It is clear to the audience that Eddie does not like Rodolpho as he shows us his open hostility toward him throughout the play. As we have mentioned, the more Catherine’s attraction to Rodolpho increases, the more Eddie tries to discredit him. This is shown in middle of Act One, when Catherine and Rodolpho are returning from the Paramount and they see Eddie about to enter his apartment. It is quite clear the Eddie is already fed up with Rodolpho as Miller places a quick conversation between Eddie, Mike and Louis, where Mike says, He comes around, everybody's laughin, which acts like a trigger, and sets of Eddie’s aggression. As Catherine tells Eddie how the movie was, Eddie warns Rodolpho not to take Catherine to Times Square because it’s full of tramps. However Rodolpho doesn’t not react to this the way Eddie expected him too, and thus this begins to make Eddie even more furious, and Catherine becomes frustrated at the situation. This is shown when she says, why don’t you ever talk to him Eddie? This quote tells us that even Catherine can see the hostility that Eddie has toward Rodolpho, and backs up the point that Eddie treats him in an antagonistic way.
Soon after this, Eddie begins new methods in order to deprive his rival. He first implies that Rodolpho is not serious in a long term happy marriage, but he is merely in search of American citizenship, and so he is just using Catherine to obtain this. This is shown to the audience will Eddie says, Katie, he’s is only bowin’ to his passport. This quote must have made the audience react with some significance as the American Dream will currently in play, and many people did only marry Americans to acquire the right of citizenship. However Catherine does not accept this and so he now begins to insinuate that Rodolpho truly ain’t right and that he is a homosexual. He indicates this by using certain words when speaking about him, such as paper doll and Danish. These relate to his appearance and thus using this technique he tries to show up his lack of manliness. He then tries to get the law involved and he is stunned when Alfieri tells him that nothing can be done to stop the marriage. Toward the end of Act one, the play reaches a point where there is a lot of apprehension. This is when Eddie wants to supposedly teach Rodolpho how to box, in case he may need this skill that every man should have. Miller uses stage directions which cause the audience to feel that something is about to happen, but nothing does, however, indirectly Eddie was trying to show Rodolpho down by punching him really hard that it would hurt him, It mildly staggers Rodolpho, and then he could prove his point about Rodolpho not having the strength that a real man has, and at the same time he could once again try to show him down in front of Catherine. Rodolpho, however, pretends that he is fine, and the whole seen goes unnoticed. Only the audience and Marco realise what Eddie is trying to do. However, had it been one of the other male characters who had been punched, they would have most likely retaliated or escalated the situation as we see Marco do in the 'chair' incident as well as the tragic ending. These quotes and actions once again show the audience that Eddie openly has an animosity toward him. The final, and probably the most significant thing that Eddie does at the start of the play, through to almost the end of Act Two, is to differentiate between the two brothers, Marco and Rodolpho. It is quite clear to the audience that Eddie partial with Marco as he finds Marco to be more masculine, more like him, more like what he expects a man to be like compared to Rodolpho. This is shown when Eddie says, then why don’t his brother sing? Marco goes around like a man; nobody kids Marco. It is quite clear that Eddie ignore Rodolpho, whilst being very friendly to Marco. This is shown when Marco raises a hand to hush Rodolpho we read that Eddie is coming more and more to address Marco only.
This is how Miller makes the audience see Eddie’s hostility towards Rodolpho.
Rodolpho is presented as much less of a masculine figure than Eddie or Marco. He is more is slender and graceful person, which was quite unusual for the characteristics of a man in the Sicilian era; probably why Miller chose him. He is a blond-haired Italian, and although he works with Marco, he is much less heavier built than him, or even Eddie. Because of this, he does not fit into Eddie’s criteria of what it takes to be a true man and so Eddie takes advantage of this and uses this to try to alienate him, and make others feel that he is different, and weird. Although Miller leaves us with many questions left unanswered including Rodolpho’s sexuality, he makes it clear to the audience that Eddie feels that he is a homosexual, who is pretending to love Catherine to obtain his citizenship. He tries to tell Alfieri that the guy ain’t right and he is no good. It is clear that unlike the two other men in the household, who gain attention by strong comments, or even aggression, Rodolpho is able to gain people's attention by making them laugh. This is shown in the stage directions when he says, there is one. We push that too. (They laugh.) Everything in our town, you gotta push!" Unlike Marco, who speaks more slowly and less correctly, but with simple dignity and clarity and is also more discreet where it comes to speaking, Rodolpho speaks in his second language very well, and quite confidently. This indicates to us that he is a cultured and somewhat well-educated individual. It is quite clear that as Miller has added a tough of felines into his character, Rodolpho has more of a friendly and caring attitude, compared to Eddie or Marco. This is reflected by in numerous circumstances, including when Eddie refuses to acknowledge him but he continues his conversation and makes attempts to talk to him. Along with Eddie, other Longshoremen are quite amused by Rodolpho’s appearance and personality. The too also find him to be strange, not a proper man. This is shown when Eddie goes to Alfieri and tells him what they say about Rodolpho. They’re laughin’ at him on the piers. Paper doll they call him. Blondie now. This tells us that that it was not only Eddie who felt this way about Rodolpho, but most of the Longshoremen who were true men like him saw Rodolpho in the same way. There is a brief idea that Rodolpho helps people to think of him this way, by acting humorous. However, people do laugh at him, they laugh because of his distinctness. Eddie also makes up names for Rodolpho which try to mock his appearance, for example Danish. Eddie uses this several times throughout the play to show the audience that Rodolpho is blond – not the colour hair that a real man would have. This is shown half way through Act one where Eddie is speaking to Beatrice about Rodolpho; and with that wacky hair; he’s like a chorus girl or sump’m…I just hope that regular hair that’s all. It is clear that Eddie feels that blond hair is a symbol for homosexuality, and so he tries to insinuate that even if Rodolpho is gay, he just hopes he didn’t change his hair colour to show everyone that he is.
