HOW WELL DOES A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE FIT INTO THE TRAGEDY GENRE?
HOW WELL DOES A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE FIT INTO THE TRAGEDY GENRE?
A view from the bridge is a marvelous tragedy that was written by Arthur Miller in 1956 following some of the guidelines of Greek tragedy. In this piece of coursework I will be examining how well the play fits into the tragedy genre, by looking closely at the character of Eddie as a tragic hero and the role of Alfieri as the chorus. I will also comment on the type of language Miller uses throughout the play.
Since Eddie is the central character in this play, and while the story is weaved around him using his own actions and feelings as its threads; I am going to start my essay by analysing his nature as a tragic hero and the different flaws that ended with his distressing downfall.
The ancient Greek tragedies and those of Shakespeare are about kings, dukes or great generals e.g. King Lear. However, Eddie is not a king or illustrious figure. This is because in their day, these individuals were thought to represent the whole people. Nowadays, we do not see even kings in this way. And so when writers want to show a person who represents a nation or class, they typically invent an "ordinary" person. In Eddie Carbone, Miller creates exactly that type. He is a very ordinary man, decent, hard-working and generous, a man no one could dislike and moreover, he is the head of his family; this means he has control over some individuals making him a modern version of a king. But, like the tragic hero of ancient Greek drama, he has a character flaw or weakness. This, in turn, causes him to act wrongly. The social and mental consequences of his wrong action devastated him at the end of the play.
I think that Eddie's main character flaw is his unwillingness to accept reality. His reality contains a secret desire for Catherine; this, to Eddie is something disgusting and immoral - as to him she is a daughter and some conflicting inner voice tells him that it is the only way it can be. For her he has an intense love but maybe this love arises from desire.
I believe his secret desire for Catherine motivates him a great deal that exposes other/new flaws to the audiences, for instance jealousy and stubbornness. We can see from Eddie's actions and the way he talks to Catherine that he has some sort of secret desire for her. He is so protective of her that he does not want her going out or wearing revealing clothes, this is revealed when he says "I think it's too short" and he didn't also like the way she walked "now don't aggravate me Katie you are walkin wavy" he perhaps didn't like the way she walked because it probably got attention from men, and Eddie didn't like that because in a way he thought Catherine was his. He also says "you ain't all the girls" this is Eddie saying you are not all the girls you are my girl. He doesn't like the way she walks and dresses and that she is getting a job because all these things show that she is becoming a woman and Eddie doesn't like this, so he is motivated to protect her as much as possible. He was so strict with her as she was growing up, so as soon as she saw a boy -Rodolfo - she literally jumped at him. Eddie's secret desire for Catherine led to his self interest. Because all he could think about was himself, he didn't look at how happy Catherine was with Rodolfo, all he cared about was trying to break them up by phoning the Immigration Bureau. However all this caused Catherine and himself to grow apart and for Catherine to finally see what type of man he was.
Throughout the entire play, Eddie has an idea of manhood, which was also one of his character flaws, making him a typical tragic hero. He seems to think men are the main species and women are secondary. He is bossy and over-protective, standing up for himself whenever the occasion arises. From Eddie's Sicilian background, he believes that the man should be the leader of the household. And as the head of the family, whatever he says goes:
"Eddie, for God's sake, it's her wedding.
Didn't you hear what I told you? You walk out that door to that wedding you ain't comin' back here, Beatrice.
What do you want?
I want my respect. Didn't you hear of that? From my wife?"
We see how Eddie demands respect from Beatrice by not going to the wedding. He thinks males are the working class and women should not work. He also believes that the man brings home the food and drink and the women stay at home, managing the house. In that time 1950s all men went to work with their wife's respect, and if a woman was to argue with their husbands, it would be severely questioned by the other males. This ...
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What do you want?
I want my respect. Didn't you hear of that? From my wife?"
