Category: A View from the Bridge

Coursework English literature

Miller constructs protagonists who are destroyed by their obsessive need to defend their masculine self-image. How far do you agree this applies to both Willy Loman and Eddie Carbone?

The 1950s, in the USA, was a period of radical change for men in the workplace, as academic attributes became increasingly appreciated and the white collar and corporate worker become a common position in society for men. But social critics of that era saw this rise as terrible for the traditional idea of men as “masculine.” Traditional ideas of ‘manliness’ were discarded for the newfound definitions of masculinity, entailing a life in the suburbs with fancy cars and posh lifestyles. Miller constructs his protagonists on the basis of your classic 1950s man, traditional and eager to perform as a masculine and providing man taking his place in the instrumental role. Eddie, from ‘A View from the Bridge’ resembles a strong and loyal alpha male, eager to present display himself as the paternal leader among this Sicilian society. Miller places Eddie as the key figure (protagonist) in this Euripidean tragedy of passion, in which he becomes enamoured by an irresistible and self-destructive obsession over his wavering masculinity and desires. Whereas Willy, from ‘The Death of a Salesman’ is similarly displayed as having a strong desire to support his family, whilst living in a more traditional and post-industrial society- one that supports his ideals of masculinity. When Willy cannot shape up to be what the modern world identifies as masculine, a learned man, this causes his already dysfunctional mental state and views to become a pivotal point of his destruction.

We can first look at Willy’s obsession with manly qualities, in ‘Death of A Salesman’, and what he views as being attractive and likeable. We can also look at how the audience would see this as superficial, linking into his distorted definition of what makes a man a ‘real’ man. We see how this element of his personality and behaviour is shown through his dislike for Bernard in regard to his inferior qualities. This is evident in Willy’s question of, “You want him to be a worm like Bernard?” clearly showcasing Willy’s view that if you are smart you are weak; being liked resides as the focal point of his concerns. Not only have these values influenced Willy’s life, they have dramatically influenced his sons Biff and Happy to focus on being strong and likeable young men. Ultimately, it could be argued that this belief causes them to ignore the virtues of academic success and therefore leads to them being unable to pursue a successful, professional career as Bernard was able to. Willy’s ideologies are reflected in Biff when he wants to follow in his footsteps, “love to go with you sometime, Dad.”- showing he believes Willy is a successful and flourishing businessman. We also see how his sons follow him and believe it is necessary to impress him when Happy tries to gain his attention, “I’m losing weight, you notice, Pop?” Willy is the man of the house, and his obsession with popularity seems to especially influence his son Biff. Critic Clinton Towbridge believes that “in ‘Death of a Salesman’ the father and the older son, Biff, though antagonists, are more closely related in their values…” In response to this idea, I believe it holds merit due to the fact that Biff strives to follow Willy’s career and thoughts and also that it reflects how these values and obsessions have led to the destruction of opportunities for, not just Willy, but the whole family such as the money issues they’ve experienced. And focusing more on the individual of Biff, we see these distorted values and ideals restricting Biff’s progress in life. Throughout the play, Willy’s downfall is clearly down to his distorted values and opinions on the human race and what makes a person likeable, believing “personality always wins the day”. When in reality, as Miller shows through the character of Bernard, academic success is the real winning attribute. Of all the work valued and mentioned, carpentry is displayed as the ideal job as it requires characteristics that are creative, manly, and a love for the outdoors. As Biff says: ‘A carpenter is allowed to whistle!’ Willy brags about his home modifications, and he critiques Charley for not being a man who does these things. ‘A man who can’t handle tools is not a man,’ is how Willy views it.

Similarly, in ‘A View from The Bridge’, Eddie Carbone also holds superficial and traditional views, reflected through the values of the longshoremen and his own treatment of Rodolpho. Within the play, the scenes where Rodolpho is ridiculed, relate to gender expectations and what makes a man manly. Eddie describes how Rodolpho “looked so sweet” and how his sense of humour “ain’t what they’re laughing” at. It could be said that Miller’s aim with this presentation of ridicule and desperation to protect masculine values, is to use the character of Eddie to condemn such stereotypes and ultimately preach a more liberal political outlook. It is also possible to say that Eddie reacts in such an offended way as he may feel jealousy or resentment surrounding Rodolpho and his liked personality, similar to how Bernard is treated in ‘Death of Salesman’, as to him it’s a physically and emotionally strong man that should be liked by society- especially in Sicilian society. Another interpretation could be that Eddie is denying his feelings and refusing to act on emotions that he regards as feminine or inappropriate, and instead suppresses them. This is mainly evident in the communication Eddie has with Rodolpho, where he is overly critical of Rodolpho’s feminine characteristics. This could be due to the fact his in residing in a Sicilian community, surrounded by longshore men and other strong masculine figures who do not act in ‘feminine’ ways. Acting in any other way could negatively affect his position in society, and strip him of his masculine identity. This obsession and a tight grasp on particular ‘masculine’ emotions could have been the cause of his destruction. Arthur Miller may have been influenced to criticise masculinity or the distorted values people hold on it, due to his background. Miller had a father who owned a coat manufacturing business- a career of which we would associate physical labour and strength, which is just one of many masculine qualities. His mother however was an educator and avid reader, and it was well known that Miller had a stronger bond with his mother. From this, we could say Miller’s strong relationship with his mother pushed him to reject patriarchy and traditional masculine values, or at least criticise those who distort and manipulate definitions of masculinity in society. It is also fair to say that Miller could be exploring the theme of death within his plays, and how societal norms, values and reactions can play into it. Both plays seem to follow a certain criticism of societal norms and values, regarding a more traditional 1950s society.

The protagonist Eddie Carbone in ‘A View from the Bridge’ resembles an alpha male, desperate to uphold this strong masculine image to those around him. Critic Neil Carson talks about how “In the concluding minutes of the play it is Marco’s insult, not Rodolpho’s rivalry, which is foremost in Eddie’s mind.”. This presents the idea that it was always Eddie’s pride that was foundation for all of his actions, and that he is willing to be killed or kill another just to prove his point. He competes against Marco in a battle for masculinity, and it causes Eddie to be consumed by jealousy and resentment. This presentation of initiating in battle is where Marco challenges Eddie to lift a chair by its leg, using only one hand. Eddie cannot do it, but Marco lifts the chair “like a weapon over Eddie’s head – and he transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph”. This displays Marco’s strength as a metaphorical object of destruction on Eddie’s masculinity. Marco’s strength is described when Eddie states, “They leave him alone he woulda load the whole ship himself”, showing how Marco possesses several characteristics of a strong masculine figure within the play. Furthermore, it presents Marco as a capable character, who maybe even intimidate Eddie as he poses a threat to his masculinity. A pivotal moment where Marco successfully asserts his dominance and strength is where he challenges Eddie to pick up a chair by one leg. Through this action we see a turning point in the play as the already fragile relationship between Eddie and Marco is destroyed. This in itself plays a key role in the destruction of the reasonable part of Eddie’s mind, as it introduces doubt and fear over a loss of status and masculinity, fuelling his jealousy over Marco. It could also be said to be what influences his treatment of Rodolpho as his feminine qualities make him a suitable match for the alpha male role. Eddie challenges Rodolpho to a boxing match, appearing as a teacher to him- taking on a superior role. We see Eddie’s mental state and capabilities declining as his conflicts start to contrast each other: Marco being too masculine, and Rodolpho being too feminine. Eddie’s failure against Marco regarding the chair challenge is symbolic of how Eddie is going to lose against Marco in the end, and how Eddie will have neither his masculinity nor reputation left. This need for a battle for the position as the alpha male becomes Eddie’s fatal flaw, as he loses control of his emotions at the end with Marco. In the final fight scene, Eddie challenges Marco in an almost primal way with “his arms spread”, whilst the one loyal Sicilian neighbourhood has become a sort of public arena for the conflict that will entail. Eddie’s desperation for victory becomes apparent when he “springs a knife into his hand”, implying he already knows he is not the stronger man or the alpha male which displays his fatal flaw of hubris. We get the sense of this sense of his own weakness as he feels he is not capable of matching Marco’s strength with only his hands. This refers to the only strength he seems to have within the play, his ability to hold on to his pride. However, this grip on the idea he is stronger and of higher status than Marco or Rodolpho is what leads to his demise. We can infer that Eddie focuses so much on this because of his need to be a leader and authority figure to Catherine and the rest of the Sicilian society he resides in. It is important that Eddie won’t fight Marco with his bare hands as it shows that he already knows he is in danger of destruction, and losing his position as a leader within his family. It also presents him as willing to Kill Marco in order to protect himself, therefore showing how far he has really fallen.

We can also look at how masculinity isn’t the key element to the downfall of the character of Eddie in ‘A View from the Bridge. There is an argument that sexual repression is at the fault of Eddie’s spiral. Eddies niece Catherine is naive, and Eddie has a strong desire to protect and shelter her from the outside world and the rest of society. He takes this desire to an extreme, what seems to be a sexual one, and in doing so tears his family apart. This obsession seems to be an unconscious one, and even until the end we as the reader are unsure if he has become aware of the reality that he has developed feelings towards Catherine of a psychosexual nature. Eddie’s denial over his emotions seems to be the main cause of his downfall, as he projects the frustrations he feels onto others (especially Beatrice) whilst being in denial for the entirety of the play. Critic Neil Carson proclaims that “A View from the Bridge is a two-level play in which the psychological and social elements seem sometimes at odds”. For me, this supports the idea that Eddie is facing issues regarding inner conflicts over his emotions and masculinity, and also his complex feelings towards Catherine. Furthermore, Carson says “Some hint of the possessive and unnatural form of his love is given by his reluctance to let Catherine wear high heels, but the full power of his passion does not emerge until Catherine wants to leave home to get married”. I agree with this to the extent that Eddie’s possessive nature over Catherine’s choices in life is reflected in this point of the play, and this is only foreshadowing the intensity that Eddie is going to reach further on. It could be argued that the audience is inclined to feel some sense of sympathy for Eddie, as he believes he is being a good guardian and believes he deserves better. It is clear he is lost and doesn’t seem to understand his own behaviour- that of which stems from repressed sexual desires and feelings. The destruction of Eddie is broadly focused on these desires, and as Aristotle said “A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall”, therefore with Eddie denying this idea of sexual desire over Catherine through till the end, he seals his own fate.