Because there is no regular paid work in Rodolpho’s home country, he has learned other ways to support himself and the family. When the immigrants first arrive, Rodolpho says that he can sing too, I am a singer though. It is clear to the audience that Rodolpho is not ashamed in saying this, as there are no stage directions to indicate this – and also he soon begins to sing for Catherine. As the play progresses, we can see that Rodolpho also cooks; He’s a cook too; and we also find out that he makes dresses; Rodolpho makin’ you a dress? In the Sicilian era where there is work, and men's and women's tasks are clearly defined, as in Red Hook, these talents were suspected, and they made people doubt Rodolpho’s image of masculinity. Eddie emphasizes these talents and he makes the audience think of them more than if they were just aid one. This is shown by when he says, He sings, he cooks, he could make dresses...I can't cook, I can't sing, I can't make dresses, so I'm on the water front. But if I could cook, if I could sing, if I could make dresses, I wouldn't be on the water front. Through this, he is trying to imply that Red Hook is not where he belongs, as it is a place for true men. He says that if he could do all of these things, he would be somewhere else, where hard labour was not needed. Miller adds several occasions where because other characters in the play feel that Rodolpho isn’t a proper man, there is a tension build up. For example when Eddie arrives home to see Catherine and Rodolpho coming out of the bedroom, he is shocked and his body fills with aggression. He then kisses Catherine on the mouth. Rodolpho tries to fly an attack at him, but Eddie pins his arms and kisses him too. This shows us that Eddie is trying to, once again, burlesque what he thinks is Rodolpho’s homosexuality. This scene has a lot of symbolism and the audience would have reacted to it with shock, and so I am going to discuss this in more detail when I will examine the audience’s reaction and the stage directions.
On the other hand, we have Marco, the elder of the two brothers, who is more conventionally masculine. This is as he is very much like Eddie; and he fits into his criteria of what it takes to be a real man. Marco is a man who loves his family very much, just like Eddie. We can see this he first speaks to the Carbone family about his family, he tells them that he is in a desperate situation, and he has only made this major sacrifice of leaving his family to come to America to earn money for them; including his son who has tuberculosis. Marco is heavily built – this is shown by when Mike, one of Eddie’s friends, passes the remark, the older one, boy, he’s a regular bull. We know that Eddie feels that a man should be the leader of the family, and he should take responsibility for them, which Marco does, but Eddie also feels that a man should have decency, and he should keep his respect. Marco also sustains this as we know he is self-conscious and polite. This is shown right at the beginning of the play when he is anxious not to outstay his welcome with the Carbones; when you say we go, we go. Eddie believes that a man needs his name and his dignity, this is shown when Eddie says, I want my name! Marco once again feels the same way and he feels that a man should keep his pride. This is shown when he goes to Eddie, at the end of Act Two and at its climax, kills him – even though he gave a word to Alfieri that he would not do such a thing. However, as Eddie betrayed him, he lost his honour of being a man, and now could no longer help his family, and so he had no option left but to do so. Marco still fights even when the police have him in their custody. This is shown when Marco says, he killed my children! That one stole the food from my children! Once again, this is one quality that Miller has engraved into Eddie’s personality, fight for what you believe is right; Marco too, does just this.
As we can see, Miller portrays Marco as being very similar to Eddie. He does this so that the audience can see the effect of the hostility towards the third male in the household due to his lack of manliness, and his touch of felineness, Rodolpho.
