Miller introduces a sense of tension through Alfieri’s opening speech, he gives background information of what is going to happen so the audience are familiarised with the surrounding before the play actually begins. “Behind that suspicious little nods of theirs lie three thousand years of distrust.” This sentence shows that Alfieri can be trusted because he is aware of how others see him. The effect of words like “suspicious” and “distrust” is that it makes the audience feel uncomfortable and sets the scene for the opening events of the play. “Frankie Yale himself was cut precisely in half by a machine gun…two blocks away”. This shows that this neighbourhood is full of violence and that even after gangsterism there is still signs of violence and betrayal in this hood. “Cut” and “machine gun” are examples of violent imagery used; they have a negative effect on the audience. Alfieri also hints at the background history which the action of the play takes place. “The law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten”. Miller hints at the history of conflict between the people living here, by using words such as “beaten”, show that this neighbourhood isn’t friendly.
The theme of ‘law’ is very important in ‘A View from the Bridge’, it is introduced early on and we, as the audience start to realise that somewhere in the play this theme will be important and it will change the lives of some people. The fact that Alfieri goes on to state that lawyers in ancient times, as well as he in modern times, were unable to prevent a “complaint” running a “bloody course” causes us the question the power and influence of the law. In other words, although justice is important, often the law as it stands is incapable of running justice. Alfieri, through his speech, hints that the people that live in Red hook should act American and try and stick to American laws. “But this is Red Hook, not Sicily. This is the slum that faces the bay.” The effect of this description is that people need to start to put their Italian origins behind because they’re living in America. “Slum” creates the imagery of poverty and shows that the people that live there have poor lives, so we as an audience know the play is going to show us the lives of realistic people who live difficult existences. “Now we settle for half”, as we see how Eddie loses everything, but if he would have settled for half, then he wouldn’t have died. Miller cleverly gives human characteristics to New York. “This is the gullet of New York swallowing the tonnage of the world.” This personification suggests to the audience that tons of immigrants arrive in New York to fulfil their ‘American Dreams’ which is to make money and be rich. As we realise lots of people that migrate to live the ‘American Dream’ are often disappointed because as we can clearly see in the quotations their lives are badly conditioned as when they were in Sicily.
The audience’s attention is immediately captured when Alfieri says “in this neighbourhood to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky.” This shows that people that live in this area are mostly not educated and we come to find out they are mostly longshoremen. “We’re only thought of in connection with disasters.” Words like disaster and unlucky set an atmosphere of distrust and people in this area think, a lawyer and a priest can do great harm. “There were many here who were justly shot by unjust men. Justice is very important here.” Miller chooses to introduce the theme of justice early in the play to try and tell the audience, that justice is very important in this play, and as we find out later in the play, justice is not delivered to Eddie and that although justice is important, the law as it stands is incapable of delivering justice. As Alfieri finishes his speech he introduces the character of Eddie. “This one’s name was Eddie Carbone…” The audience are interested to find out why Eddie is introduced at the end of the Alfieri’s speech, and it creates a sense of intrigue. “This one’s name” tell us that what is about to happen, can happen to anyone. And the way Alfieri refers to Eddie in the past, ”was” hints at something is about to happen in the near future and as we find out at the end of the play, Eddie is killed by his own knife.
Miller through Alfieri creates a sense of intrigue and mystery that captures the audience’s attention and makes them want to read on. “My wife has warned me, so have my friends; they tell me the people in this neighbourhood lack elegance, glamour.” Words such as “lack elegance” tell the audience that the people in this neighbourhood don’t lead a glamorous life, they are real people who probably have hard lives. This speech creates intrigue about the people in this community. “And yet… every few years there is still a case.” This shows that even though, they are suspicious of Lawyers they still come to seek help, but Alfieri’s words have implied that these cases are unique indeed. Miller uses colour imagery to show, through Alfieri, how once in a while there is an important case like the one that we are about to see. “The flat air in my office suddenly washes in with the green scent of the sea.” The green scent of the sea we know is not referring to the slum of New York City but might be referring to Italy. “ in some Cesar’s year in Calabria … or on the cliff at Syracuse, another lawyer, quite differently dressed, heard the same complaint” here Miller is deliberately taking the context of the tragedy out of New York and making it more universal and timeless. This presents the idea that Eddie’s situation is not unique and the tragedy that is about to happen to him could have happened to anyone else. Alfieri tells the audience he is “powerless” and he has to watch “it run its bloody course.” This implies that although Alfieri is a lawyer and has the law in his hands, there is nothing he can do to try and stop Eddie from his incestuous love for his niece, Catherine. This questions us as the audience to think how powerful the law is to try and bring justice.