Another destructive factor affecting our protagonist Willy, in ‘The Death of a Salesman’, is that concerning the harsh, ever-changing and developing society he was surrounded by. Willy initially entertains an ambitious idea of the ‘American Dream’, leading him to believe financial success and likability is going to place him in a good and respected position among society. Willy wanted to provide all that society expected of the traditional working man- a car, refrigerator and vacuum cleaner. However, whilst trying to live up to these expectations, he became financially unstable- effecting not just him but the entire household. It could easily be argued that this was the main reason for his death, as when he dies he is to leave behind insurance money. Under the pressure of a demanding society, he did what he thought was the only way to support his family financially. Willy is so desperate to reject the increasingly modernised world, and industrialisation, and so dismisses the offer of a new job from Charley. He believes in the pre-industrial occupation of being a salesman and is clearly unwilling to stray from his beliefs.

Another factor playing into the downfall of our protagonist Eddie in ‘A View from the Bridge’ is how he constantly looks out for his own well-being at the expense of others’ feelings, whilst being ruled by emotions such as personal love and guilt. This is most evident in how Eddie treats Beatrice, forming tension within their relationship. Eddie’s distant and pre-occupied attitude is evident when Beatrice approaches Eddie and “smiles”, to which Eddie “looks away”. Furthermore, we see the relationship begin to collapse through the difference of opinions about the relationship between Catherine and Rodolpho. The sub-text of Eddie’s emotions lies behind Eddie’s questioning over Catherine abandoning her practice of stenography, displaying the anger that is developing within himself over her relations with Rodolpho. It is clear that Beatrice doesn’t feel as though she is enough for Eddie, because Eddie is too busy been consumed by his attention and emotions towards Catherine. This is clear in Beatrice’s questioning “When am I gonna be a wife again, Eddie?”. By veering away from his relationship with Beatrice, his mind becomes consumed by his emotions towards Catherine and her budding relationship.

A View from the Bridge is a tragedy set in the industrial dockyards of Brooklyn in the 1950s after the destructive Second World War. Eddie Carbone, middle-aged, working class, and suffering from deep-rooted confusion generates conflict with all the characters he interacts with due to his toxic masculinity and manipulative personality. This is principally expressed through the conflict between the various characters in the play as well as Eddie’s internal conflicts which stem from his hamartia and tragic flaw: his persistent refusal to accept his unnatural feelings for his niece, Catherine. Additionally, Miller exacerbates conflict through the underlying themes of the play such as the law as opposed to justice and masculinity in contrast to femininity. As the play progresses, Miller chronicles the descent of the common man as conflict builds which leads to Eddie’s eventual tragic downfall. Conflict is initially introduced to the audience through the difference between law and justice. Alfieri is used as a choric character that structurally separates the dramatic story through his periodic appearances and comments on the unfolding action to advise how the audience should react, similar to Ancient Greek plays. This is due to Alfieri’s long monologues, which contrast with the remainder of the play’s dialogue, which is brief, conversational, and tense.

Eddie’s disconnection and dysfunctional marriage with Beatrice serve as a source of conflict in the drama. Beatrice makes it clear early immediately that she and Eddie are having marital problems and that Eddie, who is manipulative and patriarchal, is in charge of their relationship. In the 1950s the US is seen as socially conservative which is reflected in Eddie as he embodies those patriarchal qualities. When she asks him when he will treat her like a wife again, she is hinting that Eddie does not act intimately with her and hasn’t done so in a long time, lacking the attention that she desires from her own husband, as she asks, ‘When am I going to be your wife again?’ The conflict between them is fueled by her feelings of being ignored and disregarded. Eddie’s thoughts and sentiments are diverted to his niece, Catherine, causing him to overlook Beatrice and spend his attention on Catherine rather than his own wife, who communicates her mounting sorrow by telling Eddie, ‘I’m sick of it,’ demonstrating her hopelessness. Beatrice is a sensitive and sympathetic woman who recognizes Eddie’s motives and is not hesitant to speak out against him in the patriarchal and dominating environment he has built. She understands what her husband is struggling with better than he does himself and despite his attempts to convey his masculinity, she is there to comfort him despite his hostility towards her. Near the end of the play, she reveals to him that his feelings for Catherine are misplaced and can never amount to anything, which greatly angers and shocks Eddie leading to the great conflict between them, and also reveals that Beatrice knew his secret which irritates Eddie. She supports Eddie throughout the play’s events and is always honest with him in spite of his cold attitude towards Beatrice and his constant influence and power over her. Despite the fact that there is a lot of struggle and tension between Beatrice and Eddie, it is resolved in the play’s last minutes of the denouement, when Eddie goes to Beatrice for solace with his dying breaths and chooses to spend his final moments with her. Despite everything he has put her through, Beatrice’s love for him remains strong, and she is there for him when he needs her the most, and she is the only character who remains faithful when everyone else has turned against him.

In A View From The Bridge, Miller develops friction through Eddie and Catherine’s friendship. Eddie wants to protect Catherine since he is a paternal figure to her and their connection represents a patriarchal society in New York at the time. Eddie remarks at the beginning of the performance that Catherine is ‘walkin’ wavy’ and that ‘the heads are turning like windmills’. This New York slang and simile imply that Catherine is being exploited by dangerous men who believe she is innocent and weak. Through this paternal idea that women should be chaste, the drama addresses gender and women in society. Furthermore, Eddie adds to Catherine, ‘You look like a madonna,’ implying that Eddie idolizes Catherine and wants her to remain pure and innocent like ‘Madonna,’ who represents the Virgin Mary. In a later moment, though, Eddie’s overprotectiveness and suffocation of Catherine drives her to ask Rodolpho, ‘Suppose I wanted to live in Italy.’ As a result of Catherine’s subconscious belief in Eddie’s warning that Rodolpho only wants to marry Catherine because he is ‘bowin’ to his passport,’ a violent showdown happens. The audience is furious with Eddie at this point in the play because he has indoctrinated Catherine to be distrustful of Rodolpho. Eddie’s repressed sexual yearning for Catherine is another source of friction between the family’s father and niece. This is evident in the first scene, which takes place in the family kitchen and features Eddie ‘running his hands down her skirt,’ revealing Eddie’s nearly incestuous attraction to her.

The battle between Eddie and Rodolpho and his brother Marco, the play’s antagonists, which derives from Rodolpho and Eddie’s disagreements, is how Miller explores the issue of violence and retribution. This is most emphasized in Act One’s conclusion when Marco warns Eddie indirectly about the dangers of mistreating his brother Rodolpho. Marco twisting Eddie’s blade on him at the end of the play is foreshadowed by the fact that he utilizes a chair from Eddie’s residence and the simile comparing the ‘chair’ to a weapon. Marco elevates the chair ‘like a weapon over Eddie’s head,’ implying a threat of violence, which is emphasized by the word ‘weapon.’ Because the flat is described as’ skeletal totally’ and contains a ‘living-room-dining room,’. The chair is a dramatic symbol of how props can be weaponized and are used as a centerpiece to reflect the mental and physical power struggle in the play.

On Brooklyn Bridge, American playwright, Arthur Miller, had noticed graffiti during his walks that read: ‘Dov’è Pete Panto?’ which translates from Italian as: ‘Where is Pete Panto?’ The message also began appearing on subway stations and on office buildings at Court Street in downtown Brooklyn. After he was known the story behind the graffiti, he learned about the lives and culture of the longshoremen, their homes in their Red Hook neighborhood. Arthur heard the true story from a lawyer, Vinny Longhi, (who worked with longshoremen), then he wrote the true story as a play, A View from the Bridge, which presents at least two, possibly three or four, different conceptions of the inter-related notions of law, justice and honor to us in the play. A belief in communal law or community values, the American system of justice, and the analogy of settling for half. Miller enlarged the psychological motivations of the principal characters – Eddie, Beatrice, and Catherine. He believed Eddie’s action was made more understandable because he no longer concentrated only on the factual events of the tale.

First, let’s take a look at the actual set on stage. Most of the action takes place in the apartment of the Carbones. Stage directions tell us that, while it’s pretty bare, it’s still clean and homey. You can tell a lot about people by what their house looks like. This apartment would seem to say that these folks don’t have a lot, but they take pride in the things they do own. Also on stage, there is a bit of the street outside. This becomes very important when all the family drama going on in the apartment spills out into the public arena. It allows for space where we can see the community affected by Eddie’s mistakes, such as when the Italians are arrested or when Eddie and Marco duel. Alfieri makes six appearances on stage throughout the play. He is a portly, good-humored, and thoughtful lawyer who was born in Italy.

A View from the Bridge represents a world in which legal, moral, ethical, and social issues are in conflict with one another. Miller created the role of a narrator, Alfieri, in imitation of ancient Greek tragedies where a group of actors commented on proceedings and were known as the ‘chorus’. The lawyer directly addresses the audience from his office: he is both a character and a commentator. Although his original intention was to use Alfieri to convey his own wonder when he first heard the tale of the longshoreman, he clearly uses Alfieri’s speeches to the audience to connect Eddie to what Miller sees as the mythic level of the play.

Law theme in Act one, Alfieri provides the interpretation of civil law, from his very first monologue he also shows that such law is not always a cultural precedent followed in the context of a Sicilian neighborhood in Brooklyn. He tells us that the second-generation Sicilians are now more civilized, more American, he refers to “three thousand years of distrust “which have been felt by Sicilians towards lawyers, because “A lawyer means the law.” He thinks that living in America and following the written law makes people less savage and less likely to take the law into their own hands, prepared to ‘settle for half and let the law handle their disputes, As a reason that, the law is not always clear nor does it satisfy basic instincts. Alfieri has witnessed men ‘justly shot by unjust men. He describes the code of modern American society, by saying, “And now we are quite civilized, quite American. However, in Alfieri’s own words, Eddie is not connected to this civilized law; his nature harks back to his roots in the old world.

