Discuss the development of Eddie Carbones character

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Discuss the development of Eddie Carbone’s character.

‘’A View From The Bridge’’ is a play written by Arthur Miller in the mid-1950’s. Set during the Great Depression in around 1940, the play sees main character Eddie Carbone lead a stable life with his wife and niece in a tightly-woven community in Brooklyn, New York.  Due to his sincerity, he is respected by the local community and he has his destiny plotted out for him. However, as the tragic play unfolds, Eddie makes a series of mistakes which affect his relationship with others and ultimately result in a catastrophe.

Eddie Carbone is a traditional Italian-American, who earns his living as a longshoreman. He leads an ordinary life with his wife (Beatrice) and his niece (Catherine). Beatrice loves Eddie, this is shown when Beatrice says ‘’You’re an angel! God’ll bless you.’’. The word ‘’angel’’ suggests that Beatrice loves Eddie as she is comparing him to an angel. Furthermore, this shows the audience that Beatrice is a traditional woman as she is praising (therefore supporting) her husband. In the era they lived in, men and women were expected to follow the traditional values of their communities. Men were authoritative in the house and usually the breadwinners whilst women were housewives; women were expected to support and obey their husbands. Another member of Eddie’s family includes his niece, Catherine; whom Eddie is protective over. This is shown when Eddie says to Catherine ‘’Listen, you been givin’ me the willies the way you walk down the street’’. The word ‘’willies’’ suggests that Eddie feels uncomfortable with the way Catherine walks down the street. He feels this way because he has a close relationship with Catherine who looks up to him as a father-like figure.

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An important aspect of Eddie’s character that is presented to the audience is his attitude towards snitching. He feels strongly against snitching, this is shown when he insults snitchers by calling them ‘’stool pigeons’’, using this word suggests that Eddie thinks lowly of people committing such acts. Furthermore, Eddie warns Catherine of snitches when he asks Beatrice to tell Catherine the story of Vinny Bolzano (a teenager who snitched on his uncle to the Immigration Bureau).

When Rodolfo and Marco arrive; troubles start to brew up and Eddie’s behaviour changes significantly. Eddie becomes more aggravated, this is shown ...

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