We see how Eddie demands respect from Beatrice by not going to the wedding. He thinks males are the working class and women should not work. He also believes that the man brings home the food and drink and the women stay at home, managing the house. In that time 1950s all men went to work with their wife's respect, and if a woman was to argue with their husbands, it would be severely questioned by the other males. This was why Eddie was being so nervous and forbidden Beatrice to go to the wedding; because he had a reputation to keep. You can also see what he believes by the way he talks to Catherine. Catherine is talking to him about her job as a stenographer and he says ''why didn't you ask me before you took a job ?'' this shows that he wants Catherine to ask for his permission before accepting the job. He wants her to ask for permission so he feels like he is the boss and because he wasn't consulted first he feels threatened. This is one thing that leads to his downfall because he was trying to be so manly he could not show any emotions, so he kept everything inside.
Eddie has been brought up with the strong, passionate Italian/Sicilian codes of honour and loyalty. He thought he had to let Marco and Rodolfo stay because it was the right thing to do ''then what the hell. It's an honour' B., I mean it. I was just thinkin' before, comin' home, suppose my father did not come to this country , and I was starvin' like them over there .... and I had people in America who could keep me a couple of months? The man would be honoured to lend me a place to sleep''. And by looking at Eddie's language we realise that Eddie uses a Brooklyn slang ("quicker" for "more quickly", "stole" for "stolen" and so on). We also find that his speech is simple and straight forward.
However, Eddie starts picking on Rodolfo from the first night. He becomes extremely jealous and spiteful of Catherine´s attraction to him, and so this is taking her attention away from himself. He feels betrayed by Catherine because he has been a father to her all her life and "gave her the food out of his mouth". He paid money to her so that she would meet a better class of people. He also feels betrayed because she has suddenly run off to live her own life, and that she is not his little baby anymore. And for this reason Eddie uses Rodolfo´s illegal status against him and exercises his authority over him. He makes Rodolfo stop singing as the singing is drawing attention to him and he may get discovered and picked up, however, the true reason for his act was just to cover his feelings of jealousy and dislike towards him
Eddie's hatred for Rodolfo grows that he begins to act and say irresponsible things; this is how any tragic hero would act leading him/her self to a distressing downfall. And he is acting on his emotions when he tells Catherine, after they have come back from the cinema that Rodolfo is only using her to get his papers so he can stay in America. "Katie, he's only bowin´ to his passport." Catherine reacts badly to this and the tension between everyone in the flat grows. . We also realise that Eddie's language gets worse as he declines, seeing that he started talking more in the Italian/ American accent.
It is because of Marco and Rodolfo's illegal status and their dependence on Eddie for his hospitality that they are unable to stand up for themselves and react normally to the situation and are trapped in the flat with nowhere else to go. Marco is aware of Eddie's hostility towards Rodolfo and as his older protective brother; he feels it is his duty to defend Rodolfo, especially after Eddie uses the reason of a friendly boxing match to lay a punch on Rodolfo. Marco, because of the situation is unable to speak out, but uses a very effective way of silently challenging Eddie to prove his strength. He issued Eddie with what seemed a friendly challenge, as Eddie did with Rodolfo, to lifting a chair one handed by one leg. Which apparently takes a huge amount of energy to perform. There are definite similarities between Eddie and Marco; they are both strong men with similar family and cultural beliefs, set in Italian tradition. Both Eddie and Marco are men of their word, whether they are right or wrong, and this is going to cause trouble. Especially in an already troubled family, the flat is now under a huge pressure and it is just a matter of time before the situation explodes. Through all this Beatrice is the peace keeping figure that offers Eddie support and tries to break up the situation and prevent the expected ending. However because of the Italian background and her role within the family, Beatrice has to do her duty to obey her husband.
The explosion comes when Eddie comes home drunk and finds Catherine and Rodolfo alone after having been in the bedroom together. He is so desperate; he is acting on his emotions and not thinking sensibly about what he is doing, when he kisses Catherine to claim her as his, and kisses Rodolfo to prove he is 'not right´. Eddie becomes obsessed to stop Catherine from going out with Rodolfo. He tells Alfieri of Rodolpho, that "he ain't right", and that "you could kiss him, he was so sweet", however, Alfieri advises him that there is nothing he can do. But Eddie does not like it and so, like a fool, does not take it. Alfieri does not force Eddie to take the advice but strongly recommends him to:
"This is my last word Eddie, take it or not, that's your business. Morally and legally you have no right, you cannot stop it; she is a free agent."
This was a turning point in Eddie's fate. Eddie should have taken the advice and just let Catherine and Rodolfo get on with their lives, but Eddie was a fool and did not want to believe that he was going to lose Catherine.