Miller decided to end Act One with the dramatic defiance between Marco and Eddie when the compliant Marco shows his awareness of Eddie’s threat to Rodolpho by holding the chair over Eddie’s head. A result of Eddie’s most jealous issues in A View from the Bridge. Eddie’s desire for his niece Catherine is at the heart of all the play’s action. His attention to Catherine is drawn as more than fatherly affection. There are a number of particular twists to Eddie’s desire for Catherine. Catherine is Beatrice’s niece whom Eddie has raised as his own daughter. The fact that she is not his niece by blood further complicates Eddie’s attraction to her. His need to protect her childhood innocence, first portrayed as fatherly affection, is put into a different light when he becomes enraged by her relationship with Rodolpho. His desire is evident when he reveals his revulsion at Rodolpho putting his hands on her. Yet twice in the play, Eddie is portrayed as unconscious of his desires. When he goes to see Alfieri for legal advice, the lawyer voices his concern for Eddie’s inner turmoil. At the end of the play, Beatrice will similarly confront her husband by forcing him to face the reality he is unwilling or unable to imagine. Catherine’s interest in Rodolpho is obvious on the first night of their arrival. When Catherine and Rodolpho begin their relationship, Eddie’s paternal concern turns into jealousy, which he uses to attack Rodolpho. Eddie is repulsed by what he perceives to be Rodolpho’s effeminate nature, an unfamiliar form of masculinity. Eddie tries to convince Catherine that Rodolpho is using her to have American citizenship but his argument is actually a mask for Eddie’s own desire for her. There are substantial differences between the original one-act version of the play and the revised two-act version regarding the nature of Eddie and Beatrice’s relationship. Nevertheless, Eddie perceives Rodolpho as a sexual threat. He discovers that, in addition to singing and sewing, Rodolpho also cooks. Although he is told about the male chefs in European hotels, he does not appreciate a European view of what constitutes masculine behavior. As a recently assimilated American, Eddie is uneasy about his own immigrant Italian culture. For him, masculinity is only physical strength and he challenges Rodolpho to a boxing match, knowing that he can overpower him and ‘accidentally’ he injures him. (Maturity independence)

Act One which includes a conversation between Beatrice and Catherine about her relationship with Eddie. Miller portrays Beatrice as aware of both Catherine’s and Eddie’s complex feelings. She realizes much more consciously than Catherine or Eddie does that Catherine is a woman, and Beatrice tries to convey that to her. Beatrice encourages Catherine to leave the house, to marry Rodolpho, and for them to find a place of their own. She says, ‘You’re a woman, that’s all, and you got a nice boy, and now the time came when you said goodbye.’ When Catherine hesitates, Beatrice is firm: ‘Honey . . . you gotta.’ Beatrice’s action in this additional scene displays her own complicated situation: torn between her devotion to her husband, her own desires as a wife, and the responsibility for the girl she has raised as a daughter.

Act Two begins with the explosive scene when Eddie discovers Rodolpho and Catherine in the bedroom. Because Eddie has no legal recourse to stop Catherine and Rodolpho’s relationship, he chooses to act according to his own code. Alfieri points out to him that he will drown if he violates the social and moral codes so powerful in his neighborhood, especially the ethnic code he breaches by reporting Marco and Rodolpho. It is ironic that according to the code operating in Red Hook, Eddie is technically committing a crime by harboring illegal aliens, but this action is permissible, even sanctioned in the community. Making the phone call to report illegal immigrants, according to civil law, is the proper action; however, the play illustrates that the moral law of the Italian society supersedes civil law – an action that makes Eddie an outcast.

The violation of this ethnic code is enforced in the scene between Alfieri and Marco after his arrest by immigration officials. Marco seeks revenge on Eddie because he has violated the Sicilian code based on loyalty to one’s blood and family, and the violation exacts terrible consequences. As Marco says, ‘In my country, he would be dead now.’ Alfieri is reluctant to bail out Marco unless he promises not to exact this revenge: ‘To promise not to kill is not dishonorable.’ Ironically, Marco has the same difficulty as Eddie in understanding how the civil law conflicts with his moral code: Marco said: ‘ Then what is to be done with such a man?” Alfieri” Nothing. If he obeys the law, he lives.”Marco said: ‘ All the law is not in a book.’ Alfieri replied, ‘ There is no other law.” Marco said” He degraded my brother – my blood. He robbed my children, he mocks my work. There is no law for that? “ Alfieri replied, “There is none.” Marco’s frustration at the law not punishing Eddie shows how the law is at odds with Marco’s sense of justice. Here ‘civilized’ America undermines the ethnic code of Marco’s land, which abhors the violation of ‘blood’. For Sicilians, this violation must be avenged, offering us another ‘view’ of how justice has its say in different worlds.

Reputation

Miller’s plays concern themselves with the issue of characters accepting responsibility for their actions to accept and understand the consequences of their actions on themselves and others. At its core, A View from the Bridge illustrates the complexity of accepting – or denying – full responsibility for one’s actions and the effect this has on oneself, one’s family, and society. Eddie declares that Catherine ‘is my niece and I’m responsible for her’. But Eddie perverts his responsibility to her and in the process violates the codes that bind him to his community. The consequences are tragic. One of the most shocking aspects of Eddie’s failure to fulfill his responsibility is that the play initially depicts him as fully aware of his role as a surrogate father to Catherine, husband to Beatrice, willing host to Marco and Rodolpho, and member of his immigrant community. Although Miller was intrigued by the events of the story on which he based the play and wanted to illustrate the events as the work of fate, the playwright in Arthur wanted to show that human beings are not merely victims of forces beyond their control. His characters determine their own destinies. Most of Eddie’s actions are indeed purposeful – his attack on Rodolpho, the passionate for Catherine, the information he delivers to the Immigration Bureau. His failure is that he is never truly aware of the part he has played in the unfolding of these terrible events. Refusing to accept blame, he displays no guilt and accepts no responsibility, even when the catastrophe he has caused is pointed out to him. In contrast, Beatrice and Rodolpho clearly take full responsibility for the choices they have made.

Arthur commented on how the revised staging also emphasized Eddie’s universal destiny: The play began on a Red Hook street against the exterior brick wall of a tenement, which soon split open to show a basement apartment and above it a maze of fire escapes winding back and forth across the face of the building in the background. On those fire escapes the neighbors appeared at the end like a chorus, and Eddie could call up to them, to his society and his conscience for their support of his cause.

Somehow, the splitting in half of the whole three-story tenement was awesome, and it opened the mind to the size of the mythic story. Miller maintained that modern literature does not require characters to be royalty or leaders, as in the tragedies of other eras, and therefore fall from some great height. Rather he insisted: ‘I think that the tragic feeling is evoked when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing – his sense of personal dignity. From Orestes to Hamlet, Medea to Macbeth, the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his “rightful” position in his society.’

Betrayal and love are both prevalent themes that are explored frequently, especially together, in plays such as Arthur Miller’s ‘A View from the Bridge’. Betrayal in this play takes many forms, causing people and relationships to break down and change. Love is obvious in all the relationships in the play, but as the play progresses, these relationships change and morph along with the characters. This play explores the themes of love and betrayal, and I believe that it is equally about both of these themes.

Betrayal is first mentioned in the play when Eddie brings up the story of Vinny Bolzano, talking about his betrayal of his own uncle. Catherine’s shock at this conveys how strong the sense of family loyalty is, and how unheard-of betrayal is in their tightly-knit Italian-American community. Eddie’s hyperbolic statement “You can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away” shows that he understands the consequences of betrayal and joins his community in condemning it, which makes his deterioration into betraying his morals even more ironic and shocking. This conversation also foreshadows the danger that is caused by the arrival of immigrants.

The theme of love is also introduced early in the play. It is Beatrice’s love and loyalty to her extended family, even those she has not met, that causes her to allow them to stay with her. This sets up the meetings of the main characters of the play and leads to conflict. When Eddie enters the house, we also get a glimpse at his inappropriate love for Catherine: he is “pleased and therefore shy” about her attention, and seems oddly interested in what she looks like and where she’s going. It could be argued that the main conflict in the play is born of love – Catherine and Rodolpho’s love, and Eddie’s possessive love for Catherine.

Marco comes to America in the first place out of love for his family, which is unshaken through the play. When he is apprehended, he is angry not for himself, but for his children, whom he believes Eddie has ‘robbed’. Juxtaposed against this is Eddie, whose only concern is that his ‘name’ has been taken, conveying a certain level of egocentrism. Beatrice and Eddie’s love breaks down easily due to Eddie’s repressed desires and his inability to recognize them, contrasting with Marco’s love for his wife and children, which undergoes many trials but does not break down.

Catherine going out with Rodolpho despite Eddie’s disapproval might be considered betrayal, especially during a traditional home in the 1950s. Likewise, Rodolpho too perhaps betrays Eddie’s trust by sleeping with Catherine before marriage in his house and not asking Eddie’s permission before taking her out, which would have been common in those times, especially for the Italians with their strong code of honor.

Alfieri is aware that Eddie’s planned betrayal of the cousins will have dire consequences within the Red Hook community, which look down strongly upon betrayal, as seen in the story of Vinny Bolzano. He warns Eddie strongly against his plan, saying: “You won’t have a friend in the world, Eddie!”. However, he may be partly responsible for Eddie’s betrayal, given that he was the one who first suggested the idea to him. Eddie’s unnatural love and desire for his niece, Catherine, is a betrayal of his wife, and while Beatrice is aware of it on a primal level (“You want somethin’ else, Eddie, and you can never have her!”), she does not act on her knowledge beyond telling Catherine to be careful around Eddie. However, in the end, Eddie seems to regret his betrayal of her, as his last words are “My B!”. However, when Eddie drunkenly confronts the lovers, he kisses Rodolpho, whom he constantly suggests “ain’t right”, which could also be a sign of other repressed desires.

Eddie calls immigration in Act II the ultimate betrayal of the cousins. The community condemns him for betraying his family and turning his back on the Italian culture which places heavy emphasis on family honor and loyalty. Alfieri hints at an ancient distrust of the authorities in his opening speech, suggesting that it is so natural it is almost part of the culture: “Law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten”. By siding with the authorities over his own people, he has betrayed them by breaking the unspoken code of silence that exists to protect immigrants in their tightly-knit community. His jealousy has also driven him to betray his morals. At the beginning of the play, he emphasized the importance of keeping silent, telling Catherine: “You – don’t – know – nothin’”. The use of hyphens breaks up the statement, and the threatening tone adds emphasis, making his eventual turnaround seem even more shocking.

Arthur Miller uses stage directions extensively in this play, especially to direct body language. This makes the play more immersive, making their thoughts and Eddie’s deterioration clearer. This way, his betrayal of the cousins, though shocking, Marco going after Eddie at the end of the play is a betrayal of Rodolpho and Alfieri, to whom he promised he wouldn’t, but it is staying true to his own morals. Eddie’s eventual death is caused by his own knife, symbolizing that he has betrayed himself and caused his own fall from grace.

In conclusion, Arthur Miller’s play ‘A View from the Bridge’ is just as much about betrayal as it is about love, and both betrayal and love are defining themes in this play. I fully agree with the statement.

Eddie Carbone who is the main protagonist of Arthur Miller’s play A View From The Bridge’ has a very stereotypical view of how a ‘real man’ should be. As can be evidenced with is attitude towards Rodolpho, Eddie is intolerant and even hostile towards those who do not follow the traditional image of a man. Threats to his honour or the image of his masculinity, in the form of hostility and aggression, is what causes the conflicts that appear throughout the play. The three themes entwine together and have importance towards the unfolding events of the play.