The staging of ‘A View from the Bridge’ is cleverly designed and arranged. It builds tension before we even meet the characters. The tenement building signifies to the audience that the characters we are about to be introduced to are from a poor background and as we learn as the play drifts on we find that area is mostly where longshoremen work. The arrangement enables the inside of the apartment, the street outside and Alfieri's office all to be represented without any scene changes. The area that is being used is cleverly lighted when needed, otherwise it will stay dark. The fact that the “main acting area is a worker’s flat” hint the people we are about to meet are below par. “None of these interiors are seen” which is indicating the Kitchen and the bedroom makes the audience to try and guess at what is happening inside these interiors. The telephone booth is an important crop because there is always a light on it, while other places turn on and off, and as the play gets closer to the end, the booth glows brighter and brighter to signal Eddie’s idea and then determination, to call the immigration bureau. At the start of the play the foghorn tells us where we are.
Miller’s intention was to create a modern day account of a Greek Tragedy and ‘A View from the Bridge’ is quite similar in the way it is structured. The word ‘tragedy’ refers primarily to tragic drama: a literary composition written to be performed by actors in which a central character called a tragic protagonist or hero suffers some serious misfortune which is not accidental and therefore meaningless, but is significant in that the misfortune is logically connected with the hero's actions. Tragedy stresses the vulnerability of human beings whose suffering is brought on by a combination of human and divine actions, but is generally undeserved with regard to its harshness. This genre, however, is not totally pessimistic in its outlook. Although many tragedies end in misery for the characters, there are also tragedies in which a satisfactory solution of the tragic situation is attained. Greek tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides, were written about Grand Kings, Dukes or Generals because in their times, these individuals were thought to encompass or symbolize the whole person. Nowadays, we don’t even see Kings in that way, and as we can clearly see Arthur Miller, created a fictious character called Eddie, who is just a normal, hardworking person. Miller uses Eddie to tell the tale of ‘every man’, Eddie represents every human in a way, he is a symbol of every human and every human has a basic impulse, in which civilization has made us control. In Eddie, he doesn’t know his incestuous desire for his adopted daughter, and therefore can not deny this “passion that has moved into his body like a stranger”. And therefore people in his surroundings start to realize his sexual desire, including the audience. Eddie is clearly the tragic hero of the play. Alfieri makes us aware at the end of his opening speech, “This one’s name was Eddie Carbone…” Eddie is the subject of Alfieri’s narrative and the all the characters are seen in relation to him.
Eddie is the main character in this play; therefore he is the one building all the tension and drama. The audiences start to sympathize with Eddie as the play progresses on. We can see through Eddie’s actions, that there is something on his mind. “His face puffed with trouble.” It is at this point, that Eddie’s fate starts to substantiate and Catherine and Rodolpho start to like each other. Miller had created a catalyst, which is something that speeds up a reaction, and in this play the catalyst refers metaphorically to Rodolpho, as we can see he is speeding up Eddie’s fate, and eating him away, although it is nothing that Rodolpho says that is damaging Eddie, it is the actions he is doing that obviously Eddie disapproves and detests. The audience know that Eddie loves Catherine more than the fatherly way, “you are walkin' wavy!” This might show his concern and it is not clear to the audience at first, Eddie’s love for his adopted daughter, but later on in the play it becomes clear. Beatrice tells the story of Vinny Bolzano, “The family had an uncle they were hidin’ in the house, and he (Vinny) snitched to the immigration.” Real life stories of betrayal, this sentence is ironic, and as we see at the end of the play Eddie betrays his own relatives. “Remember kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole, than a word that you gave away.” This creates the atmosphere at the end of the play of how Eddie tries to get back his name from Marco. Eddie Carbone is the main character in ‘A View from the Bridge’; he is a longshoreman and works on the docks. He is a good husband and father to both Beatrice and Catherine. He is thought of a good man who tries to protect his family and make them aware of their surroundings and as the audience cannot help but like him and sympathize with his desire to protect his child. He is respected in the community and is thought of a good friend to Luis and Mike. Alfieri is also a friend and confidant to him. As we see he is the tragic hero who dies at the end of the play.
