Who Was Responsible For Eddie's Death At the End of the Play a View From the Bridge?

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WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR EDDIE’S DEATH AT THE END OF THE PLAY A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE?

In a ‘View from the bridge,’ Beatrice illustrates her views clearly on recent events by saying on page 61. ‘Whatever happened, we all done it, and don’t you forget it Catherine.’ She is stating that everyone contributed significantly to what has happened in one way or another.

On page 4, Alfieri’s view of ‘settling for half’, is different to the way he says it on page 64. On page 64 he says, ‘Most of the time we settle for half.’ He has differentiated the two words ‘now’ and ‘most’. This is because he has seen Eddie become a victim of his own culture and seen the way he respects the Code of Conduct. Alfieri has concluded from that, that the best way is not to settle for half all the time. But ‘Most of the time we settle for half and I like it better.’

Both Beatrice and Alfieri have illustrated their views however, their views on recent events contrast to each other significantly.

We are introduced to the first key scene where we find Eddie’s reaction to Catherine’s job offer, ‘…You can’t take no job, why didn’t you ask me before taking on a job?’ This is clearly showing Eddie’s insecurity and doesn’t want her to gain any independence; another reason for this reaction is he doesn’t want her to get a boyfriend via her new job. This scene has created a sense of tension due to high levels of jealousy surrounding the conversation. Also, Eddie believes that the man should be the provider and the woman does the housework.

This prepares the audience for many more scenes similar to this as Eddie’s reaction is huge compared to the situation. Therefore, there may be chances of his jealousy taking over and spiralling out of control.

When Marco and Rodolpho arrive from Italy, they are illegal immigrants and are also Beatrice’s relatives however it brings a sense of excitement into the household. They are new people that have arrived it shows clearly of Catherine’s involvement with Marco and Rodolpho on page 16, ‘Come here, sit down. I’ll get you some soup.’ You already know that they will have some part in the play, this sets the ball rolling as you know because they are illegal immigrants they will be staying for a considerable amount of time and trouble will occur at some point in the play.

In terms of dramatic impact towards the audience it prepares them for the fact that Marco and/or Rodolpho are either going to cause trouble because they are illegal immigrants or they are going to make Eddie jealous in one way or another. Jealousy is a big weakness of Eddie’s.

On page 27 we are aware of Eddie and Catherine’s conversation in which Eddie does what he can to split the relationship between Catherine and Rodolpho by saying that Rodolpho is only going out with her to stay in the country. ‘…The guy is looking for his break, that all he’s lookin’ for.’ This has as a result made Catherine drift further away from Eddie. In this scene Eddie is at fault as his jealousy has taken complete control of his feelings. Catherine is being insensitive for not considering Eddie’s feelings.

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This has created a dramatic impact towards the audience as they know Eddie is a jealous person and because he is close to his niece she has all of a sudden drifted away from him towards a man whom ‘doesn’t love her enough’. This has created an impression that revenge may be in order.

In order for Eddie to try and cast revenge he approaches Alfieri in order to aim to find a way to snitch Rodolpho,

Alfieri: Well they entered illegally

Eddie: Oh, Jesus, no, I wouldn’t do nothin’ about that, I mean – (page 32)

Eddie can’t ...

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