Later, Eddie challenges Rodolpho in a physical, manly manner. After implying that Rodolpho is homosexual, he tries to prove he really is gay and at the same time showing himself as a proper man. To do this he confronts Rodolpho by asking; “You ever do boxing?” and Rodolpho replies,
“Well I don’t know how to”. This makes Rodolpho feel very small and embarrassed, knowing this, Eddie implies he is more like a proper man. At this point Eddie has more authority as Rodolpho is asking something of him. Eddie demonstrates it to him and trying to seem as if he is being helpful he encourages him more and more.
“Come on! Again for the jaw right there very good!” After a while, Eddie goes one-step ahead and tells Rodolpho he is going to start throwing punches and Rodolpho has to block. Catherine gets worried and questions about what is going on she is very concerned.
[With beginning alarm] “What are they doing?”
Eddie then ‘accidentally’ punches Rodolpho in the jaw [he feints with his left hand and lands with his right.it midly staggers Rodolpho]. He at this is pushed back..[Marco rises] and Catherine is [rushing towards Rodolpho] “Eddie”.
Eddie acts as if he has not hurt him, just hit him faintly and he then asks “Did I hurt you kid?” Rodolpho who at the time is shocked says;
“No, no he didn’t hurt me [to Eddie with a certain gleam and a smile]”
The smile on Rodolpho’s face also shows that he is shocked and surprised. This increases the tension dramatically as the characters would not have expected it. Marco is fuming and will not allow it.
The audience knows how Eddie feels about Rodolpho and that Eddie would have done this by purpose. When Eddie challenges Rodolpho, the audiences have an idea of what Eddie’s intention was. At the beginning of the challenge where Rodolpho is asked whether he can do boxing or not the tension is stable. When Eddie begins to throw the punches it raises it is at it’s most when Eddie has punched Rodolpho and the tension is also at a high point because Marco would have already been aware that Eddie may do something to harm Rodolpho.
After this Marco is very angry and Miller shows him as a person who would stick to his family even if they were in the wrong. Rodolpho is not in the wrong and this annoys Marco a lot more. At the same time Marco is aware that the tension will increase but needs to get his point across otherwise Eddie will not learn. Marco then challenges Eddie to pick up a chair. This increases the tension excessively as they are not playing around Marco at this time is very serious At this point Eddie is very shocked and asks; “What do you mean?” Marco demonstrates to Eddie without lifting the chair. Eddie then tries and cannot do it. He tries again and still cannot do it. He then finds an excuse why he cannot lift it. “It’s on an angle, that’s why heh?” Marco then proves that he is stronger. Marco lifts the chair and finds it very hard to do so as you can see by his jaw and eyes, his neck is also stiff. They look ‘face to face’ into each other eyes, and Eddie’s ‘smile vanishes’ as he knows that Marco is warning him. In doing this, he threatens Eddie not to get on the wrong side of both Rodolpho and himself. This accelerates the tension exceedingly Eddie now realizes that Rodolpho is not on his own and Marco is aware of what Eddie is upto.
While this is happening from Eddie having all the power, it changes to Marco having the power therefore Eddie’s ‘strength challenge is not successful, it doesn’t work’.
Miller then ends the act leaving the audience in wonder of what will happen next. There is a lot of tension in the end of the first act making the audience thinking and looking forward to the next act and how this problem will be resolved.
Ever since Eddie found out that Marco and Rodolpho are coming from Italy there has been tension in the house. The tension has been rising and rising and is at its highest when Marco challenges Eddie. In Act 2 Eddie truly shows to the characters about how he feels and his love for Catherine however when he does this he is drunk and is even more inflamed that Rodolpho and Catherine have slept together. We as an audience already are aware of this but are waiting to see how the characters find out and what will happen next.
Eddie shows his love for Catherine when he kisses her on the lips,[When this happens Rodolpho pulls her away and says; “Don’t! stop that have some respect for her!” This shows the other characters Eddie inappropriate feeling for Catherine. Eddie then tries to prove to Catherine that Rodolpho is gay by kissing him too, making Catherine wonder whether he really is gay.
To increase the tension Eddie, remembering he is drunk, goes to Alfeiri and is so angered by Rodolpho he calls the immigration and tells them that Rodolpho and Marco have come from Italy illegally. “I want to report something. Illegal immigrants. Two of them. That’s right 441 Saxon Street Brooklyn, yeah. Ground floor heh? I’m just around the neighbourhood, that’s all. heh?” by telling on Rodolpho and Marco it also puts himself at risk and when he makes the phone call he is drunk and does not realise what he is putting himself into.
Eddie then finds out that Catherine intends to marry Rodolpho and Eddie acts as if he cares about them and wants the best for them. He plays along with it and by doing this everyone thinks he is happy and is worried about there safety. By doing this miller tries to show that Eddie has nothing to do with the immigration although Marco has a feeling that Eddie is behind this. Again the tension is rising; at this point Marco is suspicious of what Marco is up to.
At the end of Act One, there is allot of tension as Marco is showing that he is stronger than Eddie is and although Eddie is older Marco will not accept this. This is when Marco is at a higher status picking up the chair Eddie finds that Marco is suspicious of what Eddie is up to. The end of Act Two ends with Marco standing above Eddie and Eddie falling in front of Marco bowing down to him. Marco has more power than Eddie does at this point too.
The differences are that at the end of act one Marco is just at a little bit higher status than Marco, at this point Eddie can fight back and can stick up for himself. He is being warned. Marco does not say anything to Eddie but does it through the eye contact giving Eddie an impression that Marco is watching and noticing him. The tension is higher as there still is that chance that Eddie will fight back but doesn’t. The audience doesn’t know what will happen next and therefore are also tense.
However, at the end of Act Two Eddie cannot do anything as he has been stabbed. He cannot defend himself He is defenseless and Marco has got a lot more power at this point. When Marco has more power he talks to him with no respect, he talks to him with hatred. “Animal! You go on your knees to me.” Marco has never spoken to eddie like this and Eddie may be shocked but will not say anything back as he is aware of what Marco is capable of.
Miller creates dramatic tension by having the tension increasing in steps more and more. It slowly rises and Eddie’s death is unexpected to a certain point. He promises not to kill Eddie but loses control his hatred overcome him. After the tension has been built, it comes to a dramatic stop. The audience would have been entertained and hooked on to the play, as there has been a lot of tension that would have been there until Eddie dies then when Eddie dies the tension suddenly releases.
This play has been tragedy but with a successful conclusion. Eddie was in the wrong and led to him suffering for the wrong he had did. In the play Eddie is seen as a tragic hero. Tragic heroes like Eddie are important men who are part of the community. His fatal flaw was that he had inappropriate feelings for his niece Catherine and wasn’t aware of it. His fatal flaw led to do things he would regret but were unstoppable and then eventually led to his own death.
Different writers have different ways of building up and showing that there is tension at certain times in the plays. Some of Millers techniques were dimming the lights, showing the way people are acting or even having set bits where the characters thoughts are read out. Miller’s main way was using Alfeiri by saying Eddie’s thoughts as well as Eddie telling Alfeiri things he could not tell others in the play. Alfeiri knew what Eddie was like and would explain why he would think the things in the way he did.
I found Miller’s play very interesting as I was hooked on as the tension levels rose. I enjoyed it and at the beginning, I found it strange for the uncle to have these feelings for Catherine and that Eddie would restrict her even though she was 17 years old. I found it interesting how Marco was a mature and calm man but at the same time was the one to murder Eddie. He could not control his anger. I think the ending was good as Eddie got what he deserved and Beatrice loved him but Eddie did not give her attention it was effective how Eddie died in her arms.