Literature Coursework-Modern Drama
What is the dramatic function of Alfieri’s character in ‘A View from the Bridge’?
‘A View from the Bridge’ is a play written by Arthur Miller. Miller’s inspiration for this play is close to his heart. He grew up in New York City; his parents were illegal immigrants into the United States looking for work. Alfieri is a key component, not only is he a character he is also a narrator. He acts as a chorus to the play and an aid to the audience. Alfieri plays many small roles to combine and create a depth and understanding to the play such as the connection to the title of the play, how he is utilises time-switches and the effectiveness of them, how he behaves as a chorus of the Greek tragedies and how he
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He takes on a dual role of the lawyer and commentator. He alerts Eddie that he ‘won’t have a friend in the world’ if he keeps pushing the boundaries, he already knows Eddie’s tragedy is inevitable and builds a sense of foreshadowing. Miller has three purposes in this scene for Alfieri: to reveal the acceptance of Eddie’s feelings towards Catherine, to convey how it might affect Beatrice and to be the voice of reasoning. He bluntly tells Eddie that there is no positive way out. When Eddie implies he may have feelings for Catherine Alfieri is already aware and implies that this will be his fatal flaw. ‘he never realises it, but though the years-there is too much love for the daughter, there is too much love for the niece’. This explicitly tells Eddie to let the feelings go, Alfieri is conscious about the fact Eddie does have strong feelings towards Catherine and he is also a perceptive character which Eddie is not, but Alfieri is alert that this will be Eddie’s downfall. During Eddie’s confession time he confides his fear that Rodolpho is homosexual and is pretending to love Catherine as an opportunity to obtain a green card. Eddie says ‘He’s stealing from me!’ and ‘it’s breakin’ my heart’. This really allows the audience to feel the intensity of the frustration Eddie feels. The scenes have now created a cathartic effect because the tension has been released now that Eddie’s feelings are in the open from the audience’s
In the novel Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, the bridge is the structure that connects Antonio’s house to the rest of the town, symbolizing the road that connects safety and danger. One way the bridge is shown as a connection between the safety of Antonio’s home and danger of town is when Lupito is murdered, as shown when Anaya writes, “Many shots found their mark. I saw Lupito lifted off his feet and hurled backward by the bullets. But he got up and ran limping and crying towards the bank where I lay.” (24) This quote shows how once Antonio passes or is on the bridge, the safety of home will not protect him anymore. In the novel the bridge is a structure going over the river that connects Antonio’s house to the rest of the town, this
In Mary Lawson’s The Other Side Of the Bridge, the proginist, Arthur Dunn faces many problems and obstacles throughout the novel, Arthur eventually overcomes his negative emotions and obstacles and comes to peace with them. Arthur overcomes his resentment and emotions towards Jake and overcomes his negative feelings towards Laura and the farm.
This is an example of how the closer he comes to death, the slower time seems to move for him. In one moment the river is moving rapidly and in the next it is described as sluggish. Yet through the anticipation time is speeding up. It is as if the suspense has frozen time all together.
Eddie is introduced as a moral man with ethics and principles. Miller showed that at the beginning of the play, Eddie tells the story of a young boy who ratted on immigrant relatives staying in his home and warn Catherine that she must be absolutely silent about Marco and Rodolpho. Moreover, there was a discussion between Eddie and Beatrice; where Beatrice is afraid of her immigrant cousins being caught. Therefore, Eddie told her: “listen if everybody keeps his mouth shut, nothing can happen. They’ll pay for their board.”(Miller, 1955, p.9).Later in the story, Eddie revealed a different identity .He was blinded with passion to the point of immorality. When he knew about Catherine falling in love with Rodolpho, he told Alfieri that he is going to call the immigration so he can keep Catherine just for him. Even though he knew that he is going to suffer for calling immigration, but does so anyway .Eddie: “Give me the number if the Immigration Bureau.”(Miller, 1955, p.61).To sum up, Miller displayed identity that could be moral with ethics and turns to be and identity that is blinded with
About eighty years ago, engineers were able to build a bridge on time and within budget with no problem; today, most of the projects take extra time and money to finish. What exactly happened between now and eighty years ago that caused such a drastic shift? It is clearly not the engineers nor the technology; in fact, those have only improved over time. Today, engineers are faced with much more than designing and building the infrastructure, as they were before. They compete with politicians for funds, fight for the safety of workers, and protect our environment by adhering to the numerous laws and acts set forth by the government. In the future, we can only expect more costs, longer time periods for projects, and an increase in costs and
The bridge we have created is ethical in the sense that it has a dependable purpose relative to its location, and its uses. By implementing a floating bridge, in a non-linear terrain in the city of Champong Chnnang it allows for effective, and efficient commute between two villages. This idea allows for the saving of time and money, by not implementing a less efficient method of transportation and trade between the two villages. THIS ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH, LET EDWARD ADD SHIT TO THIS TOO.
