Hints about Eddie’s obsession with Catherine were given right at the beginning. This will also make the audience aware of a tragic ending, his incorrect kind of obsession will obviously cause his downfall, and furthermore the audience will also start to wonder the extremes that he will go to, to keep his niece safe from men. Eddie’s obsession has one way or another extended, this has also led him to more acts. The audience starts to realise this when he says “you are walking wavy”. This is not a usual relationship between an uncle and a niece. The audience will start to understand that something is wrong there. “Wavy” also emphasises the point that she does it on purpose, like moving her hips, it’s a natural thing to do, some people might suggest that she’s also attention seeking. However other people might suggest that it suggests a sexual manner which Eddie accuses Catherine of having just in her walk.
Eddie doesn’t seem to know that he's over-protecting Catherine. He doesn't like her dressing-up herself, which could be seen as something that young girls usually do in the eyes of the audience. But others might also argue that he's just doing the job of a good uncle. However when he says “What’s the high heels for garbo?”, the way he says might again make the audience take their sides. Though the word “garbo”, the audience will realise that again his feelings are wrong, this is because he compares a beautiful actress to his niece. “High heels” also shows that he doesn’t like other people seeing her in the way he does, she can look pretty in the house but in front of other men, she has to look simple. This will also the make the audience aware of his own downfall, his feelings towards Catherine aren’t right, he tries to lead and control the situation, and this also makes the audience anticipate what’s going on between Eddie and Catherine. He also doesn’t want her to have a job. The audience understands this when he says “I know that neighbourhood B, I don’t like it”. Eddie’s again showing his over protectiveness by not allowing Catherine to go to work. This quote again can have lots of meanings, for example, some people might think that Eddie doesn’t seem to like “Kate” to be working with other men, but others might suggest that it’s just Eddie looking at Catherine like a child, like a “kid”.
Eddie definitely doesn’t want Catherine to get mixed up with men. We see that when “Catherine waves at Louis”, Eddie seems to not like it even though Louis is just a well-known family friend. This might also be because he doesn’t like her socialising with men. He tells her that he knows stuff about Louis that she doesn’t know. Miller also foreshadows Eddie’s end by introducing the story of Vinnie. This is the story of a young boy who snitches on his own immigrant uncle. Eddie lectures Beatrice and Catherine in Act one, he says “Just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away”. This means that he know what the impacts will be if anyone found people at their house. This can also be seen as ironic because he ends up doing it himself just like the little boy so the audience might compare these two characters and decide that Eddie has the heart and brain of a kid when he phones them so he doesn’t really know what he is doing. This quote also reveals that Eddie knows his own fate- he knows what will happen to him but cannot escape his fate. Much like Alfieri, Eddie watches himself make decisions he knows will not only ruin his reputation in the community, but also kill him. Eddie may know the consequences of what he does, but remains powerless or too mad to stop it. Miller sets up Eddie so vehemently against betrayal that his transition on the betrayer seems illogical, so this is another way in which Miller makes the audience aware of the tragic ending, he makes Eddie go to his extremes and the audience will just have to watch the consequences.
The immigrant brothers are introduced at a certain point in the play. They can be interpreted in different ways: some of the audience might say that they are the catalyst, who are going to give this play some energy to speed it up, some people might see them as a problem for the reason that Eddie tried to keep Catherine away from men for her whole life however now he has just accepted two men into his house. This can be seen as his own fault; however some people might see it as just two immigrants. Of these two, Catherine falls for Rodolpho and Rodolpho loves her back, so a new life kind of begins for Catherine, instead of looking at it positively, Eddie seems to just not know what’s wrong with who. He thinks that Rodolpho is somehow wrong when everybody likes him, but he doesn’t realise that his feelings to Catherine are wrong until the end of the play.
