There is an awkward pause. This builds up the tension. It adds to the tense atmosphere. “There is a pause, an awkwardness”. Eddie makes the other characters feel on edge. Catherine tries to break this tension by asking Rodolpho to dance. The audience knows that this is the wrong thing for Catherine to do. The audience can tell Eddie is livid. He doesn’t like Rodolpho touching Catherine. Rodolpho tries to protest against dancing because he can tell Eddie doesn’t like it. He is being polite and respectful. The stage directions show this. “Eddie freezes”, “feeling Eddie’s eyes on his back”.
While Catherine and Rodolpho are dancing the others are talking about how good Rodolpho is. Eddie obviously doesn’t want to hear this. The audience is aware of them talking about Rodolpho when they shouldn’t be. They can see it’s making Eddie angry. “He has been unconsciously twisting the newspaper into a tight roll”. This body language is a dramatic devise. It is building up the atmosphere and tension. “He has bent the rolled paper and it suddenly tears in two” You can tell Eddie wants to hit Rodolpho because he is very angry.
The theme of manliness comes in now. Hitting another man is thought to be showing that you are manly. Eddie uses the excuse of boxing to show off. He wants to show Rodolpho that he is manly and that Rodolpho isn’t. That he is better than Rodolpho and that Rodolpho is weak. Stage directions build up the suspense and tension. “He is weirdly elated, rubbing his fists into his palms”. Eddie knows Rodolpho doesn’t box so Eddie uses the excuse of teaching him how to box to hit him. There is a release of tension when Eddie hits Rodolpho.
There is the theme of brotherliness as well. Rodolpho and Marco stick up for each other. When Eddie provokes Marco, Rodolpho stands up for him. When Eddie hits Rodolpho, Marco threatens Eddie.
Marco builds up the tension again. He challenges Eddie to lift up a chair. When Eddie can’t Marco goes and lifts it up. Marco is proving to Eddie that he is manlier than he is. That he can be as much of a man as Eddie thinks ‘manliness’ is. It is also intended as a threat. “He transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph, and Eddie’s grin vanishes as he absorbs his look”
Arthur Miller uses the theme of ‘manliness’ to build up the tension and the conflict between the characters. Eddie’s stereotypical ideas of ‘manliness’ can also be seen in the second key moment.
Eddie arrives home drunk on the night before Christmas Eve. Rodolpho and Catherine have been left alone together for the first time in the flat. Eddie sees Catherine come out of the bedroom. Eddie makes a sarcastic comment. “Rodolpho makin’ you a dress?” He is criticizing Rodolpho’s ‘manliness’. In view of the fact that Eddie has incestuous feelings for Catherine and doesn’t like Rodolpho seeing her he questions Rodolpho’s ‘manliness’. Rodolpho does not fit in with the longshoremen. He makes dresses, cooks and sings. These are very non-stereotypical things for a man to do then. This made Eddie think that Rodolpho might be homosexual. Then Rodolpho comes out of the bedroom. Eddie is shocked. “Eddie sees him and his arm jerks slightly in shock”. Rodolpho knows this will happen. He is testing Edie to see if he will try to do anything. The atmosphere that it creates of anger and is tense. Eddie starts shouting at Rodolpho to leave. “Get your stuff and get outa here”. He can’t stand the thought of Catherine being with Rodolpho. This creates dramatic effectiveness.
Catherine tries to go but Eddie grabs her arm. Catherine becomes scared of Eddie. She knows she can’t stay anymore. She wants to get away from Eddie before he does something to hurt her. Eddie is in tears because he doesn’t want Catherine to go. Catherine becomes torn between the two. She knows she can’t stay with Eddie but she doesn’t want to hurt him. Eddie is determined to make her stay. He is still treating her like a child. It is also his incestuous love for her that is telling him to make Catherine stay. Eddie suddenly pulls Catherine towards him and kisses her. She tries to free herself. “He reaches out suddenly, draws her to him, and as she strives to free herself he kisses her on the mouth”. She does not want this to happen. This reveals Eddie’s true feeling of love for her. Catherine does not have the same love for Eddie as she has for him. Eddie is not fully aware of these feelings he has for her, but kissing her proves to him these true feelings.
