To justify his hatred of Rodolpho, Eddie interprets everything Rodolpho does into something different, and more typical of a woman. He ridicules Rodolpho's blonde hair, which he believes is feminine and is continuously saying to Beatrice such things about Rodolpho as: "wacky hair", "he's like a weird", "blondie" and "he's like a chorus girl". All these mocking comments are trying to persuade Beatrice that Rodolpho is an unusual and effeminate man. Eddie also tries to pick away at Rodolpho by saying that he is a singer and that people ridicule him for singing on the boats, where Rodolpho used to work. Eddie says: "he sings. Right on the deck, all of a sudden, a whole song comes out of his mouth" and "Paper Doll, they're callin' him". Eddie is trying to make out that Rodolpho is a homosexual.
To show his superior masculinity Eddie teaches Rodolpho some basic, soft boxing; however this quickly turns into a situation of great tension and aggression. All of a sudden after doing some seemingly harmless boxing the stage directions say: "He faints with his left hand and lands with his right. It mildly staggers Rodolpho. Marco rises". This action shows a growing sense of hostility as the play progresses.
The growing sense of Eddie’s hostility towards Rodolpho climaxes in one of the main moments of dramatic tension in the play; when Eddie suddenly kisses Rodolpho. The stage directions say: "Eddie pins his arms, laughing, and suddenly kisses him". What Eddie has done seems to be a test of whether Rodolpho is a homosexual, or not. If he was, then Eddie would be expecting a look of indifference on Rodolpho's face, and maybe even a kiss back. However after Eddie lets Rodolpho go, Rodolpho is said to be "rigid" and appears to be genuinely shocked and taken aback by the event, which implies that Eddie’s assumption was wrong.
Marco, Rodolpho’s brother is the epitamy of an ideal man. He demonstrates his strength and honour after Eddie has punched Rodolpho. Marco gets back at the end of Act One, when he challenges Eddie to lift up a chair. Miller shows the hostility of this act in the stage directions: ‘Marco is face to face with Eddie…the chair raised like a weapon over Eddies head – and he manages to transform what might be a glare of warning into a smile of triumph’ This shows that he is warning Eddie not to harm Rodolpho and displaying his superior strength.
Through these events Miller creates a sense of growing hostility between the men. This climaxes at the end of the play;Marco comes to Eddies house seeking revenge for Eddies betrayal. Both men act very masculine and don't back down, turning the situation very hostile, with a lot of dramatic tension. The fact that Catherine and Beatrice are trying so hard to persuade and beg Eddie not to go out and Rodolpho is begging Marco not to kill Eddie shows that Rodolpho is feminine. During the fight, Eddie suddenly springs out a knife, into his hand. As Eddie had brought a weapon the audience would see Eddie as being the weaker and less masculine of the two.
Beatrice and Catherine also played a role in the aggression and hostility in 'A View From The Bridge'. It could be said that if Catherine had not gone out with Rodolpho then Eddie would not have got so annoyed with Rodolpho, and none of the main areas of hostility and aggression would have occurred. Beatrice and Catherine could also have lessened the amount of hostility and aggression by persuading Eddie not to go ahead with such things as the boxing and the climatic fight to the death at the end of the play. In all, everyone had a role to play in the hostility and aggression in 'A View From The Bridge'. As Beatrice rightly said: "Whatever happened we all done it, and don't you ever forget it, Catherine".
In conclusion, Arthur Miller's words and stage directions work together to enhance the dramatic affect of the play and in particular the themes of masculinity, hostility and aggression. Every character in 'A View From The Bridge' has contributed their own part to make the manliness, hostility and aggression such a major focus of the play. Most of the hostility and conflict is caused by Eddie, who has fixed views on manliness and has difficulty expressing his feelings due to his lack of education.