This can also be interpreted as a plot device. This is because they are the beginning or the cause for a turning point, in this case, a really big one. The audience will be aware that the atmosphere will not be the same after that they had entered, the audience will be sure that Eddie will think that the entrance of the two brothers is not appropriate for Catherine, so the audience will be warned that Eddie will not rest until he tries all he can to remove them from his house, this is also proven when he goes to Alfieri. Eddie who was concerned about Catherine meeting men has now got two in his house. The brother’s names are Marco and Rodolpho. Marco is the eldest, a married boy who came to this place to work and send money to his wife and children. One of Marco’s children is also really sick so he immediately starts working. This is very important because it shows that Marco is a good man who is not interested in any other women, so Eddie immediately starts to like him. Bringing those men inside, creates tension in the household, Eddie’s fear increases as Katy falls for a man under his eyes, jealousy increases especially for Beatrice who knows exactly what’s happening and the two brothers don’t just bring in worry and anxiety for Eddie but they also bring their Sicilian Code of Honour and their beliefs.
There’s also an attraction between Rodolpho and Catherine. They fall instantly in love and on the same day Rodolpho comes; they talk and seem to emphasize the point that they like each other. For example, Catherine says “how come...you’re so light Rodolpho?”. This shows that she wants to get in conversation with Rodolpho. She has also learnt their names in a very short of time, which proves that she’s fond of them. “Light” can also mean better or she could really mean his hair colour which is blond. Rodolpho also says “you like sugar...” which can again could show his affection towards Catherine. “Sugar” could be a symbolism; it could represent Catherine as the sugar. This word can be linked back to one of Eddie’s previous quotes where he says “I don’t like the looks they are giving you in the candy store”. This quote was said to emphasize the point that his Kate was acting weirdly in front of men. “Candy” can also be linked back to “sugar”. They both have the same meaning so here, Rodolpho mirrors Eddie’s point of view towards Catherine. The audience would realise here that somehow Eddie’s affection towards Catherine is wrong; also his affection towards Catherine is at the heart of the problem and so brings about his own downfall.
Eddie’s jealousy increases as the relationship between Rodolpho and Catherine deepens. Eddie’s growing jealousy can be interpreted as him becoming more and more of a “hubris” character. Eddie tries to think of as many reasons as possible to try to break up Rodolpho and Catherine. He first says that there’s something wrong with the guy. Apparently, Rodolpho had given Eddie the “heebie jeebies”. This quote emphasises the point that Eddie thinks Rodolpho is gay. That is why he kisses Rodolpho towards the end, after kissing Catherine. He wanted to show Catherine that Rodolpho was gay, so his thought was that Rodolpho would obviously kiss him back. This again refers back to the tragic ending caused by Eddie’s own downfall, to prove that Rodolpho is wrong; he tries to actually show Catherine his point by kissing Rodolpho, by doing so he makes himself look gay and ridiculous. Before kissing Rodolpho, he actually kisses Catherine, so this again proves that his feelings towards her aren’t right, so the audience will be aware of the situation and they will know from previous examples that this should not go on, but as it does it will obviously cause someone’s death, in this case, most likely Eddie’s. He goes to one of the extremes by kissing them both, he doesn't seem to realise what he's doing.
Eddie’s visit to Alfieri is dramatic irony; this is because the audience will know that this is wrong, they will know that Eddie wanted to separate them but he hasn’t really worked because no one seems to be really listening to him, so he decides to separate them legally, however the audience will know that this is one of the extremes and when the sight of the lawyer is shown, the audience will start to remember his speech about Eddie’s future so here the audience is again warned about Eddie’s downfall causing a tragic ending. This shows the audience how far Eddie would go to break up Rodolpho and Catherine. Eddie going to a lawyer shows that he’ll do anything to stop their relationship, including Breaking the Code of Honour, which he had a strong belief of at the beginning. If Marco knew that his brother was in trouble, he would have obviously helped him, this is because Marco has a very strong belief in the Sicilian Code of Honour, if he goes home and tells his family that he didn’t help his brother, he would not get respected. This is also a clue to the tragic ending. He goes to the extremes to a lawyer to talk about breaking Rodolpho apart without snitching that they are immigrants. This will make the audience wonder at what extremes Eddie will go to stop Rodolpho from being next to Catherine.
