Victoria Robertson

11E-02

How does Arthur Miller create and sustain dramatic tension for the audience in A View from the Bridge?
The playwright A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller is based on a true story-in late 1940s New York, Brooklyn. The title of the play isnt specifically linked to a part in the play. However, it could just simply be talking about Brooklyn Bridge, which would make perfect sense because the play is set in Brooklyn. But I have also thought of some other possible meanings. Firstly, it could be relating to the narrator Alfieri, who is standing back