Symbolism for sex, namely Catherine’s high heels, is used in the first scene of the play to hint at the key role that the issue will play in the performance. The high heels that Catherine wears represent a rite of passage to womanhood – men are attracted to her and she enjoys the attention. This undoubtedly irks Eddie, illustrated when he complains, “I don’t like the looks they’re giving you”. As would be typical for a teenager, Catherine rebels against Eddie and she continues to wear them. Catherine is unaware that Eddie’s complaints are not just those of an over-protective guardian but also those of a person who has a sexual desire for his niece and cannot bear to have another man destroy his fantasy. Eddie’s feelings for Catherine coincide with the breakdown of the sexual side of his marriage with Beatrice. Eddie believes this is questioning his masculinity, as shown when he says “I want my respect” and “I do what I feel like doing in bed”, and this inevitably leads him to be hostile to Beatrice, such as saying “you used to be different”. Eddie’s sexual frustration finally boils over in Act two when, in a dramatic scene, he grabs Catherine and kisses her on the mouth. This would certainly be a violent scene and would demonstrate to the audience how Eddie’s perceived manliness leads to aggression.
Arthur Miller also uses female characters to explore how women should act. In Eddie’s opinion “a wife is supposed to believe the husband” whatever the circumstances. He also believes that it is a man’s right to “do what I feel like doin”; it appears that Eddie is not a great believer in equality for women. He considers this correct masculine conduct. Beatrice goes against these values, not in her own behaviour but by persuading Catherine to make independent decisions. She tells her, “you gotta be your own self” and “he can’t give you no orders anymore”. Beatrice also instructs that Catherine must be more reserved, “you’re a grown woman and you’re in the same house with a grown man”, in order to escape being treated “like a baby”. Beatrice’s advice on independence is quite hypocritical. However, it is more important not to take her guidance at face value. Her motivation may be to disengage Catherine from Eddie because she is jealous of the affection she receives.
Eddie protectiveness of Catherine shows how significant he believes the family is in a “true man’s” life. Marco shares this ideal; his whole reason for living is based around his wife and kids. He proclaims “when you have no wife you have dreams”, indicating that everything must be sacrificed for your family. Marco also feels responsibility for his brother, when Eddie is upset that Catherine and Rodolfo were out late, he warns his brother “you come home early now”. Rodolfo seems to have none of Marco’s sense of responsibility, preferring to spend his money on films and records. Eddie remarks upon this, “he buys records, a pointy pair new shoes and his brother’s kids are starving”, “them guys don’t think about nobody but themselves”.
This is just one of the ways that Rodolfo doesn’t conform to Eddie’s idea of a man. A masculine trait that Eddie holds in high regard is strength, as his love of boxing shows. Marco is evidently a strong man; Eddie’s friends, Louis and Mike, call him “a regular bull” and “a regular slave”. Eddie respects this but his initial feeling is changed at the end of Act one when the power in the house shifts dramatically. In this crucial scene, Marco, in a show of strength, lifts a chair over Eddie’s head as if it is “raised like a weapon”. Visually this would show that Marco now has a higher status (he is previously mainly seen sitting down) than Eddie and therefore he poses a threat. Eddie, reacting as an animal would in the wild, finds a weaker opponent in Rodolfo. In the ensuing fight, Eddie easily restrains Rodolfo. When talking to Alfieri, Eddie says that Rodolfo “didn’t give me the right kind fight” and he uses this as evidence to prove that “the guy ain’t right”. This is ironic because Eddie knows that he is weaker than Marco. Does this then mean that Eddie “ain’t right”?
