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How far do you agree with the view that the tragedies in ‘Ethan Frome’ and ‘A View from the Bridge’ are brought about by individual characters rather

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Within A View from the Bridge and Ethan Frome the main protagonists are tragic figures. The origin of a tragedy comes from Greece, where the basis of the idea was a drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or extreme circumstance; this usually resulted in either disaster or death. As is true to most Greek tragedies the ending of the shown before the downfall itself. Most victims of tragedy were written to be of a high stature such as royalty, yet both Ethan Frome and Eddie Carbone were ordinary men who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Arthur Miller said in his famous essay ""Tragedy of the Common Man", Arthur Miller states, "I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in the …show more content…

The black wraith of a deciduous creeper flapped from the front porch, and the thin wooden walls, under their own worn coat of paint, seemed to shiver in the wind that had risen with the ceasing of the snow."₂ His caring nature at the start of the novella is a positive and endears him to the reader as one of his many interesting character traits. This puts his actions into context so that the audience can fully relate to and develop an understanding of Ethan Frome as a character.

Whereas, Miller uses a similar structure to that of a Greek Tragedy by using a chorus to convince the audience that Eddie Carbone as the protagonist is lead to his downfall by fate and it is not Eddie himself that is at fault. The audience are told by Alfieri "He was as good a man as he had to be in a life that was hard and even.”₆ Alfieri opens the play and presents the protagonist and tragedy in a similar style to that of a prologue. "another lawyer, quite differently dressed, heard the same complaint and sat there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course. This one's name was Eddie Carbone"₆ Although he may not be the main focus of the play but his significance is large as he is there to provide context to the characters as well as commenting on the events that might have occurred. Others present their opinions on Alfieri's role as a chorus, and to what extent he

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