The play is set in the mid 1950’s and therefore takes place in a patriarchal society where gender inequality was seen to be a norm amongst local communities. Eddie believes that a man should provide for his family, much like a breadwinner, and be the head of the household. When Eddie first meets Marco, he approves of his role as a father which can be interpreted by the stage directions as Eddie mainly directs his speech towards Marco during the immigrants first conversation with the Carbone family. Also, when Eddie describes Marco by saying ‘They leave him alone, he would load the whole ship by himself’ it highlights Eddie’s views of masculinity which is a man who is responsible, who has a sense of duty but is also hard-working. Eddie obviously values these traits, however, the most important aspect of a man to him is the physical strength of an individual. When Marco is described to be a ‘regular bull’, Eddie is not only complementing his dedication, but also his stability.

As seen by Eddie’s likeness towards Marco’s strength, he believes that a man needs to be able to defend themselves if needs be. Additionally, loyalty is one of the qualities of a ‘real man’ to Eddie. This can be evidenced by the plays cultural background as the Red Hook community consisted of tightly- knit Italian immigrants. The quotation ‘blood is thicker than water’ illustrates how important honesty and faithfulness is to the Carbone family. Additionally, the community have its own ‘unwritten law’ which suggests that they have a specific honour code that is crucial to be respected. It highlights the fact that one does not meddle in another’s business in the Red Hook community, they turn a blind eye to complicated situations as shown in the quote ‘you don’t see nothing, you don’t know nothing’.

However, Rodolpho doesn’t confirm to Eddie’s image of an ideal man, and therefore he becomes incredibly angry when he discovers that Catherine has formed a relationship with the immigrant. The reason that he puts forth is that Rodolpho is only declaring his love for Catherine as a way of becoming an American Citizen, saying this is the ‘oldest trick in the book’. However, the reader can sense that Eddie dislikes Rodolpho’s feminine qualities as evidenced when he insults his hair by saying ‘he’s practically blond’ and ‘I just hope it’s real hair’. Additionally, Rodolpho’s has fantastic cooking, sewing and singing skills, however these qualities are more suited to a women by Eddie’s standards. Rodolpho’s talents generate spiteful names from Eddie and the other longshoremen such as ‘paper doll’ and ‘canary’ that are used to impair his courage and masculinity. Eddie insults the immigrant as Rodolpho is threatening Eddie’s masculinity by enriching on his ‘territory’, Catherine. Eddie want’s to tests Rodolpho’s “manliness” and prove his own superiority by teaching Rodolpho to box. There is definitely hostility on Eddie’s part in this scene, and it escalates to aggression when he makes Rodolpho “mildly stagger” with a blow. Eddie goes even further by suggesting that Rodolpho is homosexual. The conflict climaxes as ‘Eddie pins his arms, laughing, and suddenly kisses him’. By kissing Rodolpho on the lips, Eddie puts Rodolpho in a position where he is not a man. The purpose of this would be to humiliate and insult Rodolpho, and also to show Catherine that Rodolpho is not a ‘real man’. Some critics argue that the scene illustrates Eddie’s homosexual feelings, however, Arthur Miller never reveals Rodolpho or Eddie’s sexual preferences.

Eddie is very protective of his niece, Catherine, and when he says ‘I don’t like the looks they’re giving you in the candy store’ it highlights the fact that Eddie is uncomfortable of the idea of Catherine being attractive to other men. He disapproves of her new femininity as proven when he asks her to remove ‘them new heels’. The high heels can be interpreted as a symbol of womanhood which Catherine has just started growing into. We feel she enjoys the male attention they bring her, when she argues with Eddie about her new style “but those guys look at all the girls, you know that.” This brings out hostility in Eddie “You ain’t “all the girls”. Additionally, we see how women were seen to be of less importance that men in the 1950’s society when Eddie comes out with a passive aggressive mark at dinner ‘Do me a favour will ya’. The hidden message here is not only an order for her to remove her heels, but Eddie is also reminding Catherine that she must please and obey him as he is head of the household and demands obedience and respect.

During the ending of the play, Eddie goes against the masculine quality of honour by alerting the immigration bureau of the location of illegal immigrants, his own relatives. In his own eyes, this should make him less of a man. However, the incident isn’t a shock to the audience as they tale of Vinny Bolzano, that’s told by Beatrice, foreshadows Eddie’s acts of betrayal. Marco denounces Eddie for his crime against the unwritten law, disgracing him in front of the neighbours by saying “That one! I accuse that one!”, “ He killed my children!” This accusation disgraces Eddie. It could cause him to become an outcast, ostracized from the community as his actions break the Red Hook’s code of honour. Eddie’s death by the hands of Marco was a result of huge aggression that was caused by built up hostilities, which were in turn provoked by the importance of honour, and other “manly” traits, to the characters of the novel.

Many plays use the balance of power as a theme to drive the plot forward and to define their characters. In A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller, the patriarchal figure of Eddie becomes a tragic hero through his loss of power and reaction to this. The character of Baroka in Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel displays a similar level of power at first, yet humorously feigns weakness in what is ultimately a show of strength. For both characters, the extent of their control is demonstrated by younger, female characters: for Eddie this is his niece, Catherine, and for Baroka it is Sidi, village belle and ultimately his wife. These characters and their interactions are defined by power, and its changing balance is key to both plays.

As the head of the household in A View from the Bridge, Eddie possesses a character that is defined by the power he holds. This is initially emphasised by Miller by the fact he is the only man in the family; the women, Catherine and Beatrice, are very submissive, even if only to his face. Eddie is essentially waited on by the two women, with Catherine lighting his matches and offering to “get [him] a beer”. Despite him not overtly demanding anything of them, his dominance is very clear, particularly when he forbids Catherine from getting a job that would allow her more independence from him, with her “almost in tears because he disapproves”. Eddie’s necessary downfall, as a tragic character, therefore centres entirely around his loss of power and the way this affects him. When Marco and Rodolpho, the Italian submarines, arrive in the household, Eddie is no longer the only male figure. This alone is enough to challenge his authority, and the perceived threat causes him to increasingly assert his dominance, ordering Catherine to change her attire with the simple command, “Do me a favour, will you?” However, the more he does this, the more power he loses. By becoming overly disrespectful towards Rodolpho, he incites Marco to display his own power by threateningly raising a chair above Eddie’s head “like a weapon”, and his exaggerated control over Catherine provokes her into rebelling against him and ultimately pushes her away. Although no weakness is necessarily exposed at this point in the play, a definite lack of power is demonstrated through the shows of dominance of the other characters. This culminates in the ultimate show of control of the play: Eddie reporting the two submarines, who are powerless against the law. By resorting to this Eddie goes against the values of his entire community, exposing his real weakness to be a dependence on power and a need for control.

The character of Baroka in The Lion and the Jewel is comparable to Eddie’s in that both men have patriarchal roles. This is exaggerated in Baroka as he is the village chief and possesses many wives. Soyinka demonstrates the wives’ submissiveness (and thus Baroka’s dominance) through the favourite wife, who performs tasks deemed degrading by Western culture, such as “plucking the hairs from his armpit”. In contrast to Eddie, Baroka clearly asserts his control, ordering around villagers and wives as he pleases. However, the greatest difference between the two is Baroka’s willingness to expose his own weakness, even if he does so falsely; he is unafraid to temporarily weaken his position as he is confident his power will be restored. The act of intentionally emasculating himself has the exact opposite effect of Eddie reporting the submarines: while Eddie shows weakness through desperately attempting to regain power, Baroka regains power having pretended to expose weakness. His lack of fear of weakness shows his strength and cunning and cements his role as the powerful leader of the village.

Returning to A View from the Bridge, we see that Catherine develops in the opposite way to Eddie as she discovers what power she has. Although she displays a lack of power initially through acts of deference such as “lower[ing] her eyes”, the more Eddie attempts to assert his dominance, the more power she gains as a character. She recognises with the arrival of Rodolpho that Eddie’s control is mostly superficial, as he cannot prevent her from “going with him”, and draws attention to this by dancing with Rodolpho in front of Eddie, “flushed with revolt”. This act of defiance does nothing to change the actual balance of power, but openly demonstrates how it has shifted, empowering Catherine and humiliating the helpless Eddie. Over the course of the play Catherine gains little power, but learns what power she has and how to lose it.

Catherine’s parallel in The Lion and the Jewel is Sidi, who serves to highlight Baroka’s strength and power. Her character develops in reverse to Catherine, beginning by quickly learning the power her beauty gives: she refuses to submit to Lakunle or Baroka, despite their dominant status as men, asking “why did Baroka not request [her] hand before the stranger brought his book of images?” Even though Lakunle is a ridiculed figure, he still has the benefit of his gender, and Sidi humiliates him by repeatedly rejecting him in demonstration of her power. However, much like Eddie, her love of power is exposed as her weakness. She visits Baroka for no reason other than to “mock” his impotence and thus to prove herself stronger and more powerful than him; yet Baroka predicts this and uses her arrogance and vanity to ultimately dominate her, causing her to finally submit to him and become his wife. Not only does this demonstrate Baroka’s power, it also allows Sidi’s character to be defined by her love of power and how, like Eddie, this ironically causes her downfall.

These two plays are ultimately centered around a shifting balance of power. In A View from the Bridge, Miller uses a threat to Eddie’s power to spark his inevitable tragic downfall, exposing his need for control; Miller therefore forcibly defines his character by alternating demonstrations of power and exposure of weakness. Yet with the main focus on Eddie’s control, it is therefore necessary for all other characters to demonstrate power so as to expose his loss of control in ever regard. The Lion and the Jewel is also centrally focused on power and this is mainly shown through Baroka and Sidi. The balance of power shifts very little during the course of the play; rather, Baroka is defined by his dominance, and Sidi is defined by her arrogance and unwillingness to be dominanted. Consequently, the characters in these plays are defined by their demonstrations of power and exposure of weaknesses, as a result of power being a main theme of the plays themselves.

Arthur Miller wrote A View from the Bridge, a work set in the late 1940s, as he became interested in the Italian immigration at the Brooklyn docks. Fascinated by the life of Pete Panto, a longshoreman who challenged the work of the Mafia, Miller wrote the play in the form of a Greek tragedy, of which Alfieri is the chorus. Annoyed by critics not capturing “the real and inner theme of the play,” Alfieri acts as an impartial, omniscient figure who helps us to fully understand the tragic demise of Eddie at the hands of the corrupt Italian-American society, “a bridge between the old and new worlds”.

