Eddie Carbone’s home is a “workers flat, clean, sparse, homely”. A worker’s flat indicates that it’s not very glamorous and that he comes from a working class background and that it doesn’t matter what he has in the house as family comes first. The word “clean” suggests that he takes care in his appearance of his home and what his home looks like. It could also suggest that he has a wife, because in the Sicilian code a women’s job would be to keep the household clean. The “sparse” could again suggest that the people aren’t wealthy and that his job doesn’t pay very much. The fact that the flat is described as “homely” shows that family is more important and that they have enough in it to make them happy.
Eddie is head of the household and everyone wants his approval. For example when Eddie disapproves of what Catherine is wearing her reaction “Almost in tears, because he disapproves”. The fact that Catherine is almost in tears shows that she has a lot of respect for Eddie and is upset that he disapproves and could mean that she feels like she has let him down.
The stage directions show that Eddie and Catherine’s relationship has much more to it than just uncle and niece; it reveals a different type of deeper relationship. We see this as Eddie arrives home and Catherine calls his name he reacts in a way that not many people would if family called them or a friend. “Eddie is pleased and therefore shy about it’’. As the stage directions are this and he reacts in this way, this shows that he has a sensitive side and affection for Catherine. We get this impression as his he is ‘shy’, which is how someone would act when they see someone they have a crush on. When Catherine tells Eddie she’s going to work at a place where men will be present he shows signs of being jealous by immediately disapproving it. Catherine is always looking for approval from Eddie. “Running her hand over her skirt and she turns for him” she wants to show off to him how nice she looks and wants him to think the same and compliment her. When Eddie finds out Catherine has got a job he’s “strangely nervous” and “silent, staring down at the table cloth fingering the pattern” the fact that he is ‘fingering the pattern’ shows that he is nervous and trying to hide it and take his mind off whatever he is thinking about. As he is strangely nervous the reason for this could be because Catherine has got a job and this makes him nervous, realising that he cares so much and knows that men are going to be with her.
Eddie and Beatrice’s relationship isn’t very strong, but when Beatrice notices how much attention Eddie gives Catherine there is a slight sign of strain, but doesn’t say anything as she’s his niece, there’s nothing to worry about “she picks up the dishes and turns to him” she is not speaking to him and keeps her mouth shut as it’s not worth arguing over something that cannot be reality. ‘Eddie turns to Beatrice who has been avoiding his gaze’. This stage direction shows the awkward relationship these two people have. Considering Beatrice has been avoiding Eddie’s gaze this could suggest that the atmosphere between them is tense and she may feel nervous or even scared. We have learnt about Eddie’s character that he is a typical Sicilian man- in control and demanding. Eddie is always the dominant character and Beatrice does whatever she can to please him.
Eddie reacts differently towards Marco and Rodolpho when they arrive. At the beginning when Eddie meets Rodolpho and Marco for the first time Eddie shakes Marco’s hand but not Rodolpho’s, this could show the audience that Eddie is already suspicious of Rodolpho. As Eddie shakes Marco’s hand this shows that Eddie is sure that Marco is a nice, genuine guy. ‘He is coming more and more to address Marco only.’ This shows that Eddie prefers Marco to Rodolpho, but this could be because, firstly, Eddie and Marco are around the same age so they will be able to understand each other easier. Marco is very loyal to his family, and has come to Italy to earn money in order to keep his wife and children alive; this is what is expected in the Sicilian code of conduct (the men to provide for the family). In comparison Rodolpho has come to America to live and doesn’t plan to go back to his home country, therefore Eddie could find him a bit lazy. Eddie notices Rodolpho and Catherine becoming a bit to close for Eddie’s liking and Eddie is totally against this idea and becomes even more protective of Catherine and more suspicious of Rodolpho. Towards the end of Act 1 Eddie begins to lose his Sicilian role as head of the household. ‘He is striving to retain his dignity’. As Eddie is expected to be head of the household, and in charge of making decisions, the rest of the family are starting to take no notice of what he has to say and are not paying him as much respect or dignity that is expected. Beatrice is becoming more dominant one of the household as she is more dominant than him at this point, and is starting to receive more respect then him from the rest of the family. ‘Striving’ suggests the idea that Eddie is desperate to receive back the dignity he has not being given, and his determination to receive his Sicilian role is strong. The stage directions show that Eddie is having trouble hiding his feelings when he goes to see Alfieri. ‘With a fuller flow of indignation.’ This shows Eddie’s strong dislike for Rodolpho and the effects it has on Eddie’s character. Although this is not an action it does have an effect on him and is shown to both Alfieri and the audience very clearly.
