All tragedies have a triadic hero; a tragic hero is a character in a play that causes the tragedy by his or her mistake or weakness. In this play Eddie is the protagonist who has a flaw in his character. In Greek Literature, this fatal flaw is called ‘Hamatia’. Eddie is the tragic hero in this play as it is weakness that takes control over him- his feelings for Catherine is his flaw.” It’s breakin’ my heart, y’know.I-“This quote shows that Eddie really cares about Catherine however maybe too much. The language used is speech which has parts of colloquial language in it. The affect this has in the audience is that now they know that Eddie has true feelings for Catherine. This supports my point that Eddie does have feelings as he is saying his heart is breaking. Eddie is a tragic hero as he is the main cause of all the drama happening in the play. His weakness is Catherine, as he is self-deluded. He does not believe that he fancy’s his niece however, it is pretty obverses in the play.” With your hair that way you look like a Madonna, you know that?”. This is showing Eddie is complementing Catherine; saying she is really beautiful. This is a little like a rhetorical question as Eddie does not expect an answer from Catherine. Eddie is a good and honest man initially at the beginning of the play. “He was as good a man as he had to be in a life that was hard and even” This shows that in the past Eddie was an honorable and decent man. However, the langue that suggests he is speaking from the past, the word ‘was’ proves this, this would suggest that things are going to change or already have.
The factors that lead to his downfall would be when he goes to see Mr. Alfieri, as before he was a good hard working man, and then his weakness takes control over him. Here he gets frustrated “I walked hungry plenty days in this city! And now I gotta site in my own house and look at that son-of-a-bitch punk like that…”. This is showing Eddie is getting angry as there is an exclamation mark. There is also more slang in the quotation ‘gotta’ this is used as it is in speech to create realism. This quote shows that Eddie is really having enough and that soon he will pop. The audience can see this quite clearly as there are many exclamation marks throughout Eddie’s and Alfieri’s conversation. But it is not till nearer the end of the play that Eddie has his main downfall where he finally goes back on the silcean code which he has kept to throughout the play. He finally concludes to ‘grass’ on his family. “I want to report something. Illegal immigrants. Two of them. That’s right. 441 Saxon Street, Brooklyn, yeah.” Here you can see that Eddie is on the phone because of the short answers and it would not make sense if someone was not to be said between the full stops and commas. This quote shows Eddie telling the immigration service about Marco and Rodolpho. The audience are feeling sorry for Eddie as he has been self-deluded for so long and know he has realized what he really want’s he has to get rid of rodolpho. A reason that they would also feel sorry for Eddie would be the stage directions just before he called the immigration services. “[A phone booth begins to glow on the opposite side of the stage; a faint, lonely blue. EDDIE stands up, jaws clenched]”. This shows Eddie is extremely angry as he has his fists clenched. As well as this there is a faint, lonely blue glow that shines on him, this would show he is really depressed. The audience would feel sorry for him here. In addition to this, Eddies emotion is empathized as you can imagine how he feel’s, as he has brought up Catherine and someone he does not like wants to marry her, and Eddie is self-deluded so does not think that he fancy’s her. Eddie thinks he is just looking out for her. He is really struggling as he can not fight his feelings.
The main feature of tragedy is the tragic ending of the play that is really melodramatic. In the ending there are loads of points showing anger for example when Marco calls Eddie an animal “Anima-a-a-l!” this is showing anger and disrespect as there is another exclamation mark that shows that it was most probably shouted and the fact that he calls Eddie an animal connotes that he no longer has any respect for him. The word animal connotes a savage portrait. It is also very debatable who killed Eddie as the stage directions are not as clear as they could be.
“[EDDIE lunges with the knife. MARCO grabs is arm, turning the blade inward and pressing it home as the women and LOUIS and MIKE rush in and separate them, an EDDIE, the knife still in his hand, falls to his knees before MARCO. The two women support him for a moment, calling his name again and again]” .
