Alfieri also gives a hint that Eddie will die in the end of the play.
“ This ones name was Eddie Carbone”
As Alfieri is talking in the past tense, we begin to get the feeling that the climax of the story will be dramatic, and result in the death of Eddie Carbone.
The relationship between Eddie, Beatrice and Catherine, to begin with, is what you would expect a family to be like. Eddie and Beatrice are happily married but have no children. Catherine, Eddie and Beatrice’s niece, lives with the couple. This is because Beatrice’s sister, Catherine’s mum, died and made him promise that he would take care of Catherine.
There was a large distinction of rank in the household. Eddie was the man of the house who brought home the money and took care of the family. Therefore, he was of the highest rank in the house. This type of situation was very common in the 1940’s. Women were told to stay at home and look after the children, whilst the men would go and earn the money. This was not only popular in America. Many European countries, at the time, worked on the same philosophy.
Catherine very much admired Eddie as the father she never had. She was very respectful and did as Eddie said, even when she didn’t believe what he was saying was right; she did as she was told. For example, when Catherine is offered a job at a plumbing business, Eddie forbids her from going and tells her to carry on with her education. Beatrice also did not agree with Eddie. She believed the extra money would benefit the household.
Beatrice is a loving and caring wife to her husband. She knows threat the family depends on the little income that Eddie provides. As she is a housewife and has no job, she knows that the family depends solely on Eddie.
However, thee relationships change considerably as soon as Marco and Rodolfo arrive. Rodolfo is instantly attracted to Catherine and vice versa. This is a threat to Eddie, as we know that Eddie is very attracted to Catherine –
“He reaches out suddenly, draws hr to him, and as she strives to free herself, he kisses her on her lips”
The relationship between Marco and Eddie, to start with, is a lot more responsible.
We recognise one of the most obvious area of tension between Eddie and Rodolfo. One of these moments is then Eddie criticises Rodolfo –
“…And with that wacky hair; he’s like a chorus girl or sump’m”
However the most amount of tension is caused by Marco towards Eddie, especially near the end of the play. One of the most dramatic and tense moments in the play (apart from the fight at the end of the play) is when Marco showed Eddie his strength and dominance –
“ Marco is face to face with Eddie, a strained tension grippling his eyes and jaw, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon over Eddies head”
The tension is used to entice the audience to read on and understand the feeling of each character.
The role of Marco should be played with anger and strength, but at the same time conservative and quite. The stride would be long, his build large and his posture would be one of a proud man. His facial expressions change from calm to frustration.
Marco’s voice does not change greatly in the play. Apart from the final scene, where is voice becomes more outspoken and aggravated; his voice stays in a state of calm. Marco seems to position himself in a broad and powerful manner. He seems to be trying to make people more aware and afraid of his presence.
However, Catherine is more of the opposite of Marco. Catherine seems to look away from whomever she talks. She does not like eye-to-eye contact. The most common case is with Eddie. She feels that he is too overpowering; that he is he nearest thing to a father and respects him. I also think that she knows what he says is usually right and that she is normally the one that is in the wrong. I also think that Catherine still believes that she is a girl. She keeps on forgetting that she is growing into a woman, something she finally realises with the arrival of Rodolfo.
Her voice is full of joy when speaking to Beatrice or someone else. The tone of the voice becomes quiet when talking to Eddie. She seems to lack the joy she has when talking to Eddie.
Catherine is never involved in any of the violent of highly dramatic scenes. She likes to keep to herself.
Lighting and sound are of as much importance in the play as the actual storyline. When an action seen is played, the music should be sharp, loud, exciting and fast. The lighting should be bright and changing from one colour slide to the other.
When a sad seen is acted, the music should be slow and soft. The music in sad scenes is usually played by violins, which would be very appropriate in the last scene when Eddie dies. The lighting should be dim and comforting. The colours should not be flashed voluntarily.
In romantic scenes, the sound and lighting are a mix of both a sad scene and an action scene. The light should not be too bright and should be soft. The colour should be a slight tint of red. Even though red is associated with anger, it is also well represented as the colour of love. An orchestra of various instruments should play the sound in the play.
An example of lighting being used well in the play is when Eddie phones up the investigation bureau. A beam of light is shone on the phone used by Eddie. The light is usually shone on Alfieri. Therefore, the audience is shown the importance of the phone. It shows that all Eddie has on his mind is to call the investigation bureau and tell them about Marco and Rodolfo. This makes the audience more in tune with Eddies mind, his thoughts and feelings. The jealousy that has stained his blood since the arrival of the two cousins.
“ Most of he time now we settle for half and I like it better”
Alfieri tries to point out that there is no point in trying to make everything perfect. That nothing goes exactly the way you want it to go. He tries to say that you should let life take its course and that it is better to settle for half than to settle for nothing.
Finally, I’d say that the play was successful in many ways. The play is romantic and at the same time has action. It has dramatic scenes in which you will know what will happen next. The play has dramatic emotions such as jealousy and love, well intertwined into the play. They create an exciting play, which gets you on the edge of your seat.
