Alfieri is the ‘voice of reason’ in this play. We learn from him about how things were settled in the past (through violence). Eddie’s hubris clouds his judgement splitting societies law and Eddies own law, which echoes the laws of the Mafia, who were Italians like Eddie. Alfieri has much empathy for Eddie (who cannot compromise with love.) Alfieri makes this clear in his last speech, ‘And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be! And so I mourn him- I admit it- with a certain… alarm.’
At the very beginning , it may appear to the audience that Eddie has come home to Catherine, and that she is his wife, this is illustrated by his actions.
CATHERINE: Hi Eddie!
Eddie is pleased and therefore shy about it; he hangs up his
cap and jacket.
When we realise that Beatrice is actually Eddies wife, the confusion creates dramatic tension in the audience and it is clear their marriage is failing.
Eddie is seen to be humorous, kind, generous, however, overprotective of his orphaned niece, Catherine, in her increasing maturity. It is this urge that Eddie has to protect Catherine, to keep her from discovering her independence. Even when Eddie hears about Catherine getting a new job, he reluctantly allows her to take the job:
BEATRICE: She’s got a job.
EDDIE: What job? She’s gonna finish school.
CATHERINE: Eddie, you won’t believe it-
EDDIE: No- no, you gonna finish school. What kinda job, what do you mean?
All of a sudden you-
CATHERINE: Listen a minute, it’s wonderful.
EDDIE: It’s not wonderful. You’ll never get nowhere unless you finish
School. You can’t take no job.
In this extract, we see how Eddie insists Catherine to finish school, because in his mind he knows that going to and from work every day she will meet new people, and Eddie is scared he will lose her.
Eddie becomes fearful when Rodolfo arrives that he will lose Catherines love because there is somebody new to concentrate it on. This is illustrated when Catherine admires the way Rodolfo sings and Eddie becomes jealous. Eddie believes all men should behave in a certain way, a way in which Rodolfo does not. The audience opinions of Eddie may be varied according to the way they believe men should act, though most people would find his actions unreasonable. The audience realises at this point that Eddie is overprotective of Catherine and has inappropriate feelings for her.
The main tool, which
Throughout the play Eddie believes Rodolfo is using Catherine to get his passport and will not listen to the reasoning of anybody else, not even Alfieri. At his first visit to see Alfieri it is made clear of his deeper feelings for Catherine and that he wants her for himself even though he denies it.
ALFIERI: She wants to get married, Eddie. She can’t marry you, can she?
EDDIE: What’re you talkin’ about? Marry me! I don’t know what the hell
you’re talkin’ about!
Eddie wants justice. He believes there should be some way in which Rodolfo should not be allowed to be with Catherine because he ‘ ain’t right’. Alfieri knows better and tries to persuade Eddie there’s nothing to be done. This scene creates dramatic tension because it makes the audience realise Eddie has deeper feelings for Catherine and he can’t let her go. It makes us wonder what he will do next.
In the scene where Eddie teaches Rodolfo boxing he tries to prove that Rodolfo is no good for Catherine and that she needs somebody more like himself . Violence is introduced and Marco demonstrates that if Eddie lays a finger on Rodolfo Marco will no let it stand. In this scene the tragedy deepens when innocent people are pulled in to the fight. Beatrice is jealous that Catherine gains much of Eddie’s attention and this worsens their already fragile marriage. Miller increase dramatic tension by making the characters play fight but not obviously, as if it is a game. Eddie’s expressions also give the play its tension.
“ He transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of
triumph, and Eddie’s grin vanishes as he absorbs his look.”
Eddie’s decision to phone the immigration bureau tells us that he cannot cope under pressure and he does things that he doesn’t mean to do. Eddie cannot think about the consequences before taking his actions. For example earlier on in the book Beatrice tells the story of a boy called Vinny Bolzano, who told the immigration about his uncle. Afterwards Vinny was unaccepted in society. Eddie talks about how awful the consequences were, ‘How’s he gonna show his face?’ then later when he phones the bureau he does not think of anybody else except himself. This creates dramatic tension for the audience because it yet again leaves them wondering what will happen next, if he is prepared to take actions like that, what else is he capable of?
Even at the end of the play Eddie will not give in to his stubborn behaviour. His suffering is so severe that it leads him into destruction and eventually death. These two points are ones, which occur in the story of every tragic hero. The dramatic tension rises to a very high point when Beatrice says in frustration, ‘You want somin’ else, Eddie, and you can never have her!’ The audience is surprised that Beatrice has finally spoken her mind. The audience are made to feel sorry for Eddie at the end because he did not deserve to die and wouldn’t have if he’d listened and not let his hubris become so serious.
