The roles of women in their communities were important. At home, the mothers were there to look after the children, cook, clean and raise her children to be what is expected of them. The wives of the families jobs were to be a housewife, which having the cooking and cleaning skills you learnt from your mother would really help. Also, you had to support and stand by your husband, through thick and thin, even if their husband broke one of their community rules. However, one woman is held back from her expectations, and that is Catherine. Her over-protective uncle, Eddie, holds Catherine back from everything that is expected from her and even her own expectations of herself.
The main religion of the immigrants were Christian denominations, like in the play. The religion of the characters and their community is Roman-Catholic. The laws of the immigrants are different to those of the actual American Justice System. There were some basic and common rules that the immigrants and their communities lived by. This includes a rule that if an illegal immigrant turned up in their neighbourhood then it would be the greatest sin against both their community and their families. There were other laws in their communities, but this was the most important law. However, if someone were to ‘grass-up’ an immigrant you would become an outcast in your neighbourhood. Also, you would never be spoken to by anyone in your society again, even if you had a good excuse to call the Immigration Bureau. Another way, which is a lot less common, is you would be killed by the family or associates of the family of the immigrant you informed the police about their illegal arrival in the country. Also revenge was a type of justice. When we are first introduced to Alfieri, you realise he is the narrator and the play and once you’ve read the end of his prologue, you can make predictions of what will happen in the play. So therefore, Alfieri himself is a use of the foreshadowing technique. After his speech, you can really get a sense of the sorrow Alfieri feels as he watches something unfold. He ‘sat there powerless…and watched it run it’s bloody course’. Which is something lawyers like him are not used to. Lawyers are used to being in control of certain situations, whereas this one, he just had to sit back and watch it go without him interfering. Alfieri himself is from Italy and he moved to America when he was 25. When he was first there, Frankie Yale and Al Capone were at New York, which gives a sense of how dangerous it was. Generally, when people came across lawyers, it usually meant bad news, seeing as their forefathers thought that the law ‘was not a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten’. Alfieri is like a technique himself. He makes hints about what happens later on in the play so he is like the foreshadowing technique. This makes Alfieri very important dramatically to this part of the play.
The relationships in the play are very strong and dramatically important. Eddie and Beatrice’s relationship has been suffering for the past couple of months. This is because of the fact that they have not slept together for a few months and that Eddie’s love interest seems to be wondering somewhere else. Eddie’s inappropriate relationship really starts to show in the first act. When they are talking outside the building, Eddie starts ‘enveloping’ Catherine as they are talking, and after Catherine tells Eddie she likes Rodolfo, he ‘looks at her like a lost boy’. This indicates Eddie has a love for Catherine that most uncles and nieces do not have. Eddie has a bad relationship with Rodolfo, as he does not like Rodolfo because he thinks that he is taking Catherine for a ride and that instantly brings out the worst in Eddie as he has raised Catherine as his own as well as having inappropriate feelings for her. Eddie and Marco have a good relationship until the last part of this Act. Eddie has respect for Marco, and visa-versa, however, once Marco realises that Eddie is taking advantage of his brother, Rodolfo, Marco starts to defend his brother by raising a chair above his head. Rodolfo and Catherine’s relationship has an instant spark, as soon as Rodolfo arrives. Rodolfo and Catherine start to go on dates together, much to the despair of Eddie. Catherine and Beatrice almost have a mother and daughter relationship, considering Beatrice brought Catherine up. Beatrice makes Catherine aware that Eddie has feelings for Catherine he should not have, creating tension and friction between the characters.
The whole Carbone family and Marco and Rodolfo are sitting in the living room at the beginning of the end of the act. Eddie is sitting in his rocker, reading his newspaper, while Rodolfo and Catherine are dancing and Marco and Beatrice are watching them. Then the subject of Rodolfo and his many skills arises and Eddie is quick to comment. Eddie says ‘ “He’s [Rodolfo] a cook, too! (looks at Rodolfo) He sings, he cooks, he could make dresses.”’ Catherine then says ‘ “They get some high pay those guys. The head chefs in all the big hotels are men. You read about them”’. Eddie then agrees by saying ‘ “ That’s what I’m saying”’. Eddie then unknowingly starts to twist the newspaper into a knot and eventually tears it into two. Miller uses stage directions to show the growing tension between the characters and make the point appealing to the audience. Like when Eddie is tearing up the newspaper, the audience is made aware that everyone in the room are a little confused by his actions, (They are all regarding him now). This stage direction reveals to the audience that maybe something is going to happen which separate Eddie from the rest of the household.
Later on, Eddie is teaching Rodolfo how to box, and after a while, everything seems to become tenser. It was just after the incident with the newspaper, so tension is still high. Rodolfo seems awkward at first, and then he starts to enjoy himself (Rodolfo laughs). But then Eddie actually punches Rodolfo. Miller uses Stage Directions and dialogue in this example to appeal to the audience (He [Eddie] lands with his right. It mildly staggers Rodolfo. Marco rises). The audience get the impression that Marco might do something to harm Eddie, maybe not now, but later on in the play.
After the boxing match has finished, Rodolfo continued to dance with Catherine, and Eddie to sit down with Beatrice and Marco. Marco then challenges Eddie to lift a chair from the bottom of one leg. Eddie accepts his challenge, thinking it would be easy. Miller uses the stage directions in this example to raise tension and make appealing to the audience. Like after Marco successfully lifts the chair after Eddie could not ‘he [Marco] transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph, and Eddie’s grin vanishes as he absorbs his look’. It’s this stage direction that makes it obvious to the audience that Marco is going to stand up to Eddie and stick up for his brother, no matter what. This is the most dramatically important to the end of the act and therefore has the biggest impact on the audience’s predictions on the future of the play and it’s characters.
Everything that happens after are consequences of these three major turning points, including Eddie’s death. Like when Eddie comes in and finds Catherine and Rodolfo together, he forced them together. The expectations of the audience are plain to see after the end of this act. They expect in the next act for things to progress in Catherine and Rodolfo’s relationship, and everyone else’s’ relationships and Eddie’s to decline. Also, something to come to a head between Eddie and Marco. So, there are 3 major points at the end of Act 1 that change the course of the play and the audience’s views on the outcome of the play. These points are dramatically important to the end of act one
