Who do you feel most Sympathy for at the end of "A View From The Bridge?" Who do you think Miller intended us to feel sympathy for?

Henry Miller, 10GR

Who do you feel most Sympathy for at the end of “A View From The Bridge?” Who do you think Miller intended us to feel sympathy for?

Arthur Miller ends ‘A View From The Bridge” so tragically with so many people at a loss, it is challenging to pick a single character for whom you feel the most sympathy.

The story is set in 1956 in Brooklyn America, which by itself was a hard time for people living in the era. However, the opening of the play is brought across as a typical, everyday setting in Eddie Carbone’s apartment. He and his niece, Catherine, are sitting in the living room/dining room where most of the play is set. When Eddie is commenting on his niece’s dress, speech such as “Beautiful! Turn around, lemme see in the back. Oh, if your mother was alive to see you now! She wouldn’t believe it” gives the reader a feeling of general everyday calmness, which suggests that nothing unpleasant in the near future is likely to occur.

As the play unfolds however, we begin to view a rise in overall tension – especially between certain characters. As Eddie is brought across as the main character of the play, with so many problems, you can tell that the story is not going to end on easy terms for him. He controls the outcome of the play, as he is the main character.

Throughout the majority of the play, we can see Eddie breaking down (Feeling attracted to his niece and trying to get his wife’s cousins deported) – and it is clear that Miller tried to make the audience feel a sense of dislike towards him. This is effective, as when he is killed at the end it leaves the audience with mixed emotions. They were feeling angry towards him and then almost immediately afterwards, he is killed. At the end scene, he shows that he is willing to sacrifice himself for his conception, even though it may not be acceptable to many others,

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which may lead readers to question if Eddie’s intentions weren’t good all along, and he is purely the victim. I feel that Miller tried to put this across plainly to the audience, and that he definitely intended to make the audience have second thoughts about their opinions of Eddie.

In the play, Rudolpho is seen as a polite, innocent character. He is very attached to his brother Marco, and seems to be under his control in many ways. We can see this taking place in various forms – particularly when Marco silences Rudolpho, to prevent him ...

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Because Rudolpho is living under Eddie’s roof, he treats him with respect. However, even though Rudolpho is brought across as someone who is pleasant, he gives off the feeling that he has the ability to influence Eddie and the other characters if he feels the need - for example, the way he lunges at Eddie ‘with tears of rage’ while shouting “Don’t say that to me!” in the second act.

There are not many reasons for feeling a sense of sympathy towards Rudolpho at the end of the story, mainly because he did not lose anyone close to him, as Beatrice and Catherine did. It is clear, however, that even though he and Eddie were rather cold to each other near the end, the death of Eddie (his future wife’s uncle) would have certainly affected him greatly – being the sensitive person that he is.

Marco is Rudolpho’s brother and Beatrice’s cousin. Miller brings him across as a strong, silent man who has his heart in the right place. As soon as we are introduced to him, we can tell that he treats Eddie with a great deal of respect. One of the very first things he says to Eddie

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is “I want to tell you now Eddie – when you say go, we will go.” What’s more, he is described as saying this with a certain formal stiffness, which shows that he feels that he needs to make a good impression to Eddie, and needs to converse with him in a polite manner.

The kissing incident with Eddie and Rudolpho is a key scene in the play. We learn many things just from this one action. First, we are able to see Eddie’s desperation, for he had let go of all dignity. His drunken state is initially alarming and we can tell that this is where he begins to lose control of himself. Also, we learn Rudolpho’s true sexuality. The fact that he was so completely repulsed by the kiss shows us that he cannot possibly be a homosexual.

Most members of an audience would think that because Marco killed Eddie, he deserves no sympathy. I disagree with this; I feel he has every right to be pitied, and every right to be angry with Eddie. Let us not forget, Eddie intended to kill Marco initially, and Marco only stabbed Eddie in self-defence.

Up until the end of the play, Catherine seems to be under the control of Eddie, and she sees him as almost a father figure. It is clear that she has trouble being independent and making her own decisions – for Eddie has convinced her that she is still a girl and cannot do without him. A good example of this is when she says to Eddie “I’m afraid if it don’t turn out good you’ll be mad at me.”

We also see Eddie clearly intentionally taking control of Catherine, for example, when Catherine informs him that she has got a new job as a stenographer – he replies with “that ain’t what I wanted though.” It is clear that he feels he needs to make decisions for her, because he thinks that that’s how she will turn out best.

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There are various reasons for feeling sympathy for Catherine, the main one being that she loses her Uncle at the end, someone who she had learnt many things from. She also has to deal with the fact that her husband’s brother was the one who killed him.

In the play, Beatrice seems to be caught in the middle of all the horrific events occurring – even though she hasn’t done anything to deserve it. She, in my opinion, is the person that deserves the most sympathy. Beatrice is at the centre of all the main characters – she is Marco and Rudolpho’s cousin, Eddie’s wife and Catherine’s aunt. It is clear by knowing that, that she will suffer the most loss and confusion at the end because she is so closely linked to everyone. It is easy for the audience to feel sorry for her, as she didn’t do anything wrong. She put a house up for her cousins, and her good deed turned out to spark a horrific tragedy.

Beatrice treats Catherine with certain warmth throughout the play, and tries to teach her how to be independent and break free of Eddie’s control. She accomplishes her task in the end, as you can tell that Catherine does seem to grow up – she definitely becomes more independent than she was at the beginning. There is an excellent example of this, when Catherine yells at Eddie during the end scene – “Who the hell do you think you are? You got no more right to tell nobody nothing!” This shows that she is not afraid to stand up to him anymore, and that she feels she has the right to put forth her own opinions.

I think the fact the Beatrice is the last thing Eddie sees – and the fact that her name is the last thing that he says is very important. Up until that point, we were given no sign of how much Eddie cared about Beatrice. However, in these two lines, we learn that he really does love

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her. You can tell that the two words “My B.!” were intended to greatly affect the audience – and make them feel a sense of great sorrow.

In conclusion – Even though all the characters have reasons to be pitied, I feel the most sympathy for Beatrice, as she was caught in the middle and had so many losses and problems. What’s more, none of the problems were her fault.