Stage directions never tells us about entrances and exits that are made by Alfieri, suggesting the he remains onstage throughout the whole play. Instead it tells us about lighting on Alfieri’s desk, when he is talking the lighting rises, then dims when he finishes. Alfieri not leaving the stages also gives the illusion that he is reminiscing in what has happened in the past, things that have already happened.
We would also trust a lawyer to be a good judge of character, because it is his job and he has been doing it for years. However Alfieri does have a slight connexion with Eddie: “ I had represented his father in an accident case some years before, and I was acquainted with the family in a casual way”, this would mean he is not as un-biased as we initially thought.
In the short scenes where Alfieri talks to Eddie, we get a look at his idea of settling for half. He forever tells Eddie that he shouldn’t interfere, but let Catharine go, the only legal questions being how the brothers entered the country “I don’t think you would want to do anything about that” “…put it out of your mind”. Alfieri describes 's appearance at their first meeting. “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“, seems to fear Eddie as a mysterious beast, the remains of a great Greek tragedy. He believes Eddie was possessed with "passion that has moved into his body", the passion being for Catharine, hidden in his unconscious self was a stranger to Eddie's conscious self that denied any thoughts of it. Alfieri tells the story of Eddie Carbone as if he’s a legend.
In Act I Eddie speaks this quote, while eating dinner with and . “Just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away“. This shows the irony of Eddie's character. In the beginning Eddie tells us of a young boy who called immigration on his relatives. He tells them how they can’t tell anyone about Marco and Rodolpho. However, in the end of the play, Eddie calls Immigration himself. He betrays the whole community so strongly that he goes through a drastic change, if not complete breakdown. The force of the change tells of his madness, but also the deepness of the love. Eddie knows his fate, but has no way of escaping it. Like , Eddie watches himself make decisions that will ruin him, but may also kill him. He knows the consequences, but is powerless to stop it.
finally has the courage to speak out in the conclusion of Act II. “You want somethin' else, Eddie, and you can never have her!” This is the first time Eddie recognizes his feelings for his niece and his madness. Until this moment, no one speaks of Eddie's feelings Catharine. Even when Eddie realizes the love for Catharine, he can’t stop himself, he lunges to kill Marco. In this moment of revenge, Eddie can’t pull himself back. He knows he is going to die in the end, making him more determined to get revenge or find some sort of success or honour in his death. He doesn’t even have the power to deny Beatrice's claim. It brings Eddie out of his madness enough to lie in Beatrice's arms as he dies. When Eddie realises he loves Catherine, he finds himself again and it explains why he’s able to repair his relationship with Beatrice.
Eddie: “Then why—Oh, B.!” Beatrice: “Yes, yes!” Eddie: “My B.!” This quote is found at the conclusion of the play. As Eddie lies dying in Beatrice's arms, the couple finds some sort of understanding and repairs of their torn relationship. Beatrice, even under such horrible circumstances, is able to forgive Eddie for everything. He seems to control Beatrice throughout the play, but now Eddie needs Beatrice. It is the first time he honestly needs her. She is terribly jealous of her niece, who gets more attention from her husband than herself, and is the only female who needs him in the end. Eddie is drawn to Beatrice and for the first time he looks for Beatrice‘s love and forgiveness.
“Most of the time we settle for half and I like it better. Even as I know how wrong he was, and his death useless, I tremble, for I confess that something perversely pure calls to me from his memory - not purely good, but himself purely And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be! And so I mourn him - I admit it - with a certain alarm.” Alfieri does not find a conclusion after telling us the story, but tells it anyway and he gives his honest opinion of the play. He plays the chorus, narrator and the character of Alfieri, almost as a split character between both the other characters and the audience. He seems to update the audience and commentates as the story goes further. Alfieri is almost unimportant in the action parts of the play. He admits that he can’t help Eddie, but helplessly watches the unfortunate events unfold in front of him. Alfieri is, in a way, a bit like Arthur Miller when he first heard the story, a story that he cant change.
