Consider how A View From The Bridge is a tense and dramatic play - Analyse its use of technique.

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Jack Conway 11XY                2nd Draft

Mr. Oliver                AVFTB Coursework

Consider how A View From The Bridge is a tense and dramatic play. Analyse its use of technique.

The story ‘A View From The Bridge’ is a human tragedy, set in Brooklyn, New York; a predominant drudgery with an intercontinental, chronological facet. The author, Arthur Miller, is a dramatist with an insight into the psychology of his characters and it is this delineation of infatuation, sentiment, consternation, responsibility and delusion that unify to supplement the expectancy of the play. Specific stage directions and inevitable rapidity merge with a claustrophobic set and a smart use of sound and lighting. Ingrained in a community and with insinuations afar, it accumulates to a flamboyant coverage of the American dream.

Each individual character has their own way of creating anxiety. Rudolfo’s, for example, is when he is trying to impress Catherine; the audience know this will aggravate the main character. And yet the audience also know that the antagonist doesn’t know he is doing it, so there is a chance that he will do it again. When there is intimacy between Catherine and her lover, the monster in Eddie is woken but he is able to keep his anger under control. But when Marco shows his counter part up and embarrasses him, the tragic hero can’t control his emotions. This is because his values about control are more important than Catherine. This is why he can’t control his frustration when Marco confronts him. Eddie’s violent attitude creates a constant tension when he is present. Eddie is also aggravated when he lacks attention. He sees this as respect, and if he doesn’t get enough then he feels threatened, like when he can’t believe Rudolfo can sing, cook and make dresses. This is taken further when Louis and Mike go on and on about his humour. The attention is created on the young Italian even when he isn’t there. This shows the protagonist’s lack of dominance. From here, he slowly loses his self-control.

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Both acts contain fights where there are rises of tense atmosphere. This creates a dramatic ending for the reader, and is an incentive to read on. The point at which Eddie punches Rudolfo, he starts to go down hill. The lead character is to blame for both fights, which shows his lack of self-control. His progression of anger is publicised when he decides to fight Marco after Rudolfo, because the older sibling is stronger than his brother. His confidence has grown with his anger.

The underlying tension is not helped by the claustrophobic ethos that is becoming evermore perceptible ...

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