Eddie’s aggression to Rodolfo is just one example of his animalistic behaviour; Alfieri refers to it regularly in his narratives. Eddie’s secret love for Catherine causes him to lose control; Alfieri says “passion had moved into his body, like a stranger”, and he acts on impulse, doing whatever comes natural to him to protect his name and Catherine. In my opinion, the actor playing Eddie should be very intense and walk in a style that resembles the roaming of an animal, this would show to the audience his animal instincts. Eddie’s impulsive behaviour causes him to make decisions that do not make any sense. Alfieri, in the concluding narrative, says that Eddie “allowed himself to be purely known”. By “purely known”, Alfieri means acting completely on instinct, which often results in irrational behaviour. Alfieri appears to respect Eddie for being completely natural yet realises that this came at the expense of others and ultimately himself, which causes Alfieri “to mourn him with a certain alarm”. Alfieri puts forward the idea that it is “better to settle for half”. With regard to human behaviour, he means that a person should be reserved if they wish to settle in a community.
The phrase “the guy ain’t right”, is Eddie’s way of intimating that Rodolfo is homosexual. He believes this because he thinks that the qualities that Rodolfo displays are distinctly feminine. He states this frankly to Alfieri, “you wouldn’t be lookin’ for him (Rodolfo) you be lookin’ for her”. His blonde locks are ridiculed by Eddie, he says, “with that wacky hair; he’s like a chorus girl”. Eddie also says (with more than a hint of sarcasm), “it’s wonderful. He cooks, he sings, he makes dresses”. The only recreation that any of the men in Red Hook appear to do is bowling. The nicknames, “Paper doll” and “Blondie”, that Rodolfo is given have feminine connotations and it is apparent that he isn’t accepted in Red Hook.
Eddie tries to test Rodolfo’s sexuality. In the first test he boxed with Rodolfo and in the second, more blatant, test he kisses Rodolfo on the lips. This could be a sign of Eddie’s own suppressed homosexuality although Miller does not offer any clues in the play to clarify the situation, allowing the audience to make up their own mind. This literary device is used frequently in the play. For example, Rodolfo’s love for Catherine is never confirmed by action or words, leaving the audience to question his motives for marrying her.
Rodolfo’s lack of interest in “honour” contravenes Eddie’s rules of masculinity, strengthening Eddie’s belief that Rodolfo “ain’t right”. Rodolfo says “I wish to apologise”, “I kiss your hand”. This incident demonstrates that Rodolfo is willing to apologise to the man who has treated him so badly, thereby demeaning himself, in order to avoid a confrontation between Marco and Rodolfo. This is in stark contrast to Marco who doesn’t allow anything to stop him from defending his honour, including his own promise. This sense of honour is instilled in him by his Sicilian roots. Due to the high amount of Italian immigrant families in Red Hook, honour plays an important part in the life in most of the male’s lives, including Eddie’s. This creates a community that is based around Italian rules and customs, which control the behaviour of the characters.
These customs often come into conflict with American law, such as, the acceptance of illegal immigrants. Marco represents the struggle between community justice and American law. Marco says “I don’t understand this country” and he contests with Alfieri that “all the law is not a book”, referring to the unwritten Sicilian code of conduct. Alfieri disagrees with this, as he says, “it is better to settle for half”, indicating that although the law sometimes only leaves you half-satisfied, it is better because it avoids conflicts. A View From the Bridge questions whether the law is always affective in gaining justice. The story of Vinny Bolzano, “he snitched to the immigration”, shows how obeying the law is seen as unjust. Eddie shows his disgust at Bolzano’s actions, “how’s he gonna show his face”, yet replicates them later on in the play. This shows how emotion can cloud a persons view on justice. The author is perhaps suggesting that the law is better for gaining justice because it has a completely objective view.
The conclusion of the play shows that the community is stronger than American law because it is Marco, the Italian immigrant, who is the final victor. Eddie’s punishment for what was essentially obeying the law is Miller’s way of commenting on the McCarthy Trials and his role in them. These trials were part of the intense anticommunism seen in the 1950’s in the USA. During these trials Miller was asked to name fellow artists who he knew were communist sympathisers. He refused. This gained him support from the arts community but landed him a charge from the American courts for contempt. Miller condemns the people who did name innocent artists by strongly penalising Eddie for his betrayal.