Alfieri is probably the second most important character after Eddie. In ‘A View from the Bridge’ he is the chorus figure and Miller created this character to be the mouthpiece and to fast forward the time without any delays, as we can see this is not his only role in this performance. He is also the lawyer, friend and confidant to Eddie. Alfieri is the symbolic bridge between American law and tribal laws. Alfieri the Italian-American is true to his ethnic identity. He is well educated man, who respects the American law, but is still loyal to Italian customs. The play is told from the viewpoint of Alfieri.
One day Eddie arrives home with the news that Beatrice’s 2 cousins have landed in New York and they will arrive at the family’s house at 10 o’clock. It is obvious that the family has spoken about this visit before; as Beatrice is anxious that she hasn’t got a new tablecloth and that she hasn’t clean the house. Eddie stresses Beatrice not to have a “big heart” and give them his own bed. Besides he claims it is an honour for him to be able to help them. Catherine also has some news: she tells Eddie that she has been picked by her school’s Principal, to work in a big plumbing company as a stenographer. She is enthusiastic about the prospect, but Eddie is worried, because he doesn’t want her “mixing with strangers” and wants her to finish her education and is concerned for her safety. Beatrice is on Catherine’s side so at the end he relents and gives permission to Catherine to take the job. Because the cousins are illegal immigrants, Eddie reminds Beatrice and Catherine not to mention them outside the house. To heighten the danger, Eddie tells the story of Vinny Bolzano, who snitched to the immigration on his own uncle, and the bloody aftermaths, that occurred to him. At the end of this Episode, Catherine lights up Eddie’s Cigar and he seems to enjoy it. In this episode we see the start of conflict caused by Eddie, as his daughter, Catherine, tries to persuade him so she can take the stenographer job. “That ain’t what I wanted, though.” This shows that Eddie is overprotective and is the boss of the house, he wants everything to go his way and he doesn’t want Catherine to be away from him. Also as we can see, Eddie is not a very educated person, from the ways he speaks, “ain’t” supports this and we as the audience start to realise why he is a Longshoreman. Also, in episode one, we see the start of Sexual tension. “She strikes a match and holds it to his cigar.” In stage direction when it was first performed in 1956, the audience would have been quite shocked at what they were seeing, because it was thought quite sexual, and Eddie seems to enjoy it.
