However, Alfieri being a lawyer is associated with disasters,
‘In this neighbourhood to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is
Unlucky. We’re only thought of in connexion with disasters, and they’d
Rather not get too close’
Miller uses a lawyer as the chorus to symbolise disaster, Alfieri is involved with Eddie Carbone who is going down a one way street- heading toward disastrous consequences.
One of the techniques Miller uses is foreshadowing, although we are told of Eddie Carbones fate it doesn’t necessarily ruin the out come, it creates suspense throughout the drama.
At the beginning of the play Alfieri says
‘This ones name was Eddie Carbone’
This indicates that Eddie is dead and the audience suddenly become intrigued to the prospect of eddies death. This is a quality that makes the play successful as before the play has even started we are told the main character is dead, creating drama and anxiety as to the happenings of the dramatic ending of the play.
When the play was first drafted Alfieri’s lines were set out in poetic verse. His speeches are spoken with passion and deep emotion. It is very moving and powerful, as though you can feel what is happening when you hear Alfieri talk. This is another successful technique of the play, Alfieri’s words move us emotionally, the language and poetic form used is passionate and intense making the audience become intrigued and overwhelmed with Alfieri’s rhetoric speech.
The last few lines of the play, Alfieri says
‘…But the truth is holy and even as I know how wrong he was,
And is death useless, I tremble, for I confess that something
Perversely pure calls to me from his memory…’
This speech fills the audience with compassion for Eddie, which in my opinion, no one feels until hearing the ‘words of wisdom’ from Alfieri. Alfieri’s speeches in the play are one of the qualities that make this a successful drama.
Another quality that Miller uses to make this play successful is the construction of the set. In the centre of the stage there is eddies apartment, the audience can see the dining table and a rocking chair. Towards the back of the stage there is a staircase leading to the apartment upstairs and a door leading to the kitchen and the bedroom. On either side of the stage there are ramps representing the streets and a telephone box in the back left hand corner, this isn’t used until the end of the play.
Eddies apartment is skeletal, this symbolises eddies life, how empty and bare it is.
The phone box is left on show to symbolise eddies forthcoming betrayal. This is an extremely efficient set, there isn’t a lot of set change, which is good as the audience can keep up with the plot and pace of the play and not lose interest. They play carries on constantly making the pace of the play incredibly quick. The pace has to be quick as it symbolises Eddie, his fall was so rapid it was inevitable.
All this couldn’t be symbolised and seen without the sufficiency of this set that is one of the achievements Miller has gained in making this play successful.
The last scene is the most powerful and dramatic scene in the play, although Alfieri tells us Eddie’s fate at the beginning, the suspense is built up throughout the play towards the last tragic scene where all is revealed of how Eddie dies.
The compassion Alfieri has the audience feel for Eddie is overwhelming. Towards the end of this play, my hatred for Eddie increased scene after scene until that final twist from Alfieri’s speech. The audience is expected to hate Eddie but Alfieri makes us how misunderstood our feelings are towards Eddie. This is yet another technique which Miller uses to create success.
‘….Not purely good, but himself purely, for he allowed
Himself to become wholly known and for that I will love
Him more than all my sensible clients yet….’
These few lines from Alfieri’s speech are extremely poetic. Eddie died due to his vendetta with Marco and refusing to settle for half. Maybe it was also to stop feeling things he shouldn’t for Catherine and he saw this being the only way out.
It was all or nothing for Eddie, which Alfieri admired in Eddie in a strange kind of way. Eddie didn’t have much to lose in the last scene; he lost Catherine’s respect, the neighbourhood had turned against him because he rang the immigration bureau and Marco had taken his name as he called him a rat and spat in his face. This was a very dramatic part in the play; it came to the peak of Eddies conflicts. However no matter how bad things would have gotten, Beatrice would have stayed by Eddie’s side. Beatrice was too loyal, loved him too much and was too big hearted. She understood Eddie’s feelings were uncontrollable and that he would never had acted upon them. He allowed himself to be exposed to the community and wouldn’t back off. This man would never have backed away from his niece, as his feelings were too strong. In my opinion I think Eddie wanted to die as he saw it being the only way out of his predicament.
The last scene is cleverly built up with a twist of emotional context between character and audience making this play an absolute success.
In another particular scene Eddie and Beatrice have a slight disagreement over Catherine which leads to an argument over lack of sex. This scene has quite a few techniques, which adds to the success of the play, such as euphemisms, one in particular
‘When am I gonna be a wife again Eddie?’
Beatrice says it in this context rather than come straight out and says when are we going to have sex again. This way avoids embarrassment but still gets the point across without having to actually say it. However Eddie
‘Just don’t wanna talk bout it’
He doesn’t want to talk about anything, as he doesn’t know his own feelings. Eddies emotions are running wild but he can’t understand why. At this point in the play, Eddie’s feelings are not yet clear to the audience, however I think we get a hint from Beatrice that she knows what’s going on in Eddies head as she says
‘I got other worries’
This maybe an indication that she’s realising what’s happening in Eddies head and therefore, maybe trying to work out how to prevent them. Eddie could be starting to realise his feelings are strong for Catherine but doesn’t want to accept it until he knows the full extent of his feelings for her. He has all the attitudes of an overprotective father. He thinks that her skirts are too short, she walks all wavy and he doesn’t want Catherine to get a job in stenography, as she will be creating her own independence. Eddie can’t accept the fact that she’s growing up.
Eddie also isn’t happy about the interest she has in Rodolpho, he seems to think that Rodolpdo is using Catherine for an American passport.
Does Eddie object to this relationship because of the fact that he’s a typical parent or is it due to his own feelings for Catherine?
Confession and hidden mental questions linger throughout this play making it a successful figure to the drama. Miller gets the audience to presume before actually being told the truth. He makes us want to get into Eddies head rather than wait until the end of the play to be told as the suspense is too intense.
So what are the ingredients to a successful play? Well, Millers style of writing is certainly a key point. He grips the audience and keeps hold of their attention but the use of language, characters, storyline, stage construction and conflicts certainly make the play what it is, a success. Arthur Miller use a story line which most writers stay clear from, only good writers could tackle a relationship storyline between uncle and niece making it into a quality production, not perverted. Miller makes you understand that eddies feelings are not from between his legs but from his heart, making the audience realise this wasn’t a sexual desire but a possessive desire that couldn’t be controlled.
By
Kayleigh Pilling