The roles Of Alfieri in the play 'A View From The Bridge' by Arthur Miller.

The Roles Of Alfieri

In the play ‘A View From The Bridge’ by Arthur Miller, Alfieri is a lawyer in his fifties living in Red Hook, New York. Although originating in Italy, he is now an American citizen running a small law practice in his neighbourhood. He first migrated to America at the age of twenty-five and has since been married to his wife who he now lives with. After many years of experience in living within an Americanised community, he has become accustomed to life there: “now we are quite civilized, quite American”, and is familiar with the ways of law and justice. Personality-wise he is good humoured, thoughtful, wise, rational and sensible, not to mention a good judge of character. In his neighbourhood he is well respected and looked up to, if not even slightly feared, however through his law practice he has already dealt with the Carbone family when he represented Eddie Carbone’s father in a case several years back and so was already somewhat acquainted to Eddie, recognizing him when he first came to seek his advice.

Alfieri plays several roles in the play, the distinct two being as a narrator and also as an actual character interacting with the other characters. Arthur Miller intended the play to be a modern version of the Greek tragedies of yesteryear, in which there was always a chorus interacting directly with the audience by commenting on events, expressing opinions and giving relevant details. In the case of ‘A View From The Bridge’, Alfieri is the equivalent of the chorus and is the first role, which we, the audience meet at the very beginning of the play. This is when Alfieri makes a speech, introducing us to the storyline and giving us some history and background information about himself and his neighbourhood, when he says: “I am a lawyer. In this neighbourhood to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky. We’re only thought of in connection with disasters”. This statement explains why the people he is surrounded by are suspicious of him, seeing as many of them are immigrants, both legal and illegal, giving them reason to be afraid of and paranoid about the law. Near the end of his speech he also states: “This one’s name was Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman working the docks from Brooklyn bridge to the breakwater where the open sea begins.” Here Alfieri introduces us to the play’s main character, Eddie Carbone and again gives us background information about him. In giving this information, it saves the actual character from having to give it himself and so allows the events of the play to move promptly and without delay. Another example of when he does this is when he says: “He worked on the piers when there was work, he brought home his pay, and he lived. And towards ten o’clock of that night, after they had eaten, the cousins came.” By saying this Alfieri once again gives details of things such as place and time and sets the scene so that the action can continue.

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As the narrator, another purpose for Alfieri is to prepare the audience for the unexpected by hinting about upcoming events and informing us of the inevitable. It is he who gives the audience the first sense of danger when he says: “and yet…every few years there is still a case” and when he continues with: “and watched it run its bloody course”, it instantly introduces a sense of foreboding and danger and we are instantly given the impression that the unfolding events of the play will end fatally and disastrously. In fact throughout the entire play Alfieri is constantly informing us about impending occurrences: “I could see every step coming, step after step, like a dark figure walking down a hall towards a certain door”, and at times even hints about how the play will end: “Put it out of your mind! Eddie!”. In that statement, although he doesn’t directly say what it is he wants Eddie to put out of his mind, it is enough information for the audience to make an informed guess that he is about to report Marco and Rodolpho to the Immigration Bureau.

When hinting about the inevitable, Alfieri also manages to convey a sense of danger and suspense to the audience thereby instantly setting the mood for the scene. The way in which he does this is very effective with the use of powerful words and striking metaphors: “But I will never forget how dark the room went when he looked at me; his eyes were like tunnels”. This statement evokes a suspenseful atmosphere within the people in the audience and draws us into the scene, immersing us in the action. In addition to setting the mood for the scene, Alfieri also brings about feelings and emotions in the audience at the same time. This is primarily evident at the every end of the play when he gives his closing speech: “his death useless…but himself purely, for he allowed himself to be wholly known and for that I think I will love him more than all my sensible clients.” In saying this, feelings of pity are conveyed to the audience for Eddie, seeing as after all, the tragic events of the play were all brought about simply because of Eddie’s love for his niece.

Throughout the play the fact is repeated and reinforced that the impending disaster is inevitable and that both Eddie and Alfieri are powerless to stop it seeing as the relationship between Catherine and Rodolpho is not illegal in any way: “asking myself why, being an intelligent man, I was so powerless to stop it.” and “There is nothing you can do, Eddie, believe me.” This introduces the theme of powerlessness and timelessness in the play, which is important as it suggests that the events in the play could have taken place anywhere at anytime and could have happened to anyone. Nevertheless being unavoidable, there was nothing anyone could have done about it in order to prevent the tragic ending of the play. The theme of powerlessness on Alfieri’s part can also be linked to the title of the play, where he as the lawyer could be seen as a detached onlooker of the play’s events, standing at a distance on a metaphorical ‘bridge’. Seeing as he is detached, he is unable to arbitrate the action and isn’t very involved.

