Eddie’s views on masculinity lead to conflict in the home once the two illegal immigrants have arrived. Eddie feels that Catherine should not have a job as he feels that he should be the sole provider, working on the piers with Mike and Louis. He also comments on the way that Catherine is ‘walkin’ wavy’. This conflict between Eddie and Catherine soon leads on to Rodolpho as him and Catherine start to develop a relationship. This open hostility soon turns towards Marco.
Rodolpho does not fall into the category of ‘Manly’ as to Eddie, he does not have any of the qualities a ‘man’ should have. We see that Eddie believes that Rodolpho does not conform to this image of masculinity as Eddie says of him, ‘The guy ain’t right’ and ‘the guy is no good’. Eddie is clearly unhappy with the close relationship developing between Rodolpho and Catherine. He accuses Rodolpho of being effeminate, meaning that he acts more like a woman than a ‘real’ man. Eddie and his workmates constantly make comments about Rodolpho at work, laughing at his singing, calling him ‘chorus boy’, and calling him ‘paper doll’ as a mock of his blonde hair and fragile looks. Rodolpho seems oblivious to these jibes, but Marco soon picks up on it and confronts Eddie.
Rodolpho does not know what he has done wrong, he loves Catherine and wants to start a new life in America, but Eddie feels that he is just using Catherine for a green card into the country. Catherine feels the same way, but that does not stop Eddie’s hostility towards Rodolpho.
Eddie’s hostility towards Rodolpho comes to two dramatic peaks, when Eddie kissed Rodolpho, and when Eddie taught Rodolpho to box. At the beginning of act two, Eddie staggers in drunk to find Rodolpho and Catherine making love in the bedroom. He becomes aggressive and manhandles Catherine, Rodolpho tries to stop him but Eddie pins him against the wall and kisses him. Eddie seems to have done this to prove that Rodolpho ‘ain’t right’.
Even earlier in the play, at the end of act one, Eddie teaches Rodolpho to box, things build up and in the end Eddie hits Rodolpho and he falls to the floor. To the audience this could mean two things, Eddie could have accidentally hit Rodolpho, or he could have hit him purposefully to injure him as he felt aggressive and hostile towards Rodolpho. Marco intervenes yet again and decides to compete with Eddie in a chair-lifting contest. Eddie is unable to lift the chair but Marco performs the task with ease. Eddie seems to be wary of his position in the house as he feels Marco is taking over. This makes him become even more hostile and aggressive towards both the illegal immigrants
Marco appears to be the conventional ‘man’ of the house. He is strong, hard working; he has dark hair and a deep voice. He seems to be able to perform what Eddie cannot as he has three children; he also has a wife back in Italy. The reason Marco has come to America is to work, he wants to earn money to send back to his family in Italy. He is a family man, kind and thoughtful. But when he lifted the chair over his head, he looked right into the eyes of Eddie, warning him not to try anything like that again.
The tension builds up between Eddie and Marco from then on. When Eddie phones the immigration bureau and informs them of the two illegal immigrants, they come and arrest them. Marco realises that Eddie was the one who told them. He calls him an ‘animal’ in front of the whole neighbourhood and spits in Eddie’s face. Eddie does not forget this.
When Marco returns to the house after the arrest, Eddie asks for an apology but Marco refuses. Eddie then produced a knife and lunges for Marco. Marco defends himself by turning the knife and plunging it into the chest of Eddie. This again shows that Marco is stronger as he could grab the knife and turn it into Eddie.
The three points, manliness, hostility and aggression are linked through one single character, the plays protagonist, Eddie Carbone. He feels strongly about being masculine and becomes aggressive towards those who are not manly or do not show it. This is shown when he becomes very aggressive and hostile towards Rodolpho as he does not show himself to be a ‘real’ man.