Miller positions Alfieri as the chorus in this play, which adheres to Aristotle’s classic tragic structure. Under Aristotle’s scheme, that there should be a protagonist who suffers from a “tragic flaw” and hence falls from his earlier high status, a fall which “should come about as the result, not of vice, but of some great error or frailty in the character”; in Miller’s case, Eddie falls due to his obsession with Catherine and with his own dignity. In terms of the chorus, Aristotle argues that “it should be an integral part of the whole,” contributing to the actual play, not simply providing “mere interludes.” And so Alfieri’s role here is crucial, for without him, Miller would not have succeeded in his aim of writing a traditional tragedy, and the play would, according to Aristotle, collapse; the internal occurrences and thoughts would be unknown to the audience. For example, Alfieri knew and told the audience that the narrative would “run its bloody course,” yet without him we would not know the end until we read it, undermining Miller’s desire: “the point is not what happens, but how it’s going to happen”. These internal occurrences and thoughts are crucial for understanding Eddie and granting him the pathos deserved by a tragic character. When Alfieri first meets Eddie, he says that his “eyes were like tunnels,” which suggests that the protagonist is tunnel-visioned. While one could believe that this is implicitly a negative connotation and infer an impending doom for Eddie’s character, it could more probably imply that Eddie isn’t thinking rationally, and is uncontrollably blinded by his unconscious desire for Catherine, and societal-driven desire for dignity: “Eddie may believe Rodolpho is gay but he’s compelled to, he has to, so he can distance his own issues”. Therefore, Miller enables Alfieri to act as the bridge between the world of the play and the audience, so that we can properly understand Eddie—“Eddie is more than a client – for Alfieri he represents something almost larger than life itself”.

Miller, however, wanted a modern take on the Greek tragedy, and wanted to realistically represent what was happening in Brooklyn. While traditionally the chorus would be suspended or on the side of the stage, Alfieri appears in both the interludes and encounters with other characters. In Act One, Alfieri begins in a usual interlude —“It was at this time that he first came to me”— but thereafter physically meets with Eddie to talk about his situation—“Eddie, I’m a lawyer”; the play almost becomes metafiction, with Alfieri’s omniscient apostrophes about the characters figuring prominently within the narrative. This is similar to tactics seen in The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, as Fowles talks to his characters in one chapter —“What the devil am I going to do with you?”—but in the next inserts himself into the narrative—“the prophet-bearded man began.” Hence, Miller achieves exactly what Aristotle described: “the Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors.” Alfieri offers a crucial role in communicating with the other characters and listening to their thoughts and motives, and then in the interludes relays this information to the audience members so that they can listen, too.

Alfieri, in his monologues, deals with all issues concerning Eddie, either placing him as the instigator of his own tragic fall or a victim of society’s customs. Whenever Alfieri enters to provide introduction of a scene, the events are related through Eddie, a tactic which, certainly on an immediate reading of Eddie’s character, would lead to the conclusion that he is incestuous, homophobic, sexist, and blinded by a futile obsession. Alfieri says, “I saw it was only a passion that had moved into his body, like a stranger” and then just after Catherine and Rodolpho have perhaps had sex, Eddie “reaches out suddenly, draws [Catherine] to him, and as she strives to free herself he kisses her on the mouth.” Even Alfieri points out, “she can’t marry you, can she?” Equally, Eddie talks to Beatrice about Rodolpho, saying that “they’re callin’ him…Paper Doll…he’s a weird.” Then, Alfieri tells Eddie that “we all love somebody…but sometimes…there’s too much,” a statement which points towards Eddie’s role as a cruel protagonist. These elements of the text also, indeed, relate to established psychological theory. During research of “psychical impotence,” Sigmund Freud coined the phrase “Madonna-Whore,” which describes how men see women as either respected partners or degraded prostitutes. Hence, Eddie does “love…too much” and creates an unrealistic image of Catherine for her to live up to. And so, while Alfieri’s opening monologue juxtaposes themes of murder, betrayal, and redundant laws —“there were many here who were justly shot by unjust men” — with our introduction to Eddie —“This one’s name was Eddie Carbone”— Alfieri perhaps does not place him as a catalyst for the events unfolding, but as a victim.

While the audience can see Alfieri as omniscient, when he says that he “was so powerless to stop it…and so I — waited here,” we realize he is far from omnipotent. Though he repeatedly tells Eddie “you have no recourse in the law,” he is incapable of actually stopping him from calling the Immigration Bureau. In fact, when Alfieri forewarns us at the very beginning that he “sat there…powerless…and watched it run its bloody course,” he perhaps implies that if the social codes of the Sicilian-American society had not been present, and official laws more convincing, Eddie would not have died and Alfieri, a “man of the law,” could actually have prevented the tragic ending. After all, identity is formed by society. Perhaps Miller here wants the audience to strip away prejudices, just as Eddie fails to do, and to realize the horrors that street loyalty, violence, and identification create.

As a lawyer, Alfieri highlights the significance of justice and the law, although as he demonstrates, he is not confining himself to official law: moral, ethnic, social, traditional, Italian, American. At the beginning of Act One, Alfieri sets out law and justice as key themes —“I am a lawyer…and in Sicily…the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten.” The paradox here that “to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky” positions a cultural specific custom based on selfpreservation and self-action. Alfieri mentions Al Capone, “the greatest Carthaginian of all” and “Frankie Yale.” Both Brooklyn gangsters and friends, they were brought up on a Mafia code of justice, a code based on loyalty and revenge. For example, as part of The Chicago Outfit, the biggest criminal organization in the midwestern United States, they distributed illegal alcohol during Prohibition. At one time, the primary leader Big Jim Colosimo and his nephew Johnny Torrio had a falling out over Torrio’s insistence that they expand into smuggling over sea, a tactic with which Colosimo disagreed. In 1920, Colosimo was killed on Torrio’s order by Capone and Yale; for the Mafia, Colosimo had betrayed them and, as Miller explains, “there’s nothing more horrifying than betrayal”. Alfieri therefore grapples with the main issues of violence and betrayal right from the beginning and, by doing so, foreshadows the end before the audience has gotten there; we care less about the ending, and more about the tough situations in 1940s Brooklyn.

While the American custom is now to“settle for half,” when Alfieri enters the play in Act Two, he discovers that Marco is still fixed in a Sicilian idea of the law. As soon as Eddie calls Immigration on Marco and Rodolpho, Marco wants revenge —“He degraded…my blood”— but Marco does not “understand this country” because his custom is to fight for his own name —“In my country he would be dead by now,” Therefore, here Alfieri “is crucial in showing how civil law and its justice conflict with the morals operating in the Sicilian-American society”(Stephen Marino) and demonstrates the perversity of what we called justice. Alfieri highlights Marco’s ignorance of how society works and allows Miller to uncover the harsh social codes that guided the powerful Mafia leadership.

Arthur Miller thus offers a structurally sound play, with Alfieri positioned as the chorus to allow the audience to understand what it was like to grow up around the Brooklyn dockyards. By letting Alfieri suggest what the ending will be from the opening scene, Miller creates what he calls a “single arch narrative” whereby the audience can watch the characters encounter their dramatic end, having known what it would be two acts before. Alfieri deals with significant issues of violence, identity and betrayal to ask which law is absolute: Eddie’s American and moral, Marco’s Sicilian and social, or Alfieri’s traditional and official. Miller, however, leaves this question entirely unanswered, for even Alfieri, deemed the omniscient judge of character and rationale, leaves the play “with a certain…alarm.”

In his play A View from the Bridge, Arthur Miller tells the story of the life of italian immigrants living in new york city in the 1950s. Eddie’s obsession with Catherine and his paranoia turns out to be his fatal flaw, and leads to his downfall. Eddie goes from being a kind, loving father figure to Catherine, to a mean, jealous, overprotective and possessive person towards Catherine, and finally dies when his jealousy and paranoia gets to the best of him. Miller employs certain vocabulary and colloquial speech, to create meaning and effect.

In the begging of act 1 on page 5, we are just getting introduced to some of the characters, Catherine and Eddie. From reading page 5, we can see that Eddie is someone important to Catherine and is someone loving and supportive in her life. We can specifically see this in the moments where Catherine asks Eddie if he likes what she is wearing, and he answers back with “yeah, it’s nice.” and “beautiful. Turn around, lemme see the back. Oh, if your mother was alive to see you now! She wouldn’t believe it.”, we can see that Eddie is being supportive but still being protective like any father would be with their daughter. However, we also have to remember as the readers that Eddie is not Catherine’s biological father but he is seen as her father figure. After reading this page, we can notice that Catherine values Eddie’s opinions and advice very much. We notice this in the excerpts on page 5,

• Catherine: ‘I want to wait till B comes in. (she sits on her heels beside him.) Guess how much we paid for the skirt.
• Eddie: ‘i think it’s too short, ain’t it?’
• Catherine: ‘(standing) No! Not when I stand up.’

From these excerpts we clearly see that Catherine starts to get upset because she does not want Edddie to be upset or offended with what she is wearing because she really loves the outfit (the skirt).

After reading page 5, we think that Eddie is being a good father figure with Catherine and everything seems to be normal. However in act 1 on page 6 there is a change of events. On page 6, Eddie is starting to get jealous and mean and starts blaming it on Catherine because of what she is wearing.

• Eddie: ‘Listen, you been givin’ me the willies the way you walk down the street, I mean it.’
• Catherine: why?
• Eddie: Catherine, i don’t want to be a pest, but i am tellin’ you you’re walkin’ wavy.
• Catherine: I’m walkin’ wavy?
• Eddie: ‘Now don’t aggravate me, Katie, you are walkin’ wavy! I don’t like the looks they’re givin’ you in the candy store. And with them new high heels on the sidewalk – clack, clack, clack. The heads are turnin’ like windmills.’

From this conversation that Eddie and Catherine are having, we could say that Eddie is starting to step over the lines because, no father should be speaking this way to their daughter. We can clearly see that Eddie is being very possessive and is starting to be jealous of the other men ‘staring’ at Catherine. The way Eddie starts speaking to Catherine becomes very inappropriate especially when he mentions, ‘i don’t like the looks they’re givin’ you in the candy store.’. Arthur Miller uses some colloquial speech and slang in this excerpt and it is really hard to understand what Eddie is saying to Catherine. When Eddie says ‘Candy store’ he does not mean the typical candy store where kids go and by some sweets, he means a group of beautiful young women that are seen by men as ‘eye candy’. Arthur Miller cleverly uses slang to cover the real meaning of this excerpt. Eddie is also being inappropriate with Catherine by accusing her of catching other men’s attention by showing off her womanly curves by swinging her hips while she is walking. This is very inappropriate because the way Catherine walks should not be any of his concern and is not the reason why other men stare at her, other men stare at her because she is a young beautiful woman.

