Analysis of end of Act 1 of " A view from the bridge".

The second form of dramatic device that will be analyzed is the adoption of short sentences in the play. The short sentence that was the most striking in the play was when Alfieri declared "You have no recourse in the law, Eddie” in terms of structure, this speech is very striking mainly due to its shortness. The reason why Arthur Miller made this sentence so short and simple was because he wanted the audience to know what point Alfieri is trying to bring across; which is simply the fact that the that the law cannot be changed to people’s liking. What makes the line even more direct is that Eddie’s name is placed at the end of the phrase. The word "recourse" defines access to a person or thing for protection for example: to have recourse to the courts for justice. This foreshadows with the key theme of justice in the play, which is something, that none of the characters seem to have experienced. Another significant phrase in the play is when Eddie says, “The guy ain’t right Mr. Alfieri” this symbolizes the utter, hatred and disgust that Eddie has towards Rodolpho. To also highlight how much Eddie doesn’t have much of a liking toward Rodolpho, he refers to him as giving him the “heebie jeebies”. The use of a rhyming phrase makes it seem more significant and easier for the audience to remember. Usually, when someone mentions something giving him or her the “heebie jeebies” is usually when its scary, which is very true as Eddie, is afraid of Rodolpho in a way. He’s afraid that he will take away his Catherine.

The next form of dramatic device employed by Miller is the existence of stage props and stage directions, which in their simplicity have a whole story to foretell. During the scene where Rodolpho is dancing with Catherine, Eddie has a newspaper in his hand; which acts as diverting his attention from being jealous. In the stage directions, he is referred to as “unconsciously twisting the newspaper into a tight roll”, which reflects his exact emotions whilst they are dancing. The fact that the whole concept of him twisting the newspaper is ‘unconscious’ is that it became so natural for him to do, as he has no control over himself anymore, due to Catherine being taken away from him. The mere simplicity of the newspaper being in the play and in Eddie Carbone’s hands is so that Eddie can still be watching Catherine without raising any sort of suspicion to the others of his incest sentiments. Another key part of the play is when Mr. Alfieri is introduced. This happens at the very beginning when the area is being described, when Mr. Alfieri is introduced he is described as a lawyer in his fifties which gives the audience a clear idea of his status straight away since lawyers are of very eminent status.” He crosses the stage to his desk, removes his hat,” this line has two important words ‘Desk’ and ‘hat’. The word ‘Desk’ at the time the play was set represents of high value and high respect since he is someone who controls the law, which is something that foreshadows a big theme in the play- Justice. When Mr. Alfieri is about to speak to the audience he removes his hat to show the audience the amount of respect he has toward the audience. Removing his hat to his desk also shows how much Mr. Alfieri respects the law and how committed he is to every single word in the book of Law. The last significant stage prop and stage direction is the chair in the last part of Act 1. From the moment that Marco gets up to defend Rodolpho, asking Eddie to lift the chair from one leg, it is inevitable fate from that action on, that Eddie’s downfall takes place. The fact that he couldn’t lift the chair and Marco could, shows the audience how Marco is more humble in his strength, rather than actually hitting Eddie literally, he hurts him even more by insulting him in front of the whole family, by asking him merely “Can you lift this chair?” The simple request sounds too easy for Eddie, but then when he actually attempts to lift it, he fails twice. His one falter in the scene gives us a hint of what is to come in the forthcoming scenes, and makes the audience feel that worse is to come.

In conclusion, the aforementioned points all underline how much Miller cunningly uses the dramatic devices to really make the audience picture how much of a tragedy the play really was. I believe that the play couldn’t have been as more understanding as it is, if the dramatic devices weren’t present, as they bring so much meaning to each and every action, despite how simple they are.