Afterwards, Miller shapes Eddie’s hatred of Rodolfo to the extent that Eddie despises everything he does. Therefore, when they discuss the colour of oranges and Eddie mistakes oranges to be green, Rodolfo thoughtfully suggests that Lemons are green.
“Lemons are green.” Eddie, seeing this with spiteful scrutiny, resents Rodolfo’s instruction instantly. “(resenting his instruction) I know lemons are green, for Christ’s sake, you see them in the store, they’re green sometimes.” This makes Rodolfo’s attempts to speak throughout the scene seem minimal when compared to his talkative nature; although this only occurs because of Eddie’s hasty disturbances into Rodolfo’s short sentences. As a result, Miller makes clear to the audience, Eddie’s hatred towards Rodolfo. In addition, familiar with Rodolfo’s superior speaking potential, Eddie triumphs in the speaking contest against him, by forbidding his opponent to speak.
Moreover, Eddie’s publicizes his desire to provoke conflict. For instance, Eddie offensively remarks while he discusses Marco’s wife, “I betcha there’s plenty surprises sometimes when those guys get back… they count the kids and there’s a couple extra than when they left?” He implies that Marco’s wife commits adultery.
Eddie cruelly implies that Rodolfo is an inexperienced longshoreman.
“I seen greenhorns sometimes get in trouble that way”.
By saying this, Eddie aims to hurt Rodolfo’s feelings and perhaps make him feel like an unwanted boy.
Soon afterwards, Eddie tries to explain how American girls are also strict and that Catherine shouldn’t arrive home late at night, “till he came here she was never out on the street twelve o’clock at night”. In affect, both Rodolfo and Marco try to understand Eddie’s point of view, as if he were a father to them. Eventually, Marco comes to a decision and tells Rodolfo to arrive back home earlier. But the audience knows that Eddie fails to express what’s really on his mind. Essentially, Eddie understands that if Catherine is seen with Rodolfo by any of Eddie’s friends, Eddie’s reputation would be ruined and he’ll be the joke just like Rodolfo. It is this urge to protect Catherine, to keep her from discovering her independence which makes him increasingly sensitive to the presence of Beatrice’s cousins and to Rodolfo in particular, to whom Catherine rapidly becomes attracted. Stress Eddie’s fear of losing his authority and his need to assert it as a prime motivating force
Later on in the scene, Catherine and Rodolfo begin to dance. When they come to an end, Eddie subconsciously twists the newspaper in his hands into a tight roll. The other characters are aware of what he is thinking, but they wait for his answer. Unsurprisingly, Eddie fails to clearly express his thoughts on Rodolfo; during his attempt to mock Rodolfo’s femininity and expose him as weak, he manages only to tell everybody that with Rodolfo’s abilities, he “wouldn’t be on the waterfront… he would be someplace else… like in a dress store.” Here, Miller has explored Eddie’s prejudice against Rodolfo, who is different. Furthermore, Eddie uses repetition to reinforce his points, “I can’t cook. I can’t sing. I can’t make dresses.” Seeing that language proved unsuccessful for Eddie and even he can’t understand what he’s saying anymore, he tears the paper in two and decides to utilize physical action, a skill where he knows he can beat Rodolfo. Miller uses such gestures and stage directions as the tearing of the paper to dramatize the feelings of the character. Stress Eddie’s attitude to masculinity and significance within play.
While a degree of realism is appropriate in the design of the Carbone family home, the street itself should also be indicated. Accordingly, throughout the boxing match, the table lamp may well collapse, leaving the room gloomy and obscure. To compensate for the illumination, a red “MOTEL” light featuring outside the window could remain pulsing on and off. Nonetheless, the men will continue boxing, whilst Catherine switches the main light back on. I assume that merely a few seconds would allow the radiance to take full effect. The word motel indicates the cheap accommodation immigrants require in Brooklyn. In addition, while Catherine and Rodolfo dance, the main light could dim and the motel light could appear flashing on and off to the rhythm of the music. It may encourage the passionate mood set by the music.
While the fight occurs on stage, I would recommend that Marco stay solitary in the corner. By separating Marco from the rest of the characters, who are supposedly in the centre of the stage, the audience recognizes his presence, without him having to do anything.
Marco has cleverly kept quiet throughout the scene unless asked a question, as he may be embarrassed to display his weak language skills. But when Eddie cracks a punch at Rodolfo, Marco suddenly gets involved. Marco challenges Eddie by inviting him to raise a chair from its leg. Eddie has underestimated his opponent and his false sense of confidence about his own strength has led Marco to win the test of strength. Clearly Marco knows his adversary’s well and is smart enough to avoid talking, but he prevails in a physical battle. You may think of the chair struggle as a battle for primate dominance, whereby both challengers are fighting to become Alpha male. Nonetheless, in both contests Eddie’s authority is undermined and in his own living room.