After reading act one on pages 6 and 7, we clearly notice that the relationship between Eddie and Catherine is not a normal father and daughter relationship. We clearly see that Eddie is trying to control Catherine because he is jealous of all the attention that she is getting. Later in act 1 on page 11, we notice that Eddie is being very overprotective and likes to baby Catherine. On page 11, Catherine and Beatrice (Eddie’s wife) have some big news.

Catherine can finish school earlier because her grades are very good and because of this, she has been offered a job that pays really well. Beatrice is being very supportive and wants Catherine to accept the job offer and Catherine really wants to accept it too. On the other hand, Eddie has other thoughts in mind,

• Beatrice: ‘work is the best practice anyway.’
• Eddie: ‘that ain’t what i wanted, though.’
• Catherine: ‘Why! It’s a great big company -’
• Eddie: ‘i don’t like the neighborhood over there.’
• Catherine: ‘it’s a block and a half from the subway, he says.’
• Eddie: ‘Near the navy yard plenty can happen in a block and a half. And a plumbin’ company! That’s one step over the water front. They’re practically longshoremen.’

At this moment in the play, Eddie is clearly jealous of all the men that seem to like looking at Catherine. Eddie is being so jealous and overprotective of Catherine that he is not allowing her to grow up and to let her find a job to become a young independent woman because he just wants her all to himself. Beatrice notices this and then says,

• Beatrice: ‘listen, if nothin’ happened to her in this neighborhood it ain’t gonna happen noplace else. (she turns his face to her.) look, you gotta get used to it, she’s no baby no more. Tell her to take it. (he turns his head away.) you hear me? (Beatrice is angering.) I don’t understand you; she’s seventeen years old, you gonna keep her in the house all her life?
• Eddie: (insulted) what kinda remark is that?

When Eddie asks this question, he is just trying to cover up his confused feelings towards Catherine. Again, Eddie is keeping Catherine from getting a job just because the neighborhood is full of longshoremen. How did something that Catherine is proud to accomplish become something that she will never get to do just because Eddie says that some men like to look at her in the neighborhood? Clearly Eddie is just jealous and is trying to control Catherine by trying to stop her from taking this incredible opportunity. Eddie is abusing his power as a father figure to Catherine to guilt her and manipulate her from taking this job that she clearly wants to take. It is so clear to see what is going on because even Eddie’s wife, Beatrice, knows what is happening.

In this moment in the play, Eddie has some confused feelings for Catherine that should not be happening. Eddie also received some news from Beatrice. Beatrice’s cousins are coming from Italy to find some work in New York. One of Beatrice’s cousins is Marco, a man who is married with three kids, Marco’s kids and wife live in Italy where they all used to live together as a family. However, one of Marco’s kids fell really sick and Marco could not get a job that pays well enough to help his son get better, so he entered America illegally to find a job that pays well so he can send that money to his family in Italy. Beatrice’s other cousin is Marco’s brother, Rodolfo. Rodolfo is a young italian singer who entered America illegally to experience the american culture because he is in love with America and wants to become an american citizen one day. Once Rodolfo and Marco arrived there was an immediate shift of dynamic in the household, there was first one man with two women who cared and worried for him and now there are three men in the house and two women who are trying to care for all three of them. However, Catherine is very smitten with Rodolfo and is starting a budding romance with him while Eddie is feeling really jealous and wants Rodolfo to leave Catherine alone. Eddie starts to make excuses for why Rodolfo should not be with Catherine and one of the excuses is that he might be gay and he might be just tying to be an american citizen by marrying Catherine. Eddie is so desperate to want Catherine to stop being with Rodolfo that he poisons Catherine’s mind by saying that Rodolfo is using Catherine for American citizenship, we can clearly see that Eddie is being very possessive with her because he starts gaslighting Catherine for her to leave Rodolfo. In act 2 on page 45, Catherine lets Eddie get into her head and starts a fight with Rodolfo,

• Rodolfo: ‘No; I will not marry you to live in Italy. I want you to be my wife, and I want to be a citizen. Tell him that, or I will. Yes. (He moves about angrily.) And tell him also, and tell yourself, please, that I am not a beggar, and you are not a horse, a gift, a favor for a poor immigrant.’
• Catherine: ‘Well, don’t get mad!’
• Rodolfo: ‘I am furious! (Goes to her.) Do you think I am so desperate? My brother is desperate, not me. You think I would carry on my back the rest of my life a woman I didn’t love just to be an American? It’s so wonderful? You think we have no tall buildings in Italy? Electric lights? No wide streets? No flags? No automobiles? Only work we don’t have. I want to be an American so I can work, that is the only wonder here – work! How can you insult me, Catherine?’
• Catherine: ‘I didn’t mean that –’
• Rodolfo: ‘My heart dies to look at you. Why are you so afraid of him?’

After their heated fight In act 2, Rodolfo and Catherine make it very clear to Eddie that they are going to get married and Eddie does not take that very well because he does not want Catherine to leave him. He wants to control her and wants her all to himself because of all the inappropriate feelings he has for her.

• Catherine: ‘Eddie, I’m not gonna be a baby any more! You –’ He reaches out suddenly, draws her to him, and as she strives to free herself he kisses her on the mouth.
• Rodolfo: ‘Don’t! (He pulls on Eddie’s arm.) Stop that! Have respect for her!’
• Eddie: ‘(spun round by Rodolpho) You want something?’
• Rodolfo: ‘Yes! She’ll be my wife. That is what I want. My wife!’
• Eddie: ‘But what’re you gonna be?’
• Rodolfo: ‘I show you what I be!’
• Catherine: ‘Wait outside; don’t argue with him!’
• Eddie: ‘Come on, show me! What’re you gonna be? Show me!’
• Rodolfo: ‘(with tears of rage) Don’t say that to me!’

After this moment in the play, we now have realise how bad Eddie really wants Catherine, he is being very possessive and likes to control her. However, knowing what she knows now, Catherine will be more aware of this and wants to become more independent and one step towards that is marrying the man she loves, Rodolfo.

In Act 2 after fighting with Catherine and Rodolfo, on page 49, Eddie goes and sees the town’s lawyer and his personal friend, Alfieri. Eddie goes and visits Alfieri to see if there is any way of ending Catherine’s and Rodolfo’s relationship.

• Eddie: ‘I’m tellin’ you I know – he ain’t right. Somebody that don’t want it can break it. Even a mouse, if you catch a teeny mouse and you hold it in your hand, that mouse can give you the right kind of fight. He didn’t give me the right kind of fight, I know it, Mr Alfieri, the guy ain’t right.’
• Alfieri: ‘What did you do that for, Eddie?’
• Eddie: ‘To show her what he is! So she would see, once and for all! Her mother’ll turn over in the grave! (He gathers himself almost peremptorily.) So what do I gotta do now? Tell me what to do.
• Alfieri: ‘She actually said she’s marrying him?’
• Eddie: ‘She told me, yeah. So what do I do?’ Slight pause.
• Alfieri: ‘This is my last word, Eddie, take it or not, that’s your business. Morally and legally you have no rights, you cannot stop it; she is a free agent.’
• Eddie: ‘(angering) Didn’t you hear what I told you?’

Eddie believes that Catherine belongs to him and that is why he is searching for something that could put an end to Catherine and Rodolfo’s relationship. However, even Alfieri is getting tired of telling Eddie that there is nothing in the law saying that Rodolfo and Catherine should not get married. Alfieri can also probably tell that the feelings that Eddie has for Catherine is unhealthy and he just needs to leave her alone. There is no way to tell Eddie to leave Catherine alone and let her live her life the way she chooses to and this becomes more clear when Alfieri says,

Alfieri: ‘(with a tougher tone) I heard what you told me, and I’m telling you what the answer is. I’m not only telling you now, I’m warning you – the law is nature. The law is only a word for what has a right to happen. When the law is wrong it’s because it’s unnatural, but in this case it is natural and a river will drown you if you buck it now. Let her go. And bless her. (A phone booth begins to glow on the opposite side of the stage; a faint, lonely blue. Eddie stands up, jaws clenched.) Somebody had to come for her, Eddie, sooner or later. (Eddie starts turning to go and Alfieri rises with new anxiety.) You won’t have a friend in the world, Eddie! Even those who understand will turn against you, even the ones who feel the same will despise you! (Eddie moves off.) Put it out of your mind! Eddie! (He follows into the darkness, calling desperately.)’

From this speech, it just makes it that much clearer that Eddie is obsessed with Catherine and wants her to be with him all the time, this is why Eddie constantly babies her. Babying Catherine is his way of controlling her, he is abusing his power as her father figure to get whatever he wants from Catherine. It is despicable. Eddie is so obsessed with Catherine that he can never take ‘no there is nothing you can do Eddie’ as an answer.

In conclusion, Arthur Miller carefully thought out how to show Eddie’s change in character throughout the play. In both acts Miller uses narration and slang with certain vocabulary and colloquial speech, to create meaning and effect.

What do you think will happen when you are hated by your family and everyone you care for? Even when you try to protect them? In A View from the bridge, Arthur Miller paints a picture of a family in the 1950s, in Red Hook of when two illegal immigrants come into this family’s house and change their lives forever. Arthur Miller skillfully creates Eddie Carbone as a character who is made to be felt sympathy for and as a character people hate. This is all despite him trying to protect his family. With the societal demand that men conform to a certain image of masculinity at that time combined with low wages, it used to be a struggle for people, especially men back then. But there would be a lot of pressure on Eddie, the man in the house. His struggles to save his family from the threats lying outside the four walls of their home is portrayed by Arthur Miller.

Miller also portrays how he is both, felt sympathy for and despised by the other characters as well as the audience. One reason why we can feel sympathy for Eddie Carbone is how he supports his wife – Beatrice – by allowing two illegal immigrants – Rodolpho and Marco – to stay with them. In the 1950s working class New York neighborhoods, men were the most powerful and dominant people in the household. We see this when he tells Marco that they are “welcome” into his household and that they can stay for as long as they would like. Therefore, it was ultimately Eddie’s decision to allow them to stay. Not only does he try to please his wife, but he acts as an ambassador for the community as he allows illegal immigrants into his house, which was common in Red Hook. He tries to protect Catherine, his daughter figure, from Rodolpho, one of the illegal immigrants. He believes Rodolpho is only behind Catherine for “papers” so he can become a legal citizen in the USA. Miller presents Rodolpho as a “ship singer” and Eddie tries to share this idea his with his family. He does this in order to get his family to begin despising Rodolpho. This may be because Eddie despises Rodolpho and wishes that the whole family shares his point of view about Rodolpho. He may also have brought up this fact about Rodolpho in order to show that he is not the right suitor for his niece, Catherine.