Alfieri, the lawyer, represents the bridge between American law and the rules of the Italian American communities. He is well versed in the law yet he is still loyal to the customs of his ethnic origin. This is demonstrated when he tries to dissuade Eddie from doing the lawful thing in reporting immigrants by saying “you won’t have a friend in the world”. Alfieri plays an important role in A View From the Bridge. In his opening narrative, Alfieri sets the scene and highlights the key themes for the play, such as, “justice is very important here”. He also informs the audience that the story is going to run a “bloody course”, putting the play in the style of a Greek tragedy. Throughout the play Alfieri seems to know what is going to happen, “I could see every step coming”. However, he appears to be, as he said himself, “powerless to stop it”. This in many ways puts him in the same position as the audience. Physically he is also in the same position as the audience because he is viewing events from above, as he is seen sitting on Brooklyn Bridge. The similarities between Alfieri and the audience create an affinity between them, which makes the audience respect the opinions of Alfieri. This is important for the writer because Alfieri is effectively the mouthpiece for Arthur Miller’s views.
In the theatre, Brooklyn Bridge would be the highest point on the set. Alfieri is placed on this bridge because it shows that he has an elevated status in comparison to the other characters. The bridge is the link to Manhattan and the more affluent parts of New York. It is symbolic of the route to success in America, more commonly known as ‘The American Dream’ – the belief that anyone who is born or enters into the country, can have success and become wealthy. A good, modern-day example of this is the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger who entered the country as a poor Austrian immigrant, found success as a bodybuilder and film star and is currently Governor for California. In this play, Alfieri represents ‘The American Dream’ because he was born in Italy and has risen to become a respected lawyer.
Alfieri’s status in society is reflected in the language that he uses. He speaks in good American English, not once does he slip into using slang. This is quite the opposite for the rest of the characters in A View From the Bridge. Arthur Miller’s characters have various styles of conversing. Miller uses their way of speaking as a device to define their characteristics and to suggest why they act in the way that they do. Eddie finds it difficult to express his feelings through words, which is why his marriage with Beatrice is breaking down. Beatrice offers Eddie numerous opportunities to make his feelings known but these are rejected. He often says things like “I can’t talk about it”. This, in many ways, is down to his lack of education, as demonstrated by Eddie’s frequent use of slang, such as, “you’re walkin’ wavy”. His small range of vocabulary may be a reason for his problems in expressing himself. Because of this his feelings are often displayed by showing hostility and aggression through physical actions. This is similar to Marco who, as Eddie comments, “don’t say much”. Marco always speaks simply and clearly, which indicates his character. This is different to Eddie who sometimes uses sarcasm to be hostile to another person, like when he muses, “he sings, he cooks ………”. The male in the play who displays the least amount of hostility and aggression in this play is Rodolfo. I think this is because he is the most intelligent. Evidence of his intelligence is found in the lively, imaginative and passionate way in which he speaks. An example of this is seen when he describes Catherine metaphorically as a trapped “little bird”. Rodolfo’s intellect gives him better understanding of situations whereas Marco and Eddie see things as either right or wrong. He tries to use his understanding to find a compromise between both points of view, in order to avoid conflict. Rodolfo’s willingness to avoid aggression goes against Eddie’s image of man.
The ideas of masculinity, hostility, and aggression are linked by Eddie’s view on how to be a man. Respect is so important to Eddie that when it is dented by any if the characters he reacts in the only way he knows how, with hostility and aggression. He generally shows this through physical action because he finds it difficult to convey his feelings through word. Women play an important role in linking masculinity, hostility and aggression because they are at the root of all the men’s feelings in this play. In A View From the Bridge, aggression and hostility is sometimes displayed through dialogue but the greatest impression on the audience is left by the action seen on stage. This makes it a very visual play. A View From The Bridge does not come up with a satisfactory conclusion on the events as Eddie is dead and Marco is due to be deported. This allows Arthur Miller to focus on the lessons that the audience can learn from the play rather than what the characters gain. The closing narrative clearly conveys the message, through Alfieri, that people have to compromise their ideals to live in harmony as a community because of the diversity of opinions and characteristics of the human race.