Romeo and Juliet essay

Authors Avatar

Abigail Craig-A View From the Bridge

How does Miller present Eddie Carbone as a tragic hero in ‘A View From the Bridge’?

“Most of the time we settle for half, and I like it better.” I’m sure if Beatrice had said this line it would have gone something like this “Eddie should have settled for less, I’d like him better”

Eddie Carbone. When the people of Redhook heard this name they thought respect, they thought power, they thought a man with a good family and a good name. “Believe me Eddie; you got a lotta credit coming to you.”  This line shows the respect his friends had for him. This book is all about having respect and justice, not real justice but community justice according to the community law. In the eyes of Redhook Eddie went from hero to zero, with an almost impossible chance of climbing back up to the top.

In the beginning we meet Eddie. Our first impressions of him are that he is a man that loves his family and cares for them. He loves Catherine and cares for what she does.  It says in the first pages of the book

“You like it?’

“Yeah, it’s nice. And what happened to your hair?”

You like it? I fixed it different.”

“Beautiful. Turn around, lemme see in the back, oh if your mother were to see you now”

Eddies flattering nature lets the audience know that he loves Catherine, that they have a good relationship. Later in the play this love becomes inappropriate, but there is no sense of this inappropriate love in the beginning telling the reader this becomes a new and resent development. It is only when Rodolfo appears that he realises his love is more than father daughter.

“Now don’t aggravate me, Katie, you are walkin’ wavy! I don’t like the looks they’re givin’ you in the candy store. And with them new high heels on the sidewalk-clack, clack, clack. The heads are turnin’ like windmills.”

This attention to detail and care shows the audience that Eddie is like a father to her. He wants what’s best for her. However, this also suggests that Eddie doesn’t want to let go of Catherine, he treats her like a little girl. He doesn’t want her to grow up and start looking at boys, partly because of his love as a father and partly for his inappropriate love, he secretly hopes that she will stay a little girl and be with him forever.

We get the feeling that he wants Catherine to be with him forever when Beatrice says

“Well, I don’t understand when it ends. First it was gonna be when she graduated high school, so she graduated high school. Then it was gonna be when she learned stenographer, so she learned stenographer. So what’re we gonna wait for now? I mean it, Eddie, sometimes I don’t understand you.... she’s 17 years old, you gonna keep her in the house forever!”

This shows that even Beatrice is noticing Eddie’s inability to let go of Catherine.

When we progress into the play we read of Beatrice and eddies arguments about their cousins coming over to stay. It is surprising that Eddie is the voice of reason. When Beatrice is getting all worried about the tablecloth he reminds her there is no need to worry. Beatrice tells him how much she loves him and how he is a saviour. This shows how everyone thought of Eddie as a hero, someone to look up to.

On pages 13 and 14 although the audience doesn’t know it yet, if they re read the passages they would laugh at the irony.  Eddie and Beatrice tell the story of Vinnie. How his own family snitched on him.

 “On his own uncle!!”

“Was he crazy??”

“Oh, it was terrible. He had five brothers and the old father. And they spit him on the street, his own father and brothers. The whole neighbourhood was cryin’.”

“A guy do a thing like that?  How’s he gonna show his face?” This Line when first spoken is put into the back of the audience minds as a throw away comment. Like it is unspeakable to do such a thing, to go behind family. The theme of this play is the unwritten law and respect. Eddies line “A guy do a thing like that, how’s he gonna show his face?” The stage directions would be, (show face with utter disgust) For this community, family is everything. Who you are is everything. Arthur Miller shows how Eddie forgets himself, and who he is.  Yet he demands his name from Marco. “I want my name, Marco.” But by previous events Eddies name can no longer be retrieved. The name Eddie Carbone was tainted by a series of events. These unfortunate mishaps are sometimes so little that the audience may not notice but like one cigarette one puff leads to another and your life is ruined. One thing lead to another, and Eddies name was ruined.

Join now!

The last line before the slow tragic decline from Alfieri reminds the audience that Eddie was a good man “He was as good a man as he had to be in a life that was hard and even. He worked on the piers when there was work, he brought home his pay, and he lived. And toward ten o’clock of that night, after they had eaten, the cousins came.” This last statement “then the cousins came” I feel would be spoken with darkness and menace, because although the cousins coming was supposed to be a happy time, giving a ...

This is a preview of the whole essay