I will answer the question of how the author creates tension in the last scene of act 1 of his play. This is through six events, which mainly involve the males, Eddie, Rodolpho, and Marco that foreshadow the events to come. The two events I will focus on is the sparring match between Eddie and Rodolpho as well as the show of strength by Marco to Eddie. I will also look further into Eddie’s character and investigate further into the norms and values of the people and neighbourhood in which this play takes place.
The first event I will detail is the spar between Eddie and Rodolpho, this starts off innocently enough as Eddie asks the brothers if they have ever been to a boxing match. Then Eddie even offers to take them there and pay for the tickets, this sudden kindness does not go unnoticed as the stage directions show Marco answers back in an ‘uneasy’ way. This demonstrates that Marco has sensed something wrong and this is proven as again the stage directions reveal something. Eddie ‘goes to Rodolpho’ and offers to teach him how to box. “Well, come on, I’ll teach you,” says Eddie to Rodolpho. We see here already tension is created as the subject brought up by Eddie was only done so to get Rodolpho to box. This is easy to tell, as Eddie no longer pays any attention to Marco and when Eddie was first asking the brothers about if they had ever been to a boxing match the stage directions again show us something. ‘He is weirdly rubbing his fist on to his palm’ this implies he has a hidden agenda.
Things get tenser as the sparing match gets steadily faster, at first Eddie just ‘gently moves his left into Rodolpho’s face’. Then things start heating up as ‘Rodolpho jabs with more assurance’. Then from Eddie’s command to ‘put sumpin behind it’ ‘Rodolpho jabs more seriously at Eddie’s jaw and grazes it. Now even Catherine realises something’s wrong and the stage directions tell us she watches ‘with beginning alarm’. ‘They are lightly boxing now’ then Eddie ‘feints with his left hand and lands with his right. Before Catherine rushes in yelling “Eddie!” to stop. I think Eddie had accomplished his goal as he had ‘a certain gleam and a smile’ on his face. This is very tense as we see Marco nod back ‘dubiously’. Here the audience is uneasy and anxious, they want to know what will happen next, but they are not totally aware what is happening now. With the right actors the audience should be able to sense the building tension.
The second event that I will be detailing was the show of strength by Marco to Eddie, which builds tension through subtlety, as no words are needed because the stage directions provide it all. Straight after the sparing match where Marco had obviously sensed something, Marco grabs a heavy chair and ‘places it right in front of Eddie’. Then says, “Can you lift this?” to Eddie. This is an obvious masculine act of competition and can be taken, as comradeship between the two males but with the recent events getting tenser and tenser this looks unlikely. Eddie cannot lift it from the base of the chair leg and this is a man who has loaded ships his whole life with his strength. Then when Marco lifts the chair this alone is a powerful image showing his might but then he has ‘the chair raised like a weapon above Eddie’s head’. Here the audience may think an attack is imminent. Then Marco ‘transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph’. This is an evident warning by Marco to Eddie to back off his brother; this clearly shows the community law in place, which above all needs loyalty to the family.
Community law or the norms and values of the immigrant neighbourhood constantly are shown in this play as it comes into conflict with the federal law. In the case of Eddie and Marco when Marco spits on Eddie’s face under the community values Eddie is disgraced and must make Marco take back the fact that he be smudged Eddie’s name. ‘I want my name back Marco’. This is showing the disparity in Eddie, as he will be branded a coward and a snitch both humiliating labels amongst the community. Eddie is more desperate as this maybe his only opportunity to get his name back as Marco is going to be deported.
There are many incidents were community law is in direct opposition to the federal law. In community law Eddie’s feelings for Catherine are completely wrong but under the law of the US this is allowed. Community law is very much made the feelings or the values of the people. In a Italian neighbourhood religion would be very important and catholic ideas would very much be incorporated in this law. We see this very clearly as telling on somebody is the worst crime under the community law like Judas with the Romans, betraying Jesus to a catholic is the worst crime.
The tension in the play A View From the Bridge is built very well and all the underlying issues help to heat the flame of Eddie’s story. The law of the land verses the law of the people, incest, and fatherhood are all factors in the build up. By the end the play is shouted out as play reaches boiling point and every member of the audience is totally and completely on edge. This makes for a very enjoyable theatrical event.
