How does Arthur Miller use Eddie to create dramatic tension for the audience?

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How does Arthur Miller use Eddie to create dramatic tension for the audience?

In "A View From The Bridge", Arthur Miller uses various different dramatic and writing techniques to create dramatic tension and to keep the audience absorbed in the play. Miller uses the setting, characters, stage directions, pace and language as the main supply of drama. The characters are the key part of the play and are the base for creating tension and drama.

We can quite clearly see that when writing the play  Miller was influenced by the structuring used by many Ancient Greek playwrites when writing tradgedies (a problem arising in the form of a catalyst ,a complication, climax and denovement). The main elements that Miller uses in the play to create and sustain dramatic tension are chorus, the tragic hero and the idea of fate and destiny.

In the play Eddie is potrayed as the hard working male stereotype. He is respected by everyone, is an admirable family man and overall is presented as a warm, respectable character.

"He was as good a man as he had to be in a life that was hard and even" Alfeiri introduces us to Eddie at the beginning of the play. This particular quote emphasises that Eddie is an honourable, civil person. However, when the cousins (the main catalysts in the play) are introduced we begin to see another contrasting side of Eddie as his true feelings for Catherine are revealed.

The main themes in the play are set out for the audience in Alfieri's prologue. The audience is given a feeling of unease as Alfieri begins to depict to us both the settings of the play and the attitudes of the people living in Red Hook. In his speech Alfieri tells of superstition, history, cultural tradition and the peoples' views on justice. "Oh, there were many people here who were justly shot by unjust men. Justice is important here," . Already a contrast has been made between law and justice, as we will see later on in the play.  The message given is quite clear, people here always have to recieve justice, even if that means taking the law into their own hands. [The quote itself in subtext may be hinting at the concept of revenge.] After hearing Alfieri's speech the audience already feel slightly threatened as a sinister, or quite tragic ending for this play has as of now been foreshadowed.

" What are the high heels for Garbo?" Eddie asks Catherine, in the presence of Rodolfo and Marco, conciously trying to embarrass her. For some time now Eddie has been feeling as though he and Catherine are growing apart, as he doesn't seem to realise she is growing up. More tension is created when Eddie begins to sense how attentive Catherine is towards Rodolfo and Eddie quickly becomes jealous. This love rivalry [possibly sexual rivalry?] grows throughout the play (between Eddie and Rodolfo), forever increasing the tension as the play goes on. What did seem like over-protectiveness has now been disclosed to be in fact an obsession and illicit love for Catherine. This may disgust, or even disturb the audience and slowly they begin to turn against Eddie.

 Eddie's feelings for Catherine prove to be his fatal flaw. His eventual demise is a consequence of his passionate nature and strong mindedness, his insistance of staying true to his feelings. Eddie's fate becomes quite inevitable when his he shows an inability to make comprimise, or to "settle for half" and when his fixation with Catherine becomes exposed.

"His eyes were wide like tunnels." This metaphor is used by Alfeiri when describing Eddie. This may also be used to connote the fact he has "tunnel vision", that he can only focus on one thing - his fixation on Catherine. When Eddie calls the Immigration Bureau to report Marco and Rodolfo as illegal immigrants; we see him contradict his own morals, which he outlined near the beginning of the play when telling the story of Vinny Bonzalo's betrayal on his own family. It is quite evident that in his desperation Eddie has had a lapse of rational thinking as he begins to act rather contradictory to his own beliefs.

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The play is constructed of the main plot, Eddie's tragic story and a series of subplots, all involving the main characters and their relationships with each other. Each of these subplots interlink eventually with Eddie's predictable fate. These subplots are told as tension between each of the characters reaches a peak. One of these subplots is the relationship between Eddie and Alfieri.

When relationships begin to break down between Eddie and the rest of the family Eddie is in need of consultation, he seeks this in a man whom he trusts and respects, Alfieri.This however doesn't prove to be ...

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