Akil Browne 10C
How does Arthur Miller create dramatic tension in ‘A View From The Bridge’? Choose 2/3 mini scenes, in which Eddie appears to illustrate your points.
Arthur Miller was born in 1915 in New York. He was a playwright whose work discussed significant social issues, giving the reader a deep insight into his characters’ feelings. He died on February 11th 2005.
In ‘A View From The Bridge’, Eddie Carbone is a middle-aged Sicilian-American longshoreman who lives with his wife Beatrice and his 18 year old niece Catherine. They live in a two bedroom apartment in a slum area. They don’t have very much money and Eddie speaks non-standard English. Early in the book the reader gets the impression that Eddie is a hard-working man who is trying to earn enough money to provide for his wife and niece.
Although Catherine is the 18 year old niece of Eddie, at the beginning of the story the reader gets the feeling that Catherine is treated as Eddie’s little girl. Catherine was born in America with a slight Sicilian-American accent. She wants to leave school having been chosen out of many girls to be a stenographer for a plumbing company. Catherine is put in a difficult situation by Eddie because some of his actions suggest he may be sexually attracted to her, but Catherine falls in love with illegal immigrant Rodolpho.
There are many dramatic mini scenes in Act 1. In one of them Rodolpho sings in front of everyone. This causes tension between Eddie, Rodolpho, Catherine, Beatrice and Marco. Eddie says –‘He’s like a chorus girl or sump‘m’. Eddie is saying that Rodolpho isn’t normal and that he might be homosexual. This is very insulting and Eddie showing his dislike for Rodolpho even though he has only just met him. Eddie’s rudeness towards Rodolpho makes Catherine annoyed and Miller writes – Embarrassed now, angered, Catherine goes into the bedroom... she gives Eddie a cold look, restrained only by strangers. The audience can see from Catherine’s face and body language that she isn’t very happy with Eddie and the tension this creates. The mini-scene continues with further tension from a disagreement between Eddie and Beatrice as they argue about Catherine. Eddie also says – ‘You mean it’s all right with you? That’s gonna be her husband?’ He is asking Beatrice whether she would be happy if Rodolpho married Catherine because Eddie obviously doesn’t like him. This argument makes Beatrice say –‘When am I gonna be a wife again’. Eddie and Beatrice are going through a hard time and Beatrice feels that Eddie isn’t treating her like he is supposed to. Eddie’s reaction to Beatrice’s comments is –‘I can’t talk about it’. Eddie is becoming tense by Beatrice pestering him and doesn’t know how to respond to her questions. The row results in Eddie not bothering to look at or touch Beatrice. The reader can see this from Miller’s stage directions where he puts –she tries to turn him to her…he keeps his head turned away. Miller, from this stage direction, makes the reader appreciate that Eddie is annoyed. Miller also writes –Eddie… his face puffed with trouble, and the room dies. Eddie is being very negative and this is frustrating other characters. Miller creates tension from his dialogue and from his stage directions as facial expressions they describe the characters body language.