There are other possible interpretations of the title’s significance such as that the bridge is the ‘bridge’ between the audience and the characters in the play and Alfieri, being on that bridge and having a view of all the events from there, is able to mediate between both groups. Again taking into account that he is detached from both fractions, he is able to offer an unbiased, clear overview of the play’s events and characters, as his vision isn’t affected and obscured by opinions. Another example is that the title could be seen as a bridge between two very different ways of life – the American culture and Italian culture, and more specifically the ways of law and justice in both cases. American law states that justice must be taken to the authorities and is mainly in the interest of protecting the government, whereas Sicilian justice is dealt with through the people as a community and is in the interest of protecting the family. Alfieri, having had experienced with both sides of the bridge, is therefore able to see the story from both perspectives or viewpoints and this enables him to reason with Eddie and give him advice because he knows that in America it is not possible to take the law into your own hands: “You have no recourse in the law, Eddie” and “Morally and legally you have no rights, you cannot stop it”. Lastly, the hidden meaning within the title could also be that seeing as Alfieri is at a higher level in terms of education, wisdom and sensibility, he has an elevated, perhaps wiser view from the ‘bridge’, of the play’s happenings and can consequently see the general outcome of the characters’ actions leading to the disastrous ending.

The last interpretation of the title strongly suggests Alfieri as a godlike figure, introducing the theme of power. This is in reality the case, as many characters turn to him for help and advice during the course of the play, the main one of course being Eddie. In fact Alfieri’s role as an actual character in the play is mainly, if not entirely, to do with being an advisor to the other characters. We see his first appearance in this role during Act 1 when Eddie first seeks his help. In this scene we are able to see the contrast between the two characters – Alfieri who is calm, sensible and rational and who attempts to reason with Eddie who is hasty, unreasonable and irrational. This is apparent when in response to Alfieri saying: “She can’t marry you, can she?” he immediately flares up and retaliates without attempting to see the stupidity of his accusations. It is also clear during their conversation that Alfieri understands exactly what the problem is and comprehends fully the awkward situation between Eddie and Catherine: “but through the years – there is too much love for the daughter, there is too much love for the niece”. To give further emphasis to his godlike position is the manner in which Alfieri gives advice and the actual advice that he gives, which is very sensible and appropriate and even contains an air of wisdom: “The child has to grow up and go away, and the man has to learn to forget…Let her go. That’s my advice.” The language used by Alfieri also contributes to this. In contrast to Eddie, he speaks with elegance and near perfect English whereas Eddie’s dialogue is uncouth, simple and uneducated and his speech is much more colloquial.

As a character, Alfieri’s attitude towards Eddie also changes throughout the play. Initially, during their first meeting, his attitude towards him is formal and quite professional, with Alfieri simply looking at the problem put forward to him from a legal point of view and thus is not able to be very helpful. However by the second meeting between the two, he gradually becomes more involved and desperate to try and prevent the impending disaster, pleading with Eddie to let Catherine go and not to do anything he will regret: “Let her go. And bless her…You won’t have a friend in the world Eddie! Even those who understand will turn against you, even the ones who feel the same will despise you!”.

At the very end of the play, when Alfieri gives his closing speech once again as a narrator, he gives the audience the moral of the play: “And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be!”, which means that it is better to compromise and settle for half rather than lose everything as Eddie did. Instead of settling for a portion of Catherine’s love, he wanted her all for himself and this led to him not only losing her but also losing his “name”, the respect of his society, his friends, his family and everyone that he ever cared for and loved.

It could be said that Alfieri’s role is also to play the voice of the audience. While watching the play we the audience also want to be involved and would want to warn Eddie of the corollaries of his actions such as when he decides to report Rodolpho and Marco to the Immigration Bureau. Alfieri voices all of these thoughts and opinions during his meetings with Eddie and allows us indirectly to feel more a part of the action. Lastly, Arthur Miller could also have included Alfieri to convey his own thoughts and feelings, seeing as in the past he has openly expressed his disappointment that critics were misinterpreting the meanings behind his plays, namely ‘The Crucible’. By utilizing Alfieri, Miller ensures that the themes and morals of the play are made explicitly clear, such as the need for compromise, the idea of powerlessness and timelessness and the idea of inevitability. In doing this Miller is able to voice his own opinions and ideas he feels strongly about to the audience.

In conclusion Alfieri plays a variety of roles in the play, some more prominent than others but it must be asked: is he really necessary? Regarding the actual events of the play, the idea and theme of inevitability and powerlessness makes it clear that as an actual character, Alfieri doesn’t really make much of a difference to the play’s outcome seeing as nothing could have stopped the imminent disaster. However in regards to his interaction with the audience, I feel that Alfieri is somewhat important in putting forward useful information and ideas. By giving background information and general pieces of information, he introduces and sets the mood for scenes, he brings about feelings and evokes emotion and he allows for the smooth, continuous flow of the play, which ultimately increases the viewing pleasure for the audience. Finally, he is also important in making the audience feel more involved in the play’s action and is important to the author, who voices his ideas and feelings through him. All this combined leads to my belief that although Alfieri is not absolutely vital to the play, he is nevertheless important and definitely helps in increasing the enjoyment of watching for the audience, which is after all, the whole purpose of a play.

Keith Chan