In episode 7, the setting is in Alfieri’s office, at the start of this Alfieri is the narrator, this is the first time, the audience see Alfieri and Eddie together. The audience know that they’ve visited before and that they are friends. “I remember him now.” It is stuck vividly in his mind. “His eyes were like tunnels.” This creates a dark imagery and also tunnel is related to darkness, and it leads to a decision. “Cap in hand, looking out.” He is perhaps looking at the phone booth. As a lawyer, Alfieri is supposed to be powerful. “I don’t quite understand what I can do for you.” This shows that Alfieri is powerless to stop Eddie from his wrongdoing. Eddie explains his case to Alfieri that Rodolpho is just here to “get his papers.” Eddie accuses Rodolpho of being dishonourable. Eddie is self interested and thinks he is always right. “I know what’s in his mind,” which Alfieri tells him, his belief is far from reasonable, and that there is no law for a “girl falling in love with an immigrant.” Then Eddie tries to explain to Alfieri that Rodolpho is homosexual and only wants Catherine for “his papers.” “I mean he ain’t right.” Eddie is insinuating Rodolpho as being effeminate, and also Eddie’s language shows that he is a working class person who has not had a lot of education. Alfieri tells Eddie the only law which can help him, “the manner in which they entered the country.” But Eddie is not yet desperate enough to do so. “Oh, Jesus, no, I wouldn’t do nothing about that.” This sentence is ironic because as the audience can see he does call the immigration Bureau and snitches on the two brothers. Also the two negatives, “wouldn’t” and “nothing” make the sentence a positive and he would do something about it, but again this might just show that Eddie is not educated. Alfieri points out that “Catherine wants to get married” but cannot marry him. This is the second time, after Beatrice, that Eddie is told of his incestuous desire for his niece. Eddie is in denial because he doesn’t want to believe his improper desire for Catherine. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about.” Eddie leaves the stage and Alfieri from his desk, goes back to his narrating role. “I could have finished the whole story that afternoon.” He knows what is going to happen and also knows there is no way out for Eddie. Again, he repeats “powerless” from the opening speech. It shows that although he is lawyer and powerful, there is no law to stop him from what he is going to do. Alfieri tells the audience that he also asks a “very wise old lady…she only nodded”. This shows hopelessness and it is in Eddie’s fate for all this to happen.
In the last episode, it is the day of the wedding and Beatrice is dressed in her best clothes. Eddie is sitting in his rocker, rocking back and forth. He tells Beatrice that she cannot go to the wedding and if she leaves the house, she is not coming back. Catherine arrives and tells Beatrice to get a move on or else the priest will leave. Catherine gets angry and starts to argue with Eddie. She calls him a “rat” which “poisons decent people” and she says that he belongs “in the garbage.” She is weeping as she’s saying this, and the audience know she doesn’t mean what she is saying. Rodolpho comes into the house and tells Eddie that Marco is coming from the church. Rodolpho tries to apologise to Eddie but Eddie just calls him a “punk” and a “kid”. For the first time Beatrice dares to tell Eddie, “you want something else, Eddie, and you can never have her!” This is probably the first time Eddie realises his passion for Catherine and recognizes his madness, although Beatrice and Alfieri knew Eddie’s improper desire for Catherine but none of them dared mention it to Eddie. But when Eddie realises his demon, the love for his adopted daughter, he is powerless to stop it. Marco arrives in the street and calls Eddie’s name, Eddie goes out to face him and he demands his name back from Marco. Marco calls him an “animal”, and the fight scene begins. Eddie takes out a knife and “lunges” towards Marco, who grabs Eddie’s arm and turns the knife back on him. It is symbolic how Eddie dies with his own knife. “The knife still in his hand”. This is symbolic because he has destroyed himself with his own weapon, just like a Greek protagonist it was his fate to die this way. In the end Eddie dies in Beatrice’s arms which symbolizes their reunion in the end. “Eddie: Then why—Oh, B.! Beatrice: Yes, yes! Eddie: My B.!” This shows their reconciliation of their battered relationship, with what Beatrice has been through, she still forgives him. Through out the play, Eddie dominates Beatrice, but in this tiny moment, Eddie needs, and the first time he honestly needs Beatrice. Through out the play we find that Beatrice is a forgiving character and that she has a “big heart.” Also, Beatrice is the only female that needs Eddie. Catherine now, not in control of him, no longer seeks his approval; therefore Eddie is drawn back to Beatrice for the first time and seeks her approval and forgiveness. “Most of the time we settle for half and I like it better. Even as I know how wrong he was, and his death useless, I tremble, for I confess that something perversely pure calls to me from his memory—not purely good, but himself purely for he allowed himself to be wholly known… and yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be! And so I mourn him—I admit it—with a certain alarm.” The whole man Alfieri defines in Eddie is the self interested man. Eddie’s flurry within the play is completely motivated by his own desire at the expense of others. Thus, people have to act halfway to preserve the rules of the community and lives of others.