Towards the end of act 1 a fighting scene happens, in this scene Eddie releases his true feelings and starts fighting with Rodolpho. ‘He has bent the rolled paper and it suddenly tears in two.’ This is a way for him to disguise his aggressive mood, and he has taken it out on the newspaper not Rodolpho. Eddie still doesn’t think that this is enough to put Rodolpho, so he teaches him how to box to try and show him up. ‘He gently moves his left into Rodolpho’s face. ’Gently’ allows us to believe that Eddie is playing about with Rodolpho. Eddie then decides to take it a step further and starts to become a bit rough. . ‘He feints with his left hand and lands with his right.’ This shows that Eddie is starting to become serious and the audience become very tense as they realise what Eddie has done to Rodolpho. Eddie starts to become very aggressive towards Rodolpho.
The stage directions in the kissing scene tell us about how Eddie has changed since the opening of the play. ‘She sees the tears in his eyes’. Catherine realises how much Eddie loves and cares for her, but is not sure what type of love is felt. The tears in his eyes show signs of weakness and suggest that he is hurt. However, ‘He reaches out suddenly, draws her to him and as she strives to free herself he kisses her on the mouth.’ Catherine is no longer confused about Eddie’s feelings, but scared and worried about why he feels this way. ‘Rodolpho flies at him in attack. Eddie pins his arms, laughing and suddenly kisses him.’ This makes the audience start to think, why is Eddie doing this? We start to believe that not even Eddie knows what is happening to him, and he doesn’t seem to have an explanation for his behaviour.
Eddie is losing his role as a Sicilian man when he talks to Beatrice in Act 2. ‘He is standing looking at the floor.’ The stage directions suggests that Eddie is loosing control of his family, and is lacking respect from them, due to the lack of respect he gives to them. Beatrice becomes the dominant character when she is talking to Eddie. ‘He moves, wanting to beat down her evident disapproval of him.’ According to the Sicilian Code of Conduct men are the head of any household and are in charge of making decisions. Instead of Eddie disapproving of Catherine, Beatrice is disapproving of him. This shows that they are switching roles in the house.
Eddie dies at the end of the play and the final stage directions reveal a lot to the audience about his character. ‘Eddie goes down with a blow and Marco starts to raise a foot to stomp him when Eddie springs a knife into his hand and Marco steps back.’ As soon as we think Eddie has no energy left, and is about to give up, he pulls out a knife, and scares Marco away. This shows that he is still following the Sicilian Code of Conduct as he is still trying to be the head man and show he will never give up but also that he takes the law into his own hands and keeps fighting for it until he does. Eddie finally pulls out a knife, thinking he would finally be able to kill Rodolpho. Instead the knife is turned towards him and he is killed. This is linked to the Sicilian Code of Conduct as the fact that Sicilians dealt with any problems on their own or within their communities, traditionally involving violence, rather than getting the law involved.
In conclusion, the stage directions have been extremely important in revealing the characters in this particular play, because they make the audience aware of the characters individual feelings without telling us what they are or the characters speaking and they create imagery, allowing us to discover an easy way to understand the events that had happened in the play.
Through Miller’s use of stage directions we have learnt that Eddie’s character has developed and changed a lot through out the play. Eddie went from head of household and a strong believer of the Sicilian Code of Conduct to nothing. It is difficult to judge whether this is for better or worse as he caused many problems for every character, and the audience were also affected with tension, confusion and empathy for each character.
