Alfieri's introduction also clearly shows how helpless outsiders such as himself are -‘every few years there is still a case, and as the parties tell me what the trouble is, the flat air in my office suddenly washes in with green scent of the sea’, and the vivid description of the Mediterranean sea helps link this case with another in Ancient Rome or Greece, where a lawyer two thousand years ago was just as ‘powerless’ as he was. This heightens the sense of inevitability and again the idea of fate, because this reference makes the audience feel there is a timeless quality about this story and the struggle for justice. Finally, Alfieri concludes his introduction by saying, ‘and sat there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course,’ which makes the audience expect a tragic outcome to be resolved in blood and conflict.
Miller’s descriptions of the community and background information of Sicily and the Red Hook area gives the impression that family honour and respect are important with the Sicilian community and that there is a great distrust of the American law-‘Frankie Yale himself was cut precisely by a machine gun on the corner of Union Street, two blocks away. Oh, there were many here who were justly shot by unjust men’ which is a result of the different views on justice and the law of America and Sicily, and it is suggested that justice is often administrated outside the law in this community- ‘justly shot by unjust men’, and that conflict is beyond the power of anybody to stop it. The significance of honour and justice is underlined-‘Justice is very important here’. This makes the audience feel that this will be a key aspect of the play, and it also suggests revenge on others is significant, fitting in with cultural values of the Sicilian community
Use of foreshadowing is a powerful device in ‘A View from the Bridge’, making the downfall of Eddie seem an inevitable consequence of the conflicts later in the play. While Alfieri’s comments to the audience foreshadows Eddie’s downfall, foreshadowing is also clearly present in other characters speeches and actions.
Early in the play, Eddie describes the fate of Vinny Bolzano who ‘snitched to Immigration’ on his uncle and was ousted by the community, ostracized for the rest of his life and regarded with scorn and contempt. This story not only shocks and alarms the audience about the consequences of ‘snitching’; it makes us more alert to signs of tragedy. We later find out that this is a direct foreshadowing of the tragic ending, as a similar fate is inevitable for Eddie, who is prepared to give up his status in the community to make Rodolpho go back to Italy.
As the play progresses, the characters and audience become more aware of Eddie’s inappropriate feelings for Catherine, which seem to prevent him from compromising and fuel his hatred for Rodolpho, making a resolution of conflict inevitable. From Act 1, Miller shows Eddie as being very protective, almost possessive of Catherine as he seems to be reluctant to let her gain her independence by taking a job, and criticises her for flaunting her sexuality - ‘you’re walking wavy’. Eddie ‘enveloping’ Catherine with his eyes is an inappropriate gesture suggesting that his interest in her is more than paternal, making the audience increasingly aware of his inappropriate feelings. These feelings are also evident with Eddie’s jealousy of the chemistry between Rodolpho and Catherine; he regards Rodolpho with ‘concealed suspicion’, taking an immediate dislike to him as Catherine makes it clear that she likes him. As Eddies jealousy grows stronger it leads him to deceive himself in thinking that Rodolpho ‘is not right’ intent on exploiting Catherine’s love for an American citizenship, and the audience begin to see Eddie’s irrationality, stubbornness and his refusal to compromise; flaws which lead to his downfall and an inevitable resolution of conflict as he will not ‘swallow his pride’ and
‘settle for half’.
The tension between Marco and Eddy subsequently in the play also suggests the inevitability of conflict. Eddie’s destruction at the hands of Marco is made certain in the chair lifting scene where Marco raises the chair ‘like a weapon’ over Eddie, warning Eddie against threatening Rodolpho with a show of strength. This establishes Marco as a threat to Eddie as such a show of strength suggests that he is suspicious of Eddie’s motives and is prepared to fight if necessary; this reminds us of Alfieri’s description of the strong sense of justice and honour in the Sicilian community, which again suggests conflict is inevitable.
When Eddie first goes to Alfieri to seek advice about his suspicions , Alfieri describes ‘His eyes were like tunnels; my first thought was that he had committed a crime, but soon I saw it was only a passion that had moved into his body, like a stranger.’ The striking simile Miller uses suggests tragedy and the theme of fate, that Eddie cannot escape the ‘inevitable’ and that he is on a one-way track. The similes ‘his eyes were like tunnels’ and ‘like a stranger’ suggest that Eddie’s character has changed into something more sinister and hostile. This warns the audience that Eddy may eventually commit a terrible wrong. In addition, Miller suggests that Alfieri already knows that there may be a tragic ending for Eddie, and that he is powerless to prevent it; Alfieri’s feeling of powerlessness as he ‘lost his strength somewhere’ and ‘could see every step coming,’ adds to the tone of inevitability as the resolution of conflict is predetermined, and nothing can stop the events from running their course.-‘I knew where he was heading and where he was going to end’. This sense of the events being fated are again suggested when Eddie visits Alfieri for the last time, Alfieri now senses why he waited so unusually long at the office. Miller describes him as being unable to break the grip of fate, ‘almost transfixed’. Miller also uses stage directions and the movement of Alfieri in this scene to suggest this. When ‘Alfieri rises with new anxiety’ with ‘a tougher tone…calling desperately’ it implies that no matter what he does, he is still helpless in stopping the outcome of events. It is from this point that Miller completely convinces the audience of the inevitability of the tragedy that is about to happen, because Alfieri describes that he should try to ‘prevent it’ but feels powerless to do so.
Miller has used a variety of structural devices from the very beginning to indicate the inevitability of the tragedy in ‘A View from the Bridge’. Miller suggests throughout his play that conflict is something that is inevitable, from the description of it being a timeless quality, the description of the strong Sicilian sense of justice that the characters believe in, the increasing irrationality of Eddie who is tormented by his inappropriate feelings for Catherine, which fuel his hatred for Rodolpho, and the chair lifting scene, where Marco subtly warns Eddy that he is prepared for conflict if necessary. Miller uses Alfieri as a strong dramatic device because he heightens the tragedy by creating suspense and tension while participating in the action and the sense of something inevitable is more convincing as the audience sympathize with his powerlessness, unable to prevent the events in the tragedy, being mere spectators.