A few weeks after the guests Marco and Rodolfo arrive, Catherine starts to become more intimate with Rodolfo going around the city alone together and coming late back home. Eddie again warns Catherine of Rodolfo’s intention of marrying her to gain US citizenship and that he doesn’t really love her or care for her well-being.
After a while Eddie becomes more and more hostile towards Rodolfo and suddenly provokes him into a ‘friendly’ boxing match, which results in Rodolfo being punched by Eddie making him stagger to the floor. Marco then upstages him by raising a chair with only one hand, something Eddie failed to accomplish. Soon after Eddie orders Rodolfo to leave and with Rodolfo’s refusal Eddie goes to meet Alfieri for a second time asking him what he could do to separate Catherine and Rodolfo. Alfieri then tells him that there is nothing he could do and that he should just let them get married and live their lives happily together. This frustrates Eddie at the thought of Catherine becoming a wife to Rodolfo so he decides to inform the immigration against the cousins and they get arrested.
The play ends tragically a few days after on Catherine’s wedding with Marco and Eddie struggling in a vicious fight resulting in Eddie being killed by Marco with a knife.
The whole way through the play there is a significant character, Alfieri who has two important roles, the narrator and the character. As a narrator he gives us information on what will happen and what has already happened in the past. The idea of the narrator originated from the Greeks, and Alfieri refers to the Greek in his conversation with us "…since the Greeks were beaten." As a character he is an advisor to Eddie and later Marco. Alfieri plays an important role as a narrator; he introduces the theme of justice. He also acts like a prologue and an epilogue to the play, creating suspense.
The first tragedies were written by Greek playwrights of the 5th century BCE. They feature individuals who become enmeshed in a terrible fate, a chorus who comment on proceedings.
There are several elements of A View from the Bridge that resemble Greek drama. Eddie is the tragic, mad character who is helpless in the face of his own terrible fate. Alfieri acts as the chorus in the play. He provides commentary on the action and articulates the greater moral and social implications of the drama. Eddie Carbone is an epic character; he makes bold moves and does things that are completely out of the ordinary. As chorus, Alfieri is key to distinguishing Eddie as a legendary figure because Alfieri gives Eddie epic proportions, "I looked into his eyes more than I listened—in fact, I hardly remember the conversation I will never forget how dark the room became when he looked at me; his eyes were like tunnels."
There is normally a tragic hero who always has an unhappy ending and either gets killed or leads an unhappy life, in this play it is Eddie who is killed in the end. There is always a fatal flaw which makes the character move towards his inevitable destiny. In ‘A View From The Bridge’ Eddie is the character who has a fatal flaw. This is shown when he tries his best to show Catherine Rodolfo’s true colours and that it is not in her best interest to have him as a husband. He then makes this situation worse by calling the immigration leading to the brothers Marco and Rodolfo being arrested and taken away. This was a big mistake as Marco had already been feeling some opposition to Eddie because of how he treated his brother and him calling immigration was the final straw. Here the audience feel powerless and helpless because they can’t prove to Catherine that all Eddie wants is for her to have a decent life and have a decent husband. They cannot do anything to prevent the inevitable death Eddie has coming from happening.
Because of Marco's accusations towards Eddie ‘he killed my children…stole food away from my children’ the community feel hesitant towards Eddie, his friends feel disgusted towards him and want to keep out of his way as they feel that he is a horrible man and that he could do the same to anyone of them.
Furthermore there is a chorus who appears at various key moments to comment on the action and increase the sense of tension, in this play Alfieri is used in this role. I believe that this is very effective as he is not too involved in the situation but does however play a part in some of the key events, such as trying to convince Eddie that t there is nothing he can do and that all his efforts will turn catastrophic. Also Alfieri made Marco promise that he will not hurt Eddie, so that he can be released on bail and work instead of sitting in a prison cell and doing nothing.
Another key theme of a tragedy is catharsis, a release of pent up emotion caused by watching something irritable that you are powerless to stop, an example of this is Eddie and how powerless he is in separating Catherine and Rodolfo, and then at last, in Eddie’s case, death is the result.
Finally pride and justice is the main aspect of what prevents Eddie from carrying on with his life peacefully and happily, as he wanted Marco to take back what he accused him of and wouldn’t let it go until he did.
The character who acts as a commentator to run the actions of ‘A View From The Bridge’ and is also part of the play is Alfieri, a middle-aged lawyer, not very enthralled by his job ‘my practice is entirely unromantic’ that immigrated to America as a young man seeking the concession to have freedom and wealth. He is very well respected in his neighbourhood, however people do keep their distance from him, as they tend to associate the law with disasters: ‘A lawyer means the law and in Sicily the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten’. Not many people in his neighbourhood are fond of lawyers or priests, as they believe meeting one ‘on the street is unlucky’ so they try not to get too close. Also towards the start of the epilogue he then talks about the greatest gangsters of all having experiences in the very same neighbourhood he lives in, which gives the audience a better idea of the area he lives in and what kind of things people get up to. He then goes on to explain that people have changed their ways and he ‘no longer keeps a pistol in my filing cabinet’.
He speaks directly to the audience and attempts to make clear the greater social and moral implications of the story. He tells the audience an un-biased and reasonable view of the events of the play. From his narration it seems that Alfieri is telling himself the story of what had happened as well as for the audience’s sake. It’s as if he is telling the story for the audience’s sake as well as for his own. Alfieri informs the audience and provides commentary on what is happening in the story. The description of the people within the play and narration at the beginning of every scene change helps to distinguish the events. Alfieri is fairly insignificant in the action of the play in general, but more importantly frames the play as a form of a modern fairy tale. Alfieri admittedly cannot help Eddie Carbone, but must powerlessly watch the tragic events unfold before him. There is no illusion of reality, Alfieri purposely breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience during the reform of the story.
Also when Alfieri speaks to Eddie, even though he had a past connection with Eddie, he keeps a social and professional distance from him. Even though he does care about Eddie’s actions both as a friend and as an advisor, he doesn’t let hid personal feelings interfere with what the law has to say.
When he does speak he mainly speaks to the audience, he makes sure that they are aware of the events of the tale. In contrast he advises Eddie when he goes to him in search of guidance and any way in which he could part Catherine from Rodolfo. Marco also speaks to him about his case and what could be done to Eddie for his revenge; here Alfieri is being generous in telling him that he should promise not to harm Eddie in anyway.
Alfieri is associated with various themes such as powerlessness as he keeps mentioning ‘and sat there powerless as I’ this shows that he knows what is going to happen and he obviously feels guilty about it. Other themes he is associated with are inevitability because he knows what is going to happen and knows that he cannot do anything about it. He also uses the past tense when talking about Eddie who reminds us that something tragic will happen. Finally an interesting technique is used when Miller links the epilogue with the prologue because he talks about ‘settle for half’ and he also mentions it in the end.
Alfieri as a character and participator in action is very limited as he only appears three times. I believe that this is significant as it shows that he has a more important role as a chorus and narrator then as an actual participator. Without Alfieri the audience will be confused and not as motivated as they are with the chorus. He helps move the story along and explains the imperative and significant events in the play.
Miller creates the difference between when he is a chorus and when he is a character because when he is a chorus he speaks in a more general way but when he is a character in he play he has a more professional role and prefers to not get too involved with the situations he is caught up in. Also when he acts as a participator he is mostly at his desk in his office talking to either Eddie or Marco and trying to solve their problems. In addition the lighting also differs as when he is a chorus as it is dimmed and not very bright on the other hand when he is a character it is more bright and usual.
So overall he is the teller of an incredible story that he cannot change.