However, Marco talks less, but he takes into his mind and account of everything is happening around him. Even though Eddie may have power through his words, Marco has power through his silence. This is shown at the climax of act one, where Marco seems to have been the only person to see what Eddie was trying to do with his brother. He couldn’t stand his brother being helpless, and so his protective side appears to the audience so see Marco go to Eddie in silence. His power through silence is shown when he challenges Eddie to lift the chair, but Eddie fails, and then he says, here. Through the stage directions, we can see that the chair is raised like a weapon over Eddie’s head. We then read that Marco’s expression transforms from what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph. This backs up the point Marco is thoughtful, and that he is a man of action, rather than words. It also indicates that Marco’s masculinity has taken over and he now wants to fight for the dominant male in the house. This is a very convectional characteristic of a true male – fight for the ultimate power.
All these characteristics of Marco make him more conventionally masculine; including his attitude, what he feels a man has to do, and his appearance. He is very similar to Eddie in some cases, but quite different from him in others.
Miller has created his characters all with different qualities; however in Eddie we can see that he has linked manliness, hostility and aggression. Each one of these is linked with each of the others, to form his character.
I will explain how each one is connected individually.
Manliness is a belief that you are a man, and for any one else to be a man too, they should be somewhat like you. Hostility is open hatred and enmity. These two are linked when a man believes that he is a true man, and he sees another man as not being a true man, and so he openly hates him as he is not a right person. This happens in the play as Eddie feels he is a man; however he doesn’t think Rodolpho is a true man as he does not have the right priorities, and gets involved in feminine tasks. In this way, manliness and hostility are connected.
This hostility can lead to aggression as aggression is hostile behaviour or actions. This hostility can lead to aggress as hostility is hatred, and if someone hates any other person, but this person does not react back with hatred, the person begins to get frustrated and angry; and his aggression builds up. This is shown in the play when Eddie continually tries to deprive and show Rodolpho down, yet Rodolpho never reacts back with hostility. We see there is only one time in the play, where Rodolpho tries to help Eddie to stop embarrassing himself; and tries to make Eddie stop insulting his going-to-be wife. He flings an attack onto Eddie through his desperation to help Catherine. This shows us that even Rodolpho has some aggression within him, and also shows us that when you are faced with hostility, you can also have a build of aggression within you. These two are connected in the ways shown.
Manliness and aggression are linked by several strings. Manliness, as Eddie believes is power, and the only way for him to express his power is by using aggression. Due to his lack of emotions, he finds it hard to express what he wants to say, and so it is a natural instinct for him to use aggression to get his message across. Manliness is the belief that you are the dominant member, in any circumstance. However when we have more than one person fighting for this right, aggression becomes involved as it is the only way to show which is stronger – and thus which one deserves that role. This is shown throughout Act Two, as Eddie’s power declines due to Marco’s manliness.
In each Eddie, Marco and Rodolpho, Miller gifts them with unique qualities which the audience can admire. In Eddie it is clear that Miller has given him the gift of self belief. Eddie did what he believed was right throughout the play, even though this led to his death. Miller uses Alfieri’s speech at the end to indicate this; …but himself purely, for he allowed himself to be wholly known… Eddie also cared very much about his family, especially his niece. He loved her so much, that due to his manliness, he could not resist his sexual desire for her; however he tried his hardest to do so, and he was successful, until Rodolpho arrived. The jealously within Eddie had reached such a high level along with his aggression - shown by the stage directions, He looks at [Catherine] like a lost boy - as he realised that all his life, he has loved someone very much, taken complete care of her. He even worked extra time to buy her stenography, because he wanted her to move up a class; but now a man who ain’t right has just stolen her from him. This quality, the quality of devotion to your family, and caring of everyone who is in it, even if they are not your own children, is one than should also be admired in Eddie.
This quality is also significant in Marco’s character. Marco loves his family very much and has sacrificed his home to risk his life to migrate to America in order to earn some money so that he can send back to them; who can live a happier life than before. This is shown when Marco says, what can I do? The older one is sick in the chest. My wife – she feeds them from her own mouth…they will never grow up…they eat the sunshine. He also is protective of Rodolpho as he knows he is weaker than him, and as he is his brother, it is his duty to help him. When this scene took place, it was a key moment as Eddie understood that if he should ‘pick on someone his own size’. Another quality which would have been much admired would be Marco’s politeness, as well as his straightforwardness and simplicity. This is shown, as mentioned before, when he says to Eddie, when you say we go, we go. This shows us that he has respect for them as they are letting his and his brother stay in their house, but as soon as they feel they need to have their house back he and Rodolpho will leave. It is also a symbol of politeness, and indicated his straightforwardness.
Rodolpho has the quality of being unique. He was very different, appearance, character and belief wise compared to most men in the Sicilian era. A quality which should be admired is his persistent politeness even when other people – mainly Eddie - are rude to him. He always tries to uplift a dull conversation and he is the kind of person who always wants happiness. He does not change his uniqueness to be just like everyone else as like Eddie, he also things that what he believes in is right.
