Arthur miller also allows Alfieri to control the play, by telling the audience what is happening and what is going to happen through Alfieri. Also throughout the play Alfieri gives slight insights to what is going to happen later in the play. This technique used by Arthur Miller keeps the audience attracted towards the story of the play and makes the audience pay more attention to Alfieri. This means that Alfieri has aloof influence over the audience and the audience will probably share similar views as he does towards Eddie. Alfieri being lawyer comes across as an intelligent character and this makes him seem like a trustworthy character who can be trusted. Coming across as such a character Alfieri is easily able to encourage the audience to think better of Eddie just when Eddie comes across to the audience as a rude, attention seeking and unsociable character. However the thought of a climatic ending because of Eddie’s behaviour still stays In the back of the audiences mind. This is also slightly picked upon by Alfieri at the end of Alfieri’s opening monologue when he says “…and watched it run it bloody course.” This indicates that a tragedy is going to occur, and there is nothing Alfieri can do about it (Alfieri will watch powerless). As it is in past tense it also suggests that something similar has happened before and another lawyer in Alfieri’s place was also powerless like Alfieri will be this time. Then as Eddie Carbone walks onto the stage , Alfieri says “this ones name was Eddie Carbone” This hints towards the audience that Eddie Carbone will be at the centre of the tragedy that is going to occur.
Surprisingly Alfieri encourages the audience to remain sympathetic towards Eddie and the audience agree due to Alfieri being an influential and intelligent man, therefore in Arthur Millers play Alfieri is an important tool in guiding the audience’s response towards Eddie. He also makes the audience comfortable around him therefore the audience put more trust into his character than any other. Throughout the play Alfieri tries to protest the innocence of Eddie by saying that he was an ordinary man who worked hard for his family but he was afraid to let go. This makes the audience look at the good side of Eddie and not the bad thus the audience is more sympathetic to how Eddie is now. Alfieri also has the power to keep the audience interested by keeping the audience wanting to know what is going to happen next he does this by giving slight hints but does not reveal all. For instants in the scene where Eddie kisses Catherine and then kisses Rudolpho, the audience are shocked at what they have seen. Eddie walks out of the house and the audience are keen to see where he goes next. But almost instantly the spotlight goes onto Alfieri, who remains on stage throughout the play, who then talks to the audience.
“On December twenty-seventh I saw him next…..I kept wanting to call the police……nothing at all had really happened.”
By doing this a lot the audience could turn to dislike Alfieri but the stay with him and listen to whatever he has got to say as when he does say something it is for the benefit of the audience. He also gains trust by not just narrating the play but also being part of it this makes the audience think that he knows all the other characters well and his views will be accurate. When he becomes a narrator again the audience get to hear what his thoughts are for example when he say to the audience
“…..I could have finished the whole story that afternoon. It wasn’t as though there was a mystery to unravel.”
This indicates that Alfieri knows a lot about where the play is going as he may have seen it happen before and he desperately wants to stop it but he can not.
Alfieri’s character also has an important role to play as a lawyer. Being a lawyer he is the most educated man in the society and people appreciate him , even though seeing a lawyer was considered to be bad luck. Nevertheless Eddie visits Alfieri twice in the play asking for help but unwilling to change himself. Alfieri is very important to Eddie as he is the only one who allows Eddie to voice his opinion therefore Eddie does not have to explain his situation to the audience step by step he can do this in the flow of the play by just using Alfieri. This makes the play more interesting. Alfieri does act as a confidant to Eddie. He allows Eddie to express his frustration at their meetings and it is also important that the audience witness that frustration. As well as that lawyers were associated with trouble, as they dealt with troublesome cases and when Eddie does go to see Alfieri he too shows that he is in turmoil. We as the audience are shown the good side and the bad sides of Eddie for instants the potential dangers of Eddie’s state of mind are clearly indicated towards during the meetings. The first meeting across suspicion among the audience that Eddie is in some kind of trouble wants to but is struggling to get out of it. The second meeting which is two days later confirms this.
During the second meeting Alfieri comes across more aggressive towards Alfieri as for what he has just done (kissed Catherine and Rudolpho) he is more now than ever willing to do anything to get rid of Rudolpho but Alfieri cannot help him, due to this Eddie becomes more and more aggressive and leaves Alfieri’s office without even listening to What Alfieri has to say. The other thing that is different to the first meeting is that Alfieri now shouts at Eddie when he is leaving to try and stop him from what he is going to do. This time Alfieri you can say fails in his role to help Eddie but there was not much he could do anyway it was Eddie’s choice. Unsurprisingly as Alfieri might have though Eddie Does call the immigration bureau.
Eddie believed he was respected by fellow community members and did not want to lose that respect or his honour and eventually his honour drove him well insane, to say the least. An important rule of the community was not to snitch on illegal immigrants Eddie emphasises this to Beatrice and Catherine at the beginning of the play but near the end he goes against the community and his own principles by doing exactly what he warned Beatrice and Catherine not to do, calling the immigration bureau, he is breaking the law of the community.
Alfieri plays a strong part in the law of America. This is because he is a lawyer, so he can tell the community what they can and cannot do. However, the community of Brooklyn assume lawyers are unlucky "to meet a lawyer… on the street is unlucky". This shows how the community are not happy with the idea of the law America, which links to the reasons behind their community law. Alfieri states, "If he obeys the law he lives.” this shows that Alfieri has all the answers and if and if only Eddie had listen to him and took his advice then the course of Eddie’s like could have taken a different path for the better, but as we know Eddie does not take his advice and eventually end up being killed by his honour and by insisting on having his ‘name back’. Revenge is another thing those who do not obey the community law are punished within the community and this is proven when Marco kills Eddie.
I think that Alfieri is also a very important device that is used by Arthur Miller to ensure the audience get the full impact of the play and maybe try to cooperate some of its teachings into their own lives and to accept other people from different cultures. Alfieri explains all the situations well and without him the audience would struggle to piece together the playas they would not have received the background knowledge about the society which Alfieri tells of a the beginning of the play. Alfieri is like Arthur millers mouthpiece as he is narrating what Arthur Miller wants to say to the audience, a form of Arthur Miller. Alfieri also expresses the mixed feeling Miller would have had about the character of Eddie. Having Alfieri also lets the audience see that Eddie placed his individual needs above those of his society and Miller believes that to connect in a society you need to compromise meaning put your community first. Also in the play Alfieri says “….settle for half” meaning that if you want to be accepted by America which is what this community wanted and if you want to survive the you need to learn to compromise. This is what Eddie forgot and he selfishly put all his needs before others. As Alfieri suggests if he had done differently then he may still be alive.