Miller presents sympathy for the protagonist, Eddie Carbone, in that all his family and his friends find the very man he despises, humorous – Rodolpho. This is despite Eddie warning them that he is neither worth respecting nor even acknowledging. when Louis and Mike meet Eddie on the street, they begin by “grinning,” as they start talking about Rodolpho. As they begin recollecting more of Rodolpho’s humor, they “start to laugh,” portraying a progression of their jubilant mood. As they begin to recollect even more, they start “laughing.” next they begin “Getting hysterical.’ At the final stage, they remember enough humorous events about Rodolpho, they “Burst out laughing.” the way they “burst” out laughing shows how hilarious Rodolpho is to them and how he brings immense joy to their dull lives, as longshoremen, their lives are full of hard work and monotony. Their dull lives contrast the amusement they gain by being around Rodolpho. Subsequently, Eddie’s resentment levels towards Rodolpho would rise as their amusement levels rise, making the two directly proportional. Eddie has lost his place in these conversations, of which he used to be the center, and Rodolpho has obtained a prominent position in the same. We can also see he is now forgotten by everyone and he misses this. When it comes to his family, his power is waning, and everyone behaves emotionally hostile towards him. When Beatrice says that Rodolpho is a “good lookin’ fella,” Eddie does not think so, and tries to change the topic of the conversation to something that changes the impression of Rodolpho in their heads, making them have a negative approach towards Rodolpho, having a negative approach towards his impressions/ideas, which is exactly what Eddie wants to happen. He does this by trying to introduce an idea that Rodolpho “sings on ships.” he does this in order to contrast the impression of Rodolpho his family already had and tries to change their impression of him. He tries to make them see him as a worthless person, not worth being spoken to and not worth being taken seriously. However, this doesn’t work, as Catherine betrays Eddie when she heads “Towards the bedroom” with Rodolpho, also when the date of her marriage is fixed with Rodolpho. This is despite Eddie warning them that Rodolpho is “only bowin’ to his passport,” meaning that he is only going to marry Catherine so that he can become a citizen of the USA and be allowed to work there illegally. This makes the reader feel sympathy for Eddie Carbone as he is betrayed by his family, despite him only trying to protect them from the dangers that he believes Rodolpho might pose to them such as: Rodolpho leaving Catherine, once he becomes a legal citizen of the USA. Also, the fact that Rodolpho is not a man worthy of Catherine, as he sings on ships and he is not worth trusting, according to Eddie. He is also a believer of all the typical stereotypes related to women. For example, when Catherine gets a job opportunity, he instantly refuses her the chance to get a job. He believes she should “finish school” first.

Another reason is that Eddie believes that since he is the man in the house, he should be the sole person earning money to make his family survive. This was again a trait he possesses of the 1950s that men should be the only working people in the house. He also denies Catherine wearing a “short dress” she likes. The positive behind this point is that he does not want other boys leering at Catherine in inappropriate ways and he tries to shield her from the dangers. However, the constant shield he has put around her, means that she lacks the freedom of will as she asks Eddie’s opinion over even the smallest of things and also the fact that she lacks exposure of the outside world. Also, when Eddie becomes aware that Rodolpho and Catherine like each other, when Rodolpho says “She’ll be my wife, ‘Eddie is absolutely against the idea and tries to make the marriage not happen. This again portrays Eddie being overprotective over Catherine and not letting her have a free will. However, Miller presents Eddie Carbone as a protagonist which has a love – hate relationship with the characters in the play. A reason Miller presents Eddie as a character people should not feel sympathy for is, he uses physical violence to express the way he feels about Rodolpho. This begins when he asks Rodolpho if he has “ever do[ne] any boxing” before. He then begins by giving Rodolpho lessons and tries letting Rodolpho punch him. He tells Rodolpho not to “pity” him and to box him at free will. However, Eddie uses the opportunity of when “Catherine comes from the kitchen” to tell Rodolpho that he is “gonna hit” him.

Eddie choses that time to punch Rodolpho, as Catherine was exiting the kitchen and she could see this happen. So, Eddie punched Rodolpho in front of Catherine in order to show his hatred towards Rodolpho. He also punches him in the presence of Catherine, in order to portray how weak Rodolpho is and how he doesn’t have the guts to conquer anyone, portraying him as a coward. However, while Eddie uses physical strength to portray his power, Marco completely juxtaposes him. When Eddie bets Marco that he “can’t lift up the chair,” Marco very calmly and in a sophisticated manner, picks up the chair “over his head.” This completely opposes how Eddie would have handled the situation. Eddie also wants to exert his power over the entire family. This was the common stereotype in 1950s Red Hook, where the men were the most powerful in the house. We see this when Beatrice tells Eddie “Be an uncle then,” in a rather fierce and overpowering voice. Eddie gives a stare that exerted a “criticizing force,” that instantly made Beatrice fear him, by correcting herself saying, “I mean,” perhaps, in a cowering and fearful voice. This makes the audience despise Eddie as he takes advantage of the stereotype that men were the most powerful in the house, to shut his wife up, even when she said something right. She was also trying to put across a point, for which she was instantly made to feel she was wrong and began getting afraid of Eddie. This is due to the stereotype of the 1950s that men were the most respected in the house and everyone would be afraid to oppose them in any way. Eddie backs up this stereotype when he demands that he wants his “respect.”

This portrays that Eddie is felt sympathy when he demands respect, as he works a lot for their money and he just wants people to talk respectfully to him. Another reason Miller presents Eddie as a character who the audience do not have sympathy for is when “he dials” the number of the Immigration Bureau when he wanted to “report” two “illegal immigrants.” Eddie himself reported Marco and Rodolpho to the immigration Bureau despite him warning his family not do so and even reminded them of the case of Vinny Bolzano. He warned them that Vinny had snitched to the immigration about his uncle. He was then publicly shamed in front of the whole neighborhood/community. His family dragged him down the stairs with his head bouncing on the stairs like a “coconut” as he was carried down three flights of stairs. In his story, Vinny Bolzano was the protagonist where he got poetic justice for his action of snitching to the immigration. He received this when he was dragged down the stairs and he also suffered permanent brain damage. Vinnie is made to be felt sympathy for, as he was scared that an illegal person was staying with them, and he did what he thought right. This situation foreshadows the situation Eddie Carbone put himself in. In his case, Eddie himself warned every one of the consequences of snitches and he himself does it. However, in Eddie’s case, he was not felt sympathy for by the audience, as it was him who had warned his family of the consequences of snitching and reminded them of what happened to Vinnie Bolzano as an example. In the end, it was Eddie that snitched on the two, Rodolpho and Marco, going against what he himself had said. Vinnie and Eddie are similar in the way that, they both snitched on visitors in their homes. However, Vinnie was a scared child who did not know the consequences of snitching on his uncle who stayed with them. But Eddie was an adult who knew the consequences of it and had even warned the other characters of it. Eddie received the poetic justice he deserved, when he died in a painful manner by the very man who he snitched on. But Vinnie suffered severe brain damage.

Another way in which Miller presents Eddie Carbone as a character not worthy of being felt sympathy for is, how he cannot control his feelings and on his views on people different from him. We see the former when he comes home, “unsteady and drunk” and he then shows his feelings for everyone, something he could not do when he was conscious as he suppressed his emotions. Also due to his mindset, he is unable to mention his feelings that Rodolpho is gay. He first reveals his attraction towards his niece, Catherine when he “kisses her on the mouth.” When Eddie does this, he reveals his sexual attraction towards Catherine, which he was not able to do when he suppressed his emotions. After showing his feelings for Catherine, Eddie goes towards Rodolpho and “kisses him.” Eddie creates a peripeteia of the circumstances in an attempt to prove that Rodolpho is gay. He portrays this when Eddie says, “you see,” to Catherine. He tries to portray Rodolpho as being gay and was hoping that Catherine would leave Rodolpho due to Eddie’s accusation. However, Eddie is again unable to say this when he is consciously aware of what he is doing or saying. It was a stereotypical masculine trait in 1950s for men to hide their inner emotions from everyone. It was also highly unappreciated in society for someone to be gay or to be different from everyone else. If this play were to be performed in the 1950s, Rodolpho would be a publicly ridiculed character and the audience would respond negatively towards him. This is as it wasn’t seen as normal at that time. Eddie, who had a very old – fashioned and un – progressive mindset, thought that it was abnormal to be gay and also thought it to be shameful for the person who was gay. However, an audience with a more progressive mindset would contrast Eddie’s thought process and would despise Eddie for his views on homosexuality. In conclusion, Eddie Carbone is a character that is devoted to his family in order to try and protect them from the threats that lie outside the four walls of their home. He is made to be felt sympathy for, when he tries to warn his family of Rodolpho going after Catherine for his “papers” and when his friends start to feel sympathy for the very man he despises of – Rodolpho. He also tries to portray the fact that Rodolpho is a “ship singer,” meaning he is not someone suitable for Catherine to marry. However, he is despised because he “dials” the immigration, despite telling his family not to. Also, he tries “boxing” with Rodolpho to prove how weak Rodolpho is and for Eddie to show how physically strong he is. Finally, Eddie is a character who is felt sympathy for by the audience when he takes care of his family and is also despised when again, he tries to take care of his family, but not in an obvious way.

Although Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge is not a love story, various types of love are shown in the play as the motivation of the characters’ actions. Unfortunately, most of their love does not lead to a happy ending, but only pain and tragedy. This essay examines the unorthodox love between parents and children in A View from the Bridge, love between couples, family, brothers, places, and the issue of homophobia.

Firstly, the obsessive love between parents and children turns out to be the forbidden love between father and daughter. The dock worker Eddie questions the lawyer Alfieri whether he can forbid the marriage between his niece and his wife’s cousin from Italy Rodolpho by law because he cannot accept that his niece Catherine whom he treats as his daughter is with other men except him. Alfieri says, ‘There is too much love for the daughter, there is too much love for the niece.’ (36) Also, when Catherine wants to get out of this home and start a new life with Rodolpho, the stage direction states that ‘[Catherine] strives to free herself when [Eddie] kisses her on the mouth.’ (52) ‘Too much love’ shows that Eddie loves Catherine more than a father loves his daughter, even like a couple. And the sexual imagery ‘he kisses her on the mouth’, further explains that they seem to be in a relationship, even beyond the relationship between father and daughter.