In his misery he betrays them to the immigration bureau. This is Eddie's point of no return, which is a fundamental point in a tragic hero's course through his/her troubled life. In doing this he has also betrayed a neighbour's cousins as well as Marco who is trying to make money to save his family. Not only has he betrayed his family he has betrayed himself and his word of honour, which means so much in the Italian culture, and to Eddie himself. Eddie's own words were," You can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word you gave away." Eddie has betrayed his own beliefs, and lost the respect of the whole community and his honour. The community have turned against Eddie, who ignored Alfieri's words of warning, "You won't have a friend in the world, Eddie! Even those who understand will turn against you," Marco publicly denounces Eddie as a murderer, because Eddie has denied him the possibility to work in America to provide money for his starving family's desperate needs. It is Marco that is his enemy now, not Rodolfo, because Marco has taken Eddie's name and honour. It is Marco's belief that he has the right to take revenge and it is his duty to do so for the sake of his family. He cannot see why according to American law Eddie goes unpunished, "In my country he would be dead now." In Italy the law was not all in a book and justice was more to do with feelings and emotions. Eddie is certainly going to be merciless challenger when he demands 'his name´ back. The two men have basically the same beliefs and values, and after this face-to-face collision, death is inevitable, because both men believe they are in the right and have gone too far to be able to give any compromise. We also find out that Eddie started to repeat the same statement over and over again throughout the play for different reasons .e.g. he repeated the statement "he is aint right" for a great number of times, this because he first of all repeated it to reassure himself that what he is doing is the right thing, and second of all he used it to get justify his discriminating actions against Rodolfo. And by repeating the statement" I want my name back Marco "we see how stubborn and uncompromising he is.
Although Beatrice is horrified by Eddie's actions, she is loyal and turns to him instead of away from him. This is because of her love for him. Although she is forced to come out with the truth in the end that it is Catherine he wants and not his name "You want somethin' else, Eddie, and you can never have her!"
Eddies neighborhood motivates him a lot because he is so concerned about his respect in the neighborhood he forgets about what he is doing to the people close to him. This is shown when at the final scene he kept on demanding respect ''wipin the neighbourhood with my name like dirty rag ; I want my name back Marco , now gimme my name and we go together to the wedding'' as a result of this Eddie died. He was so concerned about what the neighborhood thought of him because he lived in Brooklyn which was a harsh part of New York and it was a close community meaning that everyone knew everyone's business and everyone was from the same background as Eddie, they also had similar jobs, meaning that they cared about what the community thought of them. So when they heard what Marco had said and done to Eddie, they probably thought it would be better not to talk to Eddie, as it might affect them. This would hurt Eddie knowing what the community thought of him, that's why he was demanding respect and would not back down and I believe this motivated him a lot knowing he had a bad reputation in the community and the only way he could see to get his respect back would be for Marco to say that he was wrong. And as a result of Marco not giving 'Eddie's name back' Eddie died. And so we conclude that Eddie is purely a tragic hero, he had some character flaws that motivated him a lot, making him act in a thoughtless way, until he reached his point of .from this point onwards he started falling until he met his deadly end.
The climax of the play occurs when Marco is coming to punish Eddie; and Eddie in return demands his "name" back. Marco believes it is dishonourable in Italy to let Eddie live, but has given his word to Alfieri not to kill him. Eddie's pulling a knife means that Marco can see justice done, while keeping his word. The action is symbolic as Eddie literally dies by his own hand, which holds the knife, and is killed by his own weapon; but Eddie also metaphorically destroys himself, over the whole path of the play.
Finally Eddie realises, when it is too late when he is dying, that Beatrice loves him and he loves Beatrice. He realises that it was impossible to keep Catherine as he has tried and it is inevitable that one day he would have to let go. In the end it is because he is not able to 'settle for half´ and solve a situation by giving a bit as well as taking. The tragedy is inevitable, but deepened by his character flaw's especially his desire for Catherine as well as his Italian culture.
After Eddie, Alfieri is probably the most important character in the play. He is, of course, in some (not much) of the action, as Eddie consults him. This is essential, as it explains how he has come to know the story.
