Aurther Millers A View From The Bridge: Alfiery.

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Aurther Millers A View From The Bridge:Alfiery

Many hundreds of years ago, the ancient Greeks produced the first theatre. This theatre, at first, had no actors, and the numerous chorus figures told the whole story, which was usually a tragedy. Later, in the 6th century B.C., Thespis introduced the actor. The chorus figure was still in plays - he now commented on the action, divided it into scenes and linked these scenes together by covering any action that the audience didn't see during a time gap. He represents sanity, reason and compassion in modern plays. The choric figure usually talks more standard English, and this is true in this play, where Alfieri is much more articulate than most of the characters.

Arthur Miller has used this trait in Alfieri to divide each act into unofficial scenes, and inform the audience on any missed action. As David Thacker, a Director said, Alfieri is the "mechanism by which the play unfolds."

A View From The Bridge involves the audience and their emotions. Arthur Miller has used various methods to keep these emotions controlled. He has used calm scenes between those of high tension and emotion, but the main method is the chorus figure. The audience listen to Alfieri, for many reasons. They respect his opinion because he is a Lawyer, but they also like his character and can connect with his position in the play.

I believe that the chorus character in this play has the "View From A Bridge," and is looking over the play. I think 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.He comments on the action in a previous scene and gives hints as to the action in the next, "He worked on the piers when there was work", "After they had eaten, the cousins came." In doing this, he exercises a key role of the chorus character - they can comment but not intervene, "I could have finished the whole story that afternoon." This also gives the audience the feeling that Alfieri is simply re-telling the story, because he speaks in the past tense, except when he's talking to another actor in the play. Alfirei's character is as a Lawyer. The community in the play respect Alfieri, and view him as the authoritative figure in the play. As Alfieri reminds us in his introductory speech, Lawyers are only thought of in connection with disasters. I think that Arthur Miller meant for the play to be a Greek tragedy. 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 linking to a theme that has been used throughout time. ;
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Another theme that Arthur Miller uses Alfieri to portray, it that of repetition. In the introductory scene, Alfieri refers to the repetition of events throughout history when he says, "Another lawyer, quite differently dressed, heard the same complaint." Alfieri also repeats himself throughout the play, reinforcing this theme. In both his main scenes as a Lawyer he says how, "His eyes were like tunnels," referring to Eddie.

In most of Alfieri's scenes he develops the action, moving time forwards and setting the new time, place and situation, as he does in both of the next two ...

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