Also, Catherine's affection for Rodolfo highlights how she likes things that Eddie doesn't like, making him realise that he is more out of touch with her than he realises. This scares him, and makes him recognize that he cannot control or know what she truly feels in her heart and mind. In the last act, Eddie can't help but let manly pride override his common sense. He demands an apology from Marco, even though he knows that he himself is in the wrong, 'tell them what a liar you are C'mon, liar, you know what you done'.
A view from the Bridge was written by Arthur Miller in 1955 and set in
The play A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller is set in New York in
In the first scene we meet Eddie and Catherine together. This is when we start to understand the relationship between the two by the language they use with each other, the dialogue, and actions they use with each other. "Hi Eddie!" "(Eddie is pleased and therefore shy about it)" the first instinct is that they are going out with each other. Catherine has a new skirt. When Catherine runs her hands over her skirt the point is even more obvious. By doing this it is like she is flirting with Eddie.
Eddie is a longshoreman and earns his living on the New York docks and he is the plays protagonist but also as a famous Greek philosopher called Aristotle said " The tragic hero is one who is neither villainous nor exceptionally virtuous, moving from happiness to misery through some frailty or error in judgement. " And this is exactly what Eddie Carbone is, a tragic hero. The plot is based around Eddie agreeing to shelter Marco and Rodolfo (his wife, Beatrice's illegally immigrated cousins) while they seek refuge in the Sicilian community of Redhook. As his wife's niece Catherine whom he has unconditional love for as a daughter begins to take a liking to Rodolfo, Eddies love begins to transform into jealousy and hate of Rodolfo and as a consequence Eddie commits an unjustifiable and indefensible act of hatred which in the Sicilian community would be classed as a 'crime' against everybody around him including his family by revealing Marco and Rodolfo to the immigration bureau.
In comparison, there is a similar key moment in Miller’s A View From the Bridge, where Eddie’s fate is partially decided upon one moment. After being humiliated by Marco, an already furious Eddie is told by Beatrice that what he can’t have, alluding to his niece Beatrice. This realization that his wife knows how he feel about their niece causes Eddie to go into a rage and to seek a fight with Marco even more vehemently. This ultimately results in Eddie being stabbed by his own knife, and dying. While it could be argued that in both cases, the ending was already inevitable, as Gar was practically set on leaving for Philadelphia, and Eddie was already out of control, I do not doubt that these two key moments had a massive impact on how the play was resolved.
This can be shown by, “Sure, he’s terrific! Look at him go!” and “He could be very good Marco. I’ll teach him again.” By praising Rodolfo, he is making Rodolfo want to continue boxing with him. Eddie shows more and more authority over Rodolfo and if they go boxing more, Eddie gets the opportunity to humiliate and embarrass Rodolfo more, and prove to everybody that he is stronger. The tension between the two characters is important, as it continues to grow stronger, until Eddie attacks Marco and Rodolfo. This is important, as this is the point where the tension is first revealed obviously and directly to the reader, through physical actions, although not real violence. The audience may feel that there will be real violence later on in the play, as Eddie keeps encouraging Rodolfo to fight and continuously tries to insult him.
At the beginning of the play, Eddie is portrayed as a sensible and smart character. Eddie and the girls (Catherine and Beatrice) all have a requited respect for each other – Beatrice: “Mmm! You’re an angel! God’ll bless you” – and there are no problems as such, even when the immigrants first come. He is also respected by the community – Alfieri: “He was good a man as he had to be in life that was.” But this dominant respect that he gains is what he is very used to and the slight changes where Catherine finds another man in her life and Beatrice also looks after the two immigrants (Rodolpho and Marco) effects Eddie hugely. The respect that he becomes used to is now shared by the women in his life between the men in his house and he craves for more attention. This can be considered one of his flaws that lead to his downfall. He is also shown caring for Catherine in the beginning of the play. He can be seen as a normal uncle or father – Beatrice: “She’s got a job.” Eddie: “What job? She’s gonna finish school.” He is also very proud of Catherine – “Sure she’s the best… You look like a
'A View from the Bridge' is a play set within the New York in the Red