of his feelings for Catherine. When he notices that Rodolpho is attracted to Catherine, his attitude certainly changes towards him. We are not quite sure at this time whether his feelings towards Catherine are purely paternal or whether there is something deeper lurking in his intentions. We already know that Eddie is finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that Catherine is growing up, as Miller writes, " I guess I never figured... that you would ever grow up." Catherine, who is at a difficult age ...

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