Miller’s main view is that the common man is equally suitable as a tragic hero as kings and believes that this should be obvious from a modern psychology viewpoint. He even the suggests the common man may make a better tragic hero. He also states that if not in art we attribute the same mental processes to the noble and also the lowly. Another point he makes is that the tragic hero has a “tragic flaw” but this is really nothing however the character not being passive and accepting this leads to their eventual downfall. He states that if tragedy was only experienced by the highly placed then the common man would not be able to relate to tragedy and enjoy it. Therefore anybody can experience tragedy and relate to it.
In a view from the bridge the character of Eddie is arguably a tragic hero and matches millers description of a tragic hero well in my opinion. He doesn’t match the traditional view of a tragic hero as he is not noble or highly placed in society; he is a working class man. Although not actually noble he is of high importance and respect in his own community maybe equal to nobility in context and this relates to millers view of a modern tragic hero as a common man. The “tragic flaw” relating to both views of a tragic hero is that Eddie is attracted to his niece; he is overprotective and tries to control her life. The result his his tragic downfall; however this was a small flaw which could have been overcome. However because of his arrogance and ego he wouldn’t give in to what was happening instead aggressively opposing it. This relates well to both views of a tragic hero with miller describing the hero’s tragic flaws as small and the traditional view that the heroes arrogance and ignorance results in their downfall.
So Eddie fits Millers view of a tragic hero best but also a lot of traits from the traditional view of a tragic hero can be seen in him. I think that characters such as Eddie are the traditional tragic hero but in a modern context that people nowadays can relate to and enjoy. Miller talks about this concept “ saying But surely the right of one monarch to capture the domain from another no longer raises our passions”. This would suggest that the traditional tragic hero is archaic and therefore not relevant in modern day.
In this play the stage direction are important in telling the reader what is happening, it gives them a deeper understanding than the characters speech alone would. Miller uses stage directions when it would be difficult to interpret what emotions should be shown. Stage direction are also used to make it clear to the production company his intended symbolism.
Alfieri is the narrator and a wise attorney who provides legal advice to Eddie. One similarity between Alfieri and the chorus found in Greek tragedies is that Alfieri introduces the play with a speech about the neighborhood and his job as a lawyer. Similarly Typical Greek tragedies would include an entrance song sung by the chorus. In Greek plays the chorus would offer a variety of background information to the audience and also comment on the play themes. Often the chorus would express what the characters couldn’t such as hidden fears or secrets. Alfieri doe give some background information throughout the play such as his introduction; he also seems to understand Eddie well and gives him advice. Alfieri seems to have a good understanding of Eddie his motives and his fate “I could see everything coming, step by step”. Similar to the Greek chorus sometimes he could be said to express the characters secrets. Therefore Alfieri does play a similar role to the chorus in Greek tragedy.
Eddies tragic flaw is his inappropriate lust for his Niece Catherine which results in a series of events and eventually his death.
Honor seems to be important to Eddie as at first he will not call the immigration bureau because he refuses to betray the immigrants. However when he sees Rudolph making love to Catherine his emotion s must overcome his importance of honor and he calls them. Also Eddies fight with Marco could be said to be because of honor and Eddies will to keep his honor, this however results in his tragic death.
In typical tragedies the tragic hero is fated and I think this is also true with this play, with eddies actions and emotions it is inevitable that he will be in conflict with people and will find himself in undesirable situations.
