What marks an apparent change in their relationship is the time after the first encounter with Beatrice’s cousins. Beatrice sees Eddie, smiles at him, he looks away. Here, we see that Eddie is taking out his frustrations on his wife. He is in a bad mood as Catherine and Rodolpho are still not back from the cinema, ‘they would have seen every picture in Brooklyn already’. We, as the audience see that Beatrice and Eddie’s relationship is not as strong as before. Beatrice even voices her dislike of Eddie’s behaviour, ‘you’re just jealous’. It is clear that Beatrice feels that Eddie is not committed to the marriage. We are given a signal that their relationship is slipping downhill. As the play progresses, we soon realize that there are many weaknesses in the bond between Eddie and Beatrice. Beatrice shows her dislike of the present home situation by asking Eddie, ‘when am I going to be a wife again?’ Apart from using this euphemism, she also voices that it has been ‘three months’ already. At this point of the play, Eddie feels that his masculinity has been challenged and declares that he wants no more conversations about it. He says ‘I want my respect…what I feel like doing in bed and what I don’t feel like doing’. This not only shows the strength of Eddie’s illicit love towards Catherine, it also shows how he is not fully committed to his relationship with Beatrice. Miller manipulates the dialogue between Eddie and Beatrice to show the lack of communication between them. Their relationship is clearly deteriorating fast. The problems in the relationship between Eddie and Beatrice are magnified when we hear Beatrice speak harshly to Eddie. Contrasting the beginning of the play, she is no longer as concerned about Eddie’s feelings. After Eddie tells Catherine that Rodolpho is only using her to get his ‘passport’, Beatrice sees Catherine crying. Beatrice immediately says ‘are you gonna’ leave her alone? Or are you gonna’ drive me crazy?’ Miller, by adding in this quote allows the audience to realize Beatrice’s frustration caused by Eddie’s need for authority over Catherine. The further Catherine grows from Eddie, the weaker the relationship between Eddie and Beatrice becomes. As the play continue to progress, their relationship does not start to improve but Beatrice’s attitude towards Eddie changes slightly after Catherine decides to marry Rodolpho. When Eddie is moving with suppressed sadness after hearing the news, Beatrice comforts him by saying ‘in her heart, she still loves you’. Normally, Beatrice would have shown hostility towards Eddie but she knows that things will settle down if Catherine and Rodolpho gets married; Eddie will learn to get over Catherine. Throughout the play, Beatrice continually tries to make Eddie break away from Catherine. This includes the time at the end of the play where Beatrice says ‘tell her good-by forever!’ Eddie replies to this furiously, ‘that’s what you think of me!’ Even towards the end of the play, their relationship still has not been repaired. We see clearly that Beatrice still loves Eddie deep inside when she chooses to defend Eddie when Catherine calls him a ‘rat’. She is willing to stay by him and not go to the wedding, ‘go to your wedding Katie. I’ll stay home’. What we don’t see is the mutual affection Beatrice and Eddie had for each other at the beginning of the play. There is no display of love towards Beatrice from Eddie up until the very end of the play. The ending of the play marks another significant change in their relationship. Eddie dies in Beatrice’s arms as he screams, ‘My B!’ Beatrice replies saying ‘Yes, yes!’ This is the first time Eddie needs Beatrice more than Beatrice needs Eddie. For the first time, he’s seeking for Beatrice’s love and forgiveness. At the same time, Beatrice is willing to forgive Eddie. Their love for each other that is seen at the beginning of the play is apparent here. This point of the play marks the reconciliation of the broken relationship.
In conclusion, the relationship between Eddie and Beatrice deteriorates right from the start and much quickly after the imminent arrival of Beatrice’s cousins. However, at the poignant ending of ‘A View from the Bridge’, the couple manages to repair their relationship, which has previously been shattered by jealousy, distrust and feelings for others.