In this play I believe that the chorus character has the "View From The Bridge," looking over the play. At the opening of Act 1 Miller explains how Alfieri's office can fit into the stage setting too as it is Alfieri's view from the bridge that we see. I imagine he has so much pressure from being told all the other characters' secrets that he needs to talk to someone. I think this is why he talks to the audience.
By reading the play we find out that he is in control of everything; he introduces the play, narrates the story in flashback, focussing on key scenes, and finally he closes the play. Besides he morally comments on the action in a previous scene as well as giving hints on the actions occurring in the next, "He worked on the piers when there was work", "After they had eaten, the cousins came." Although he does play some part in the action, it is clear that he was powerless and that nothing he could have done would have altered the bloody course. By doing so, he exercises a key role of the chorus character - they can comment but not interfere, "I could have finished the whole story that afternoon.", "I was so powerless to stop it", "I could see every step coming, step after step, like a dark figure walking down a hall towards a certain door." And so Arthur Miller slightly steps out of the tragedy genre's track by permitting Alfieri to take a part in the action. Alfieri's powerlessness tells the audiences that in a society similar to the one that both Eddie and Alfiari living in it is really hard to divert someone from their intents even if you are in a higher status; this could be because of pride, arrogance and self-interest. It also brings to mind that the human nature is very powerless, even if people look very hard and illustrious on the outside, they are very fragile and tender in the inside.
And so this gives the audience the feeling that Alfieri is simply re-telling the story, as he speaks in the past tense - except when he's talking to another actor in the play. Since Alfieri's character is a Lawyer, the community in the play respects him, and views him as the authoritative figure in the play. The audiences also listen to Alfieri because they trust a lawyer to be a good judge of characters and balanced, but they also like his character and can connect with his position in the play. And so this reflects the need for the chorus in a Greek tragedy to know about everything.
I think that Arthur Miller meant for the play to be a Greek tragedy. He used Alfieri as a link with the history; the ancient theme is brought up in the introductory scene, "In some Caesar's year, in Calabria perhaps or on the cliff at Syracuse..." I find this interesting because it is relating to a theme that has been used throughout time.
As a chorus character he knows what is going to happen, however, he tries to stop it. He also tries to dissuade Eddie from what he knows will happen; "She can't marry you, can she?" He also sees Eddie's feelings, and tries to relate them to the audience, "There is too much love for the niece", "When the law is wrong, it's because it's unnatural, but in this case it is natural." Alfieri knows about both moral law and of that in the book. He controls which one he uses. He does this again in a later scene, where he tries to tell Marco that the only law is that in a book, and that he would be breaking that law if he harmed Eddie. Again as Eddie plans the betrayal of the two brothers, Alfieri reads his mind and repeatedly warns him: "You won't have a friend in the world...Put it out of your mind".
And by examining Alfieri's language throughout the play, we find out that he is a properly educated, fluent speaker of American English; for this reason he can explain Eddie's actions to us, but not to Eddie, who does not really speak his language. Consequently, he will be set apart from the other characters. We also realize that Alfieri repeats himself throughout the play trying to persuade Eddie against his action, which will lead to his tragic downfall. By doing so he reinforces the theme of repetition. However, Alfieri is powerless to change the inevitable course of Eddie's tragic end. He moreover emphasizes Eddie's tragic flaw "His eyes were like tunnels,"
Overall, I think that this is exactly what Arthur Miller wanted the play to be "a modern version of a Greek tragedy"; in order to achieve his aim, Miller slightly modernised some of the Greek tragedy rules. First of all he made Eddie an ordinary man instead of a king or an illustrious person. I think he did so because an ordinary man will relate more to the audiences, and they will also feel more sympathy towards him. Secondly, Miller permitted the character of Alfiari to take part in the story, not only by narrating but also playing the role of a lawyer. However, this role did not allow him to interferer with the way the play is going, but it was limited on giving advice only.
After all I think that A view from the bridge fits very well in the tragedy genre, even though there are some modern touches. However, these touches did not by any mean totally change the play tragic type. As Eddie being an ordinary man did not change the fact that he had some character flaws that led to his tragic downfall. Again Alfiari being a lawyer in the play as well as a narrator did not lose Eddie his tragic track throughout the play.