This could be two possibilities, as Marco could have killed Eddie in anger for revenge for what he done to him and Rodolpho or, Eddie Realized he had done so much wrong and there was not much point living, as all his friends did not wish to talk to him. The Ending is also some what romantic as Eddie dies in his wife’s arm.”[He dies in her arms, and BEATRICE covers him with her body. ALFIERI, who is in the crowd, turns out to the audience.] “. This is where there is no more of Eddie. He finally was defeated by his weakness that he had been trying to hide for ages. It was not until the end that he was actually told to his face that he needed to let go of Catherine. ”The truth is not as bad as blood, Eddie! I’m tellin’ you the truth- tell her good-bye for ever!”. Eddie after hearing this was disgraced that his own wife would say this about him – this does not help the anger that was building. There was loads of shouting in this speech and some abbreviations were use to shorten words. The audience could feel relived that someone has finally told Eddie. Not just implying it.
All traditional tragedies have a chorus. Eddie plays this part in the play as he speaks directly to the audience as well as being a part of the play. Alfieri acts as the chorus because he fills the audience in on events in the play. “He worked on the piers when there was work he brought home his pay, and he lived”. Here he is informing the audience upon what has happened in the play in the past. This shows Alfieri filling the audience in on something they would not know if he wasn’t to of said that. The audience now knows that Eddie was a decent kind, loving and caring man for his family. Alfieri is also the voice of reason in the play as he tells Eddie when there is nothing he could do and he should take the advice. “This is my last Word, Eddie, take it or not, that’s your business. Morally and legally you have no rights, you cannot stop it; she is a free agent.” Here he is being wise and telling Eddie to just accept what is happening. However, Eddie did not really appreciate this information as straight after this he goes to the immigration bureau. Alfieri also talks directly to the audience. “You wouldn’t have known it, but something amusing has just happened”. The language used here is speaking to you directly as it starts the sentence with ‘you’. The audience get loads of dramatic tension as the audience know more then some of the characters; this could help foreshadowing. Again Mr. Alfieri senses the tragedy that is about to happen and prepares the audience for the ending. “Pray for him…” Here he is showing that there is nothing he can do. He is really helpless. This could be called an imperative verb as he is telling you what to do. Alfieri also gives away hints at the beginning that there is nothing he can do to help. “ In Calabria perhaps or on the cliff at Syracuse, another lawyer, quite differently dressed, heard the same complaint and sat there as powerless as I, and watching it run its bloody course”. Here right at the beginning he shows hints of tragedy and it would hint death as it says ‘bloody’. When he says he is powerless he means that there is nothing he can do to help Eddie.
Melodrama is used a lot in the play, without the melodrama it would not be a very interesting story. A melodrama is any type of writing that relies on the sensational happenings, violent and improbable events. In the play there are many sensational events. The play is rather melodramatic. For example when Eddie kisses Catherine “[He reaches out suddenly, draws her to him, and strives of free herself he kissed her on the mouth]”. This is a really dramatic scene as Eddie’s true feelings are being seen. Miller must have done this to show the audience that Eddie is slowly becoming less self-deluded.
The language in the stage directions show that Catherine try’s to get away form Eddie as at says ‘strives’ this is showing she is struggling to get away. Furthermore after this Eddie throws Rodolpho out. He has now had enough. “ I give you till tomorrow, kid. Get outa here, alone. You hear me? Alone.” He says ‘alone’ twice Miller is using the technique repetition this shows he is being really serious and he is not messing about. Arthur Miller has done this to make it extremely clear that Eddie does not like Rodolpho. Eddie also try’s to be little Rodolpho by calling him ‘kid’. There are a few cases of dramatic irony in the play like when the audience know more then what the audience do. “Why! How do you know they’re not trackin’ these guys? They’ll come up for them and find Marco and Rodolpho! Get them out of the house!”. This is dramatic irony as Eddie is saying he does not want them to be caught however, he was the one who went to the immigration services. He thinks he can get away with what he has done by blaming someone else for it. He is showing he is good at pretending as the exclamation marks shows he would maybe shout it but defiantly show he is saying it with anger.
Miller modernized the play to make it clear that so many bad things can happen, and you need to keep control over your weaknesses. It is easier to believe that it can happen to everyone if it is modernized as it is happening to modern people rather then rich wealthy and famous people.
By Alex Garrett