Eddie’s relationship with Beatrice is deteriorating which means that Beatrice will obviously side with Catherine so Eddie has to go to Alfieri. This is significant because Beatrice knows that Eddie’s relationship with Catherine is just not right. The audience becomes aware of that when she says “You want something else, Eddie, and you can never have her!”. This was said by Beatrice at the conclusion of Act two. It was then that Eddie realises for the first time his true feelings for his niece, the audience can interpret this as his surroundings fault, because no one until then had tried to directly talk to him about his feelings towards Catherine, however it might just as well be his own fault, his own madness acting inside him. But even when Eddie realises his "evil spirit", the love for his niece, he is powerless to stop it. The audience will also be aware of this part; this is because even after Beatrice says it out loud, he seems to have lost the power to deny Beatrice’s claim, but instead follows his destructive path.
We can see that Eddie doesn't get along with the others, mostly through stage directions. For example, when they are all in the living room talking, Rodolpho dances with Catherine, Beatrice talks with Marco, however Eddie sits by himself on his chair reading a newspaper; this shows that he’s isolated. Miller has also used the settings to emphasize the character’s features. It’s only at the end of the whole play that Miller makes Eddie say “My B!”. As Eddie lies dying in Beatrice's arms, the couple finds some sort of reconciliation and repair of their torn and battered relationship. Beatrice, even under such horrible circumstances, is able to forgive Eddie. Eddie constantly dominates Beatrice throughout the play, but in this tiny moment Eddie needs Beatrice more than she needs him. It is the first time the audience hears that Eddie needs her. Beatrice is the tirelessly forgiving character of the play. She is terribly jealous of her niece, who receives more attention from her husband than she does, but still forgives Eddie in the end. At the end of Act one, the audience would know that again he’s not making any effort to end the relationship between his niece and him. He wants her to be his for always but the audience obviously knows that this is just impossible.
At the end of Act one, Miller gives us clues in stage directions that the atmosphere has reached boiling point. The audience can see this through his actions, for example, Eddie twisting a newspaper shows that he’s trying to restrain himself from doing something bad. This can again mean that Eddie’s isolated. The twisted newspaper could represent Eddie’s anger rising; him thinking about breaking Rodolpho. The audience can see that the issue is between Rodolpho and Eddie, however the fight is going on between Marco and Eddie, and this might seem peculiar but Marco’s there to help his brother. However Eddie has no one to help him. Marco raising his chair like a weapon also foreshadows the fight at the end between Marco and Eddie. Marco uses the chair to show his strength to Eddie, but at the end of this play Marco doesn’t use the chair, he uses a real knife so this is symbolism, he returns Eddie’s knife to Eddie. This will link back to the Sicilian code of Honour. This is the law of people which is just understood, it’s not written anywhere and one of the rules, for example would be, "don’t grass anyone in your community". Marco says to Alfieri, towards the end of Act one, that “In my country, he’ll be a dead man”, this shows that it’s seen as a sign of weakness if you don’t respect the Code of Honour, so he decides to kill Eddie and at the end of the play, he does kill Eddie. “In my country” shows that Marco knows the consequences of killing someone in this country, so he doesn’t try to think about it, even though he doesn’t want to be seen as a weak person, Eddie lunging to him with a knife just does it, he turns the knife against Eddie which kills him spontaneously, after three words with Beatrice.
Overall, Arthur Miller makes us aware of the tragic ending through lots of different clues that he uses throughout Act one. Miller uses symbolism, foreshadowing, dramatic irony, stage directions and Eddie’s language and behaviour towards his niece to show us that there’s something wrong with Eddie. These techniques will also make the audience aware, in one way or another, of the tragic ending that they all bring. These techniques affect Eddie differently and make him behave like he does; his true character is not really revealed to us until he looks at Beatrice and understands what he did. The tragic ending was predicted at the beginning of the play, but no one was sure of what was going to happen, but at the end it might make the some of the audience feel guilty because even if they were on stage, they might not have helped, some people might feel happy for Catherine, and some people might feel sad for Beatrice. But in overall, I think that the audience will say that this whole play flawed very well with a flawed hero, they might also believe that Eddie was possessed with "passion that has moved into his body, like a stranger" and was unable to control him.