In addition, when Catherine tells Eddie her wedding is going to be held on Saturday, Eddie says, ‘Okay. I only wanted the best for you, Katie. I hope you know that.’ (59) It points out that Eddie cannot take care of or protect his daughter all the time, and he needs to give her freedom and ‘learn to forget’ because his daughter becomes much more independent and mature. As a father, he wishes his daughter to have a bright new life with her husband because he will be happy if his daughter is. This shows the ultimate love from the parents Eddie and Beatrice to their daughter Catherine. Besides, his wife Beatrice also sees the situation and says, ‘You want somethin’ else, Eddie, and you can never have her!’ (70) Actually, the verb ‘have’ has the meaning of occupying or owning someone, and here comes the relationship problem as the father has an obsessive love for his daughter. Eddie’s feelings also affect his marriage, hence he is unwilling to have sex with Beatrice in the previous scene.

When Beatrice says this to Eddie, he is ‘shocked’ and ‘horrified’ because he fails to analyze and admit his feelings for Catherine are far from family love. It is forbidden love as a romantic relationship between the father and daughter is not accepted by society. The writer adds his personal dimension to the story ― he sees its relevance to his own life. He says, ‘For years I unthinkingly thought of Catherine as his daughter … There was no incestuous thinking, but in my mind, there was … I suddenly saw relationships in my own family that were reflected on the stage.’ This suggests the relationship between his father and sister. Bigsby thinks the incestuous motif is more apparent than real in literal terms, given that this is an unacceptable and unconsummated relationship between uncle and niece.

Secondly, the unconditional love of a family does take place in the story. When Eddie doubts his destiny, Alfieri says, ‘A man works, raises his family, goes bowling, eats, gets old, and then he dies.’ (23) A man’s life is harsh, having all these responsibilities and doing the routine work. Yet, Marco is still willing to do so. Marco is an illegal immigrant who moves from Italy to America to ‘make a livin’ (41) for his family and achieve the American Dream. Although he knows that it is illegal, and people may report him to the immigration bureau and he may go to jail, he prioritizes his family before himself as he loves his family more than himself. Beatrice even supports her cousins’ illegal immigration and lets them live in her home. She obviously takes a risk by breaking the law to protect her family members. When Catherine is not sure about her feelings for Eddie, Beatrice says, ‘It’s wonderful for a whole family to love each other …’ (32). Beatrice loves her family back in Sicily. We can see that Beatrice has a maternal love for her niece but she knows that it is time for her to leave the home, become more independent and start her married life. She is rooted in her love for Catherine as she would give advice to her child and believes that she will behave more appropriately around Eddie.

Thirdly, the romantic love between a man and a woman takes an important role throughout the play. At the beginning of the play there is deep love between Eddie and Beatrice, however, when Eddie’s tone becomes indifferent to Beatrice, she says, ‘When am I gonna be a wife again, Eddie?’ (25). Beatrice’s questioning ‘to be a wife again’ clearly shows that Eddie and Beatrice’s marriage is obviously not as strong as it used to be. They have not slept together for months, and while Beatrice wants to have sex with her husband Eddie is frigid. When Eddie feels that his marriage becomes a burden, he says, ‘Because I made a promise. I took it out of my own mouth to give to her. I took it out of my wife’s mouth. I walked hungry plenty of days in this city! It begins to break through.’ (37) Eddie thinks marriage is a responsibility or burden to him just because of the paper promise. There are also distrust and misunderstanding in their marriage and Eddie’s own masculinity is called into question. When Beatrice questions his obsessive love for Catherine, he keeps his distance and tries not to show his emotions. Eddie says, ‘A wife is supposed to believe her husband.’ (57) Whenever his wife questions him, he thinks that she is ‘supposed to believe’ him, giving him unconditional love and support, instead of questioning him the truth or asking him for the fact. The lack of communication occurs in their marriage.

Near the end of the play, Catherine is trying to save their marriage by taking the active role as Eddie is going to attend Catherine’s wedding. ‘Listen to me, I love you, I’m talking to you, I love you,’ (50) Beatrice says. Beatrice chooses to stay with Eddie because her love is so strong, and even ignores the fact that he has hurt her deeply by his obsessive love for Catherine. The play reflects Miller’s discovery of his own personal connection with marriage too. Eddie’s infatuation with Catherine makes a parallel to Arthur Miller’s own interest in Marilyn Monroe. There are also similarities between Eddie’s informing on his relatives and Elia Kazan’s co-operation with the House of Un-American Activity Committee against suspected communists. Miller became convinced of the necessity to break through the surface of realism to reveal ‘the pantheon of forces and values which must lie behind the realistic surfaces of life.’ (Carson 47)

In contrast, the freshness of romance appears in the young couple Catherine and Rodolpho, who fall in love with each other at first sight. When Catherine and Rodolpho are in a flirting conversation, Catherine says, ‘Teach me. She is weeping. I don’t know anything, teach me, Rodolpho, hold me.’ (51) Rodolpho says, ‘There’s nobody here now. Come inside. Come. He is leading her toward the bedroom. And don’t cry anymore.’ (51) Catherine asks Rodolpho to ‘teach her’ with a sexual connotation, asking him to teach her how to love him in a sexual way, and then he leads her ‘towards the bedroom’. They eventually have sex for the first time. Young Italian Catholics in the 1950s usually did not have sex before marriage, and hence it shows that Eddie and Catherine are truly committed to each other. Moreover, when Eddie doubts whether Rodolpho really loves Catherine, Eddie says, ‘He marries you so he’s got the right to be an American citizen.’ (29) He claims that Rodolpho only uses Catherine as a tool to become an ‘American citizen’ but does not really love her.

Fourthly, brotherly love is also an important idea in this play. Marco and Rodolpho have a fraternal bond of brotherhood. When Beatrice questions why they cannot get a job, Marco says, ‘regretfully, to Beatrice. He sang too loud.’ (21) Marco protects Rodolpho’s reputation when people question his ability to sing in order to hide the truth that Rodolpho’s awful singing skills cause the loss of his job. He knows Rodolpho well. Rodolpho says he once made money singing but Marco doubts how long he stayed in his job. Rodolpho seeks agreement from Marco, who nods doubtfully and corrects him, ‘two months but not six months. This clearly shows the good understanding of their brotherhood and Marco’s authority over his younger brother.

Besides, when Eddie beats Rodolpho up, the stage direction states that ‘Marco is face to face with Eddie, a strained tension gripping his eyes and jaw, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon over Eddie’s head.’ (46) He raises the chair ‘like a weapon over Eddie’s head’, foreshadowing the death of Eddie. This warns Eddie that if he attacks Rodolpho physically again, Marco will defend his younger brother. Also, when Alfieri asks Marco whether he can promise not to kill Eddie, Marco says, ‘his anger rising: He degraded my brother. My blood. He robbed my children, he mocks my work. I work to come here, mister!’ (66). Marco knows that Eddie does not support Catherine and Rodolpho to be together, and he reports Marco and Rodolpho are illegal immigrants. He hates this kind of betrayal as Eddie has said he would protect them and allow them to stay in his house. He is also angry that ‘[Eddie] degraded my brother’ as a gay man, and he takes revenge by killing Eddie in order to save his name.

Fifthly, homophobia occurs as a result of obsessive love. When Eddie tries to ruin Rodolpho’s reputation, Eddie says, ‘The guy ain’t right, Mr. Alfieri.’ (34) Eddie claims that Rodolpho is not ‘right’, which means he is gay by degrading Rodolpho. When Alfieri asks about the details of Rodolpho, Eddie says, ‘He takes the dress, lays it on the table, he cuts it up; one-two-three, he makes a new dress. I mean he looked so sweet there, like an angel ― you could kiss him as he was so sweet.’ (35) By saying he can make dresses, which is a gender stereotype of women’s work, it gives Rodolpho an image of a feminine man. This kind of work should not be done by men who should be powerful in doing physical work, further implying that Rodolpho may be gay. After that, Eddie has a boxing battle with Rodolpho, who is beaten by him. It implies that heterosexuality is in the majority represented by the powerful ones while homosexuality is in the minority and should be discriminated and beaten by the general public. Ironically, when Eddie kisses Catherine to get Rodolpho mad, the stage directions state that ‘Rodolpho flies at him in an attack. Eddie pins his arms, laughing, and suddenly kisses him.’ (52)

Eddie kisses Rodolpho in the last scene to test him and make fun of his ‘gay’ behavior. He uses ‘ain’t right’ to imply that homosexuality violates the moral standard as heterosexuality should be the social norm. This reflects that society generally does not accept homosexuality and even has homophobia. Gottfried also believes that part of the subtlety of A View from the Bridge lies in Miller’s ability to stage the passions of an inarticulate man. When he visits Alfieri, he tries to seek confirmation of his alarm that there is something wrong with Rodolpho manifestly. He is gay but also a sexual threat to Catherine, which are actually contradictory accusations. He distrusts language, and he thinks that people can make good use of it to betray him and others easily. In the end, Eddie’s own real feelings remain clouded. Bigsby thinks that he is trapped in the logic of his own feelings, obliged to defend a sense of himself that is no longer congruent with his actions.

Last, of all, the love for a place also plays a crucial role throughout the play. The idea of the American Dream is presented throughout this drama. Although Rodolpho and Marco are very fond of their homeland Italy, they love America more. When Eddie thinks Marco and Rodolpho can live better in America, Rodolpho says, ‘We work hard, we’ll work all day, all night ―’ (18). They believe that hard work alone will guarantee success. They are illegal immigrants working as longshoremen who are very poorly paid, but they still ‘want to be an American’ so they can work day and night. When Catherine knows Italy is a fantastic place with incredible scenery but Rodolpho still wants to live in America, Catherine says, ‘But he’s crazy for New York’ (28). Rodolpho says he dreams of seeing the bright light, ‘crazy for New York’ and is enthusiastic about the wealthier metropolis with high living standards. When Catherine insults him if he is marrying a woman he does not love just to be an American, Rodolpho says, ‘I want to be an American so I can work, that is the only wonder here ― work!’ (49).

According to the historical background, too many poor immigrants came to America in the early twentieth century; and the cityscape of Manhattan represented a dream of wealth and sophistication. Gottfried says that A View from the Bridge portrays man as a prisoner of destiny in the manner of a classical Greek tragedy. A Greek chorus in the person of Mr. Alfieri, the lawyer who addresses the audience directly and in verse. The title of the play refers to the idea of looking from the Brooklyn Bridge down across the docks at Red Hook. It means that the longshoremen are willing to change their poor living environment by working hard to achieve financial success. However, they still look at the same view from the bridge, as they can only have the same economic condition, and cannot escape from fate.

In conclusion, various types of love appear in A View from the Bridge, including the love of a place related to the American Dream in New York, brotherly love, romantic love, and family love, which are appropriate and accepted by the social norm. However, forbidden love is also explored in this play, as shown by the unorthodox parental love as a result of obsessive love, which does not lead to a happy ending, but only pain and tragedy in this play.