How would you describe Eddie's attitude towards Catherine before Marco and Rodolfo arrive? A view from the bridge is a famous, well structured tragic drama play was written by Arthur Miller.

         During act I, Eddie’s reaction towards Catherine’s appearance and her decision for the job is still in a ‘normal’ stage for a guardian who been looking after a girl since her mother’s death. From the extract “ I don’t like the looks they’re givin you in the candy store. The heads were turning like windmills.” He was just ‘concerned’ about how other man is giving looks to her when she walks down the street. Also when Beatrice and Catherine told Eddie about the job that Catherine have been offered to,  “ Please do me a favour will ya? I want you to be with different kind of people. I want you to be in a nice office. I mean if you’re gonna get outa here then get out; don’t go practically in the same kind of neighborhood. Eddie was worried about the area and the people she’ll be working with. This shows that he cares therefore wants her to “better” than any other girls in the slum community.

The play was set amongst an immigrant community who are poor and struggling, most working as 'longshoremen' when the work is available. Eddie the protagonist is of Italian ancestry, his father emigrated from Italy to America, and therefore he has been brought up with the strong, passionate Italian/Sicilian codes of honour and loyalty. In Act I while the family were waiting for the cousins’ arrival, Eddie discussed about the possibility of the illegal immigrants to be pick up by the Immigration. He had strongly warned Beatrice and Catherine not to say anything about the cousins living at their place. “ I don’t care if somebody comes in the house and sees them sleepin’ on the floor, it never comes out of your mouth who they are or what they’re doing here”, “ They got stool pigeons all over this neighborhood they’re paying them every week for information, and you don’t know who they are. It could be your best friend.” These two extracts show that Eddie is entirely concerned about the cousins ‘s chances of being picking up. However, later on in the play Eddie suddenly turned against the cousins especially Rodolfo. This is because he is jealous about the attention that Catherine is paying Rodolfo. They both become attracted to each other and the relationship developed to love and “commitment”. From this point Eddie is unable to express his feelings and desire for Catherine. He felt that he have been rejected by Catherine and no longer have control over her. Therefore he is unable control is mind and actions. All these reasons lead to a huge mistake that forces Eddie to break his moral code by reporting Marco and Rodolfo to the immigration. Therefore Eddie had turned against Catherine as well as Beatrice who the cousins are related to.

To conclude this essay I am convinced that Eddie’s attitude in protectiveness term towards Catherine before Marco and Rodolfo had arrive was nothing more than a father could give to his own child. Nevertheless, his attitude towards Catherine changed after she became more attracted to Rodolfo. He was unable to cope with Catherine in her increasing maturity, which he thought it would mean ‘ losing’ her to Rodolfo. Therefore it made Eddie confused with his feelings whether it is protectiveness or obsession towards Catherine. It was something that he was unable to recognize or understand for himself. This conflict brought out an increasingly aggressive reaction in Eddie that starts to break the family apart, even his own moral code that he used to pride himself on. The play ended with a tragedy, which has been constructed by Eddie ‘s fears of committing his feelings of obsession for his niece, Catherine.