Rodolpho and the audience are appalled at this. He tries to pull Eddie off Catherine. He is angry with Eddie. He thinks that Eddie should have respect for her “have respect”. The anger builds up between Rodolpho and Eddie. Rodolpho tries to hit Eddie because he doesn’t like the way he had no respect for Catherine. “Rodolpho flies at him in attack”. To Rodolpho’s surprise Eddie pins him and kisses him as well “Eddie pins his arms, laughing, and suddenly kisses him”. The audience is shocked and appalled. Eddie kisses to Rodolpho because he thinks of Rodolpho as a woman and unmanly. He thinks that Rodolpho is homosexual. Eddie is showing his feelings regarding Rodolpho to Catherine and Rodolpho by kissing him. He is proving to them that Rodolpho is homosexual. He is also humiliating Rodolpho in front of Catherine by kissing him. He is saying that Rodolpho is a girl. This moment shows the theme of ‘manliness’. How because Rodolpho is good at doing stereotypical feminine things Eddie thinks he is homosexual. It also shows the theme of relationships. How Eddie shows his incestuous feelings about Catherine. How their relationship has changed from the uncle-niece love of Catherine to Eddie, to Catherine being scared of Eddie and Eddie showing Catherine how he really feels about her. This is a very dramatic moment in the play. Catherine and Rodolpho are both shocked and angry at Eddie’s behavior and feelings. The atmosphere is tense Eddie and Rodolpho want to fight but each is waiting for the other to make the first move. “They are like animals that have torn at one another and broken up without a decision, each waiting for the other’s mood”. At this point in the play the audience would be wondering what was going to happen next between them. This is dramatic effectiveness.
In the first two key moments I have looked at the themes of ‘relationships’ and ‘manliness’. I have shown how they have been dramatically effective. In the last key moment I will look at the theme of ‘justice’.
At this point in the play Eddie is having an attack of conscience about ‘snitching’ to the immigration bureau. He is feeling guilty about what he’s done. He knows he did the wrong thing. He doesn’t want them to be caught by the immigration bureau “his terror”.
The knocking on the door by the immigration bureau officers creates dramatic effectiveness. It creates tension and panic in the apartment. Eddie tries to get Catherine to get Rodolpho and Marco out of the building. Catherine “stands motionless, uncomprehending”. She is shocked about what Eddie is telling her to do. Eddie is panicking. He tries to delay the immigration officers to give Catherine a chance to get them out. The audience would want to know if they manage to escape or not. This makes good drama.
Beatrice is angry with Eddie she knows it was him who told the immigration bureau. She is scared of what is going to happen to Rodolpho and Marco and she is scared of what Eddie might do. She is “weakened with fear”. She decides to turn towards him instead of running away from him. She blames Eddie. Eddie becomes defensive “what’re you, accusin’ me?” He doesn’t want to be blamed for it. Beatrice is in shock. She repeatedly says “my God”. This conflict between them creates effective drama.
The immigration officers are representatives of the law. Therefore they represent the justice in the play. Them banging on the door represents the justice coming. It shows how explosive justice can be when you take it into your own hands.
Marco spits in Eddie’s face. This creates dramatic effectiveness. This is a precursor of the justice that Marco will take at the end of the play. Marco is extremely angry with Eddie “Marco suddenly breaks from the group and dashes into the room and faces Eddie; Beatrice and first officer rush in as Marco spits into Eddie’s face”. He wants to make Eddie pay for what he has done. Eddie has betrayed him. When someone spits in someone else’s face it is a sign of disrespect and betrayal. Marco enrages Eddie. He knows that now Marco has spat in his face no one will like him. Marco blames Eddie for killing his children. That is because Eddie has turned them in so now Marco can’t work to earn money to send to his family to feed them. Eddie threatens to kill Marco for spiting in his face. This creates dramatic effectiveness.
Arthur Miller’s ‘A view form the bridge’ reveals a rich tapestry of relationships in the Italian immigrant community of Brooklyn. It allows the audience to sample this different society. Arthur Miller uses accent and dialect to bring the characters to life.
Eddie, Catherine and Beatrice use short, simple sentences. The accent and dialect they use is colloquial and uneducated. Alfieri is thoughtful, educated, distanced and sometimes shows black humor when he speaks. Rodolpho is a lively, witty and entertaining character. This comes through in his accent. He is speaking in a second language. Marco is initially reserved, serious, intense, finally passionate and bitter. Overall the play incorporates accent and dialect of Brooklyn’s Red Hook district.
The play is a tragedy, it traces the downfall of an individual (Eddie). The play is also ironic. Early in the play Beatrice says that Eddie will be praised for letting them stay but in the end he gets killed for letting them stay. The cultural context of the play is the reality of the American Dream. The American Dream is the dream for a classless, opportunities for all, free country. America was said to be this country. Arthur Miller is questioning this American Dream in the play. He is seeing if the American Dream could be real. He is showing that it isn’t as easy as people think to make a living in America.
