Examining the ideas of how manliness, aggression and hostility are connected in "A View From The Bridge"

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Examine the ideas of manliness, hostility

and aggression in ‘A View From The Bridge’.

 How are these ideas connected?

        “A View from the Bridge” is a play produced by Arthur Miller within the early years of the 50s – a year which defines the terminology of masculinity. The terms manliness, hostility and aggression seem to all sum up the basic morality of the characteristics portrayed in an “alpha male” – otherwise known as a male which acquires all the characteristics that define the typical male. However, in “A View from the Bridge”, Arthur Miller seems to attempt to catch and portray what seems to be the idealistic term of an alpha male and personifies them into three different male characters; Eddie Carbone – the “husky, slightly overweight longshoreman” protagonist of the play; Rodolfo – the rather “light” looking and talented male of the three; and Marco – “the square built peasant” who seems “tender” and “quiet voiced” as assigned by the stage direction. The three male characters of the play seem to have unlike characteristic traits which eventually lead in the further disagreement of each other’s “manliness”. However, in the play, Miller cleverly assigns these characters with their distinctive masculinity in order to portray how manliness can easily lead to hostility and intentionally develop onto aggression, which inevitably determines the tragic ending of the play.

        Eddie Carbone is of a low social class and marks his lack of education through his eventual use of language within the play which seems to be lacking the correct use of grammar. He uses words such “yiz” in reference with aiming his speech to more than one person instead of the more grammatically correct “you” and “don’t” instead of “doesn’t” in some cases – “Sure, but Whitey don’t sing…he don’t do that on ships”. Miller might have deliberately assigned Eddie with his trademark use of language in order to remind the audience of Eddie’s character as he perceives himself as the “man of the house” and the “breadwinner” through out the play. This might have been done to deliberately mark Eddie as a hypocrite to the audience since, as he describes his ideology of the typical man, it seems to lack any connection to Eddie’s own character, despite the fact that Eddie himself seems to emphasize how well suited he is to the typical masculine criteria. The fact that Miller might have intended to perceive Eddie as a hypocrite might show just how inexistent and insignificant the idea of masculinity is since even the man within the play who calls himself the “breadwinner” (i.e. the alpha male) cannot seem to adjust himself to his own ideas of masculinity and yet it still seems to lead him to his inevitable meeting with death at the end of the play. Commonly, the typical idea of an alpha male in Western civilisation comes across as a man with a strong, muscular build, darkly coloured physical features (e.g. tanned skin, dark hair, dark eyes, etc.), powerful intellectuality, good will and an ability to have control over his surroundings, in some cases. All these aspects seem to be taken into significance one way or another in “A View from the Bridge” – be it that they were successfully achieved by Eddie’s character or otherwise inexistent within his personality. Miller seems to have an intention to emphasize the Italian idealism of masculinity to a Western audience in order to portray how significant masculinity is to the Italian male and the difference between the two cultures; including the problems in can lead to due to the pride and selfishness held amongst those who call themselves “men”. However, in the 50’s, masculinity might have been perceived in the same way through out the world despite the different approach men seem to take to their role as the man of the house which distinguishes the two cultures – for example, in Western civilisation, looks don’t seem to be as significant as intellectuality in a male – therefore allowing the Western male to take less consideration of the physical appearance of the men surrounding him. However, in the Italian culture, looks provide the first step to just how masculine a man seems at first sight. Then, if their physical appearance suits the typical male criteria, other aspects of their personality can be observed and investigated in order to actually sum up whether they are what their sex determines. The link between physical appearance and manliness can be observed in “A View from the Bridge” when Eddie constantly criticises Rodolfo’s blonde hair, pale skin and groomed features. He accuses of him of being homosexual due to his grooming and self-consciousness – possibly exaggerating on Rodolfo’s more presumed metro sexuality, or so it seems. At this point, Miller puts the audience to the test of their stereotypical understanding of whether or not they can distinguish just how masculine a character is just by observing their behaviour, physical traits and personality. Although Miller portrays his three main male characters at different levels of masculinity, it is up to just the audience’s understanding of how they perceive Miller’s messages of manliness in the play which determines the significance of masculinity in the first place.

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In some cases within the play, Miller might have even put the characters to the test of their own masculinity in order to let the audience themselves judge who the true alpha male is in fact. For example, the scene in which Eddie “challenges” Rodolfo to a playful fist fight, we can see that Eddie eventually overpowers Rodolfo when he punches him, almost knocking Rodolfo to the ground. However, the less recognisable character in the play, Marco, comes in to protect his brother and emphasizes his strength by lifting a chair with one hand, gesturing to Eddie an almost threatening ...

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