As this is a play, I will discuss that several, very effective dramatic techniques used by Miller. He has created this play which in many aspects would have shocked a number of the audience members at the time it will performed. Certain stage directions would have indicated sexually attraction or desire at that time, however when read now; it may not strike any significance. For example when Catherine lights a cigar for him Eddie or when we hear of how she sits on the bath as he shaves and walks around in her slip, we are being told about their relationship. These actions tell us that even without being lovers; they have the kind of intimacy only lovers should have. This would have been an explicit piece of evidence that there was some sort of sexual relationship between the uncle and the niece, however depending on interpretation by the actors, this moment many have more or less sexual undertones. However, this is not of much importance, but the symbolism of other parts of the play is. If we look carefully at the ending of the play, we say a lot of minute dramatic effects which have a lot of importance. Earlier in the play, we see that Eddie pays a lot of attention to the story of Vinnie Bolzano. Miller uses this technique so that the audience are certain of how much Eddie hates betrayal, and also to show us his belief in loyalty to family and community. However Eddie does exactly the opposite of what he was preaching, and this enables the audience to see how much his manliness, hostility and aggression changed him and his beliefs. When the Officers arrive, and take all four immigrants away, including two other submarines who stayed with the Laipari’s, on the apartment above Eddie’s , Miller shows us in his stage directions that Louise barely turns then walks off and exits down right with Mike, only Beatrice is left on the stoop. This symbolises that Eddie is now alone. Lipari and his wife, Louis and Mike, the stage representatives of the wider community, one by one leave Eddie alone, symbolizing his isolation. We then see another very important dramatic technique used by Miller. Miller makes Eddie remove the knife, and this is so that now Marco can justify whatever actions follow. This makes some people feel that Miller was slightly more partial towards Marco. When Eddie lunges the knife, Marco grabs Eddie’s arm and turns the blade inward. However this action has more depth that what it seems to have at first. It tells us that Eddie literally dies by his own hand as his hand holds the knife, and thus he is killed by his own weapon, however it can metaphorically stand for the gradual deterioration of himself throughout the play itself. We then read that Eddie falls to his knees before Marco. This technique shows the audience that the better man won, and also shows us Marco’s manliness, hostility and aggression. It symbolises the downfall of Eddie’s authority and power, and the rise of Marco’s. In certain cases, what Miller has written and instructed can be interpreted differently depending of different factors. This is mentioned above, where Catherine light the cigar for Eddie. Another thing the Miller puts in the play is the definite variation in the way each character speaks. I will briefly go through the syntax of each character. Eddie speaks in the syntax of Red Hook, generally like most men in Brooklyn – a low class neighbourhood. It is clear that he is not very well educated as he uses a lot of slang words and his the way he says words is shown by Miller, for example he says, bowin’, goin’, slidin’, stayin’ and so on; instead of the full words which proves the point. Beatrice and Catherine speak almost the same syntax, but the feminine type, which in some cases is very much similar. For example Catherine says to Eddie, we wasn’t goin’ and Beatrice uses wanna several times. This indicates the similarity to Eddie’s syntax. Marco speaks relatively little throughout Act One and through most of Act Two. Miller tries to show the audience that Marco finds it hard to understand and speak English as fluently as Rodolpho. He may be insinuating the difference in intelligence between the two brothers – one who is very similar to Eddie. Marco speaks very simply, but says what he wants to say straightforwardly this represents his general character as throughout the play we do not see he speak a lot but we understand his character just as well as the others. His English language is very basic but understandable which backs up the point that Marco is thoughtful, and that he is a man of action, rather than words. Rodolpho on the other hand speaks unnatural exactness. He uses a variety of words and all his words are English but the phrases are not always idiomatic. This is shown to the audience when he first recalls vivid details of his life in Sicily. He describes them with accurate words which give us the impression that he is well-educated. In some cases he also gives poetic comparisons, sown when he compares Catherine to a little bird that has not been allowed to fly. Alfieri is the only character in the play that we see speaks in formal American-English. This is probably as Miller has included him in the play as he said that he wanted to make this play a modern equivalent of classical Greek tragedy. If we look at ancient plays, an essential part or it was that of the chorus. These were a group of figures who would watch the action, comment on it, and address the audience directly. This is basically what Alfieri does. He introduces the action as a retelling of events already in the recent past. By giving details of place, date or time, he enables the action to move swiftly from one episode to another, without the characters having to give this information. This makes the play run much ore smoothly, and more effectively – and if for some reason the audience did not understand what had just happened, Alfieri gives a summary at the end of each act. This is how Miller uses Alfieri’s American-English to help in the play, and it also shows us what role he had, apart from being a Lawyer.
