As the play begins Eddie gives his orphaned niece, Catherine a lot of attention, Catherine revels in this attention and enjoys hearing Eddie’s opinion. Catherine matures when the immigrants arrive but she still obeys Eddie’s commands. Catherine’s first words to Rodolfo are ‘you married too? No’ this implies that Catherine is interested in Rodolfo and wants to know more about him, Also she answers the question immediately after asking it which shows that she hopes Rodolfo will answer it in the same way. Eddie’s jealousy becomes apparent and his relationship with Catherine grows weaker.
Towards the end of act one, Catherine and Rodolfo are dating. Eddie and Catherine have a conversation about Catherine’s feelings for Rodolfo. During this conversation Catherine announces ‘Yeah. I like him’. Catherine’s bluntness startles Eddie and as he dislikes Rodolfo he tries to convince Catherine that Rodolfo is only ‘bowin to his passport’ but she is ‘pained’ by this comment.
Throughout the play, Catherine and Eddie’s relationship continues to become more distant whilst Catherine’s relationship with Rodolfo strengthens. By the end of act one Eddie physically shows his feelings towards Rodolfo when he ‘feints with his left hand and lands with his right’ during a boxing lesson which Eddie gives Rodolfo.
In act two, Eddie shows his jealousy of Catherine’s relationship with Rodolfo when he kisses both Catherine and Rodolfo to show he can control them. When Eddie ‘kisses her on the mouth’ Rodolfo tells Eddie to ‘Have respect for her’. Eddie doesn’t like this and shows it when he ‘pins his arms, laughing, and suddenly kisses’ Rodolfo.
A pivotal moment is when Eddie rings the immigration bureau as when Catherine finds out that he has betrayed the immigrants she stares at Eddie in ‘a realized horror’ and is furious at him for doing this. The next time she sees Eddie she calls him a ‘rat’, from this the audience can see that Catherine has grown up and no longer worries about Eddie’s opinions.
Rodolfo is a crucial character as his arrival is what makes Catherine change. Beatrice is also an important character as she makes Catherine see that her relationship with Eddie isn’t right but Catherine is ‘moved at the prospect’.
Overall, their relationship begins by being very close and ends up being distant and spiteful as Eddie is unable to portray his emotions. Catherine enjoys the way Eddie behaves towards her but she changes when Rodolfo arrives. Catherine’s relationship with Rodolfo grows which results in her relationship with Eddie deteriorating. Moments before Eddie dies Catherine is feeling hatred and anger towards Eddie but she tells Eddie ‘I never meant to do nothing bad to you’. This could be understood by the audience as Catherine admitting that she regrets some of her actions and partly blames herself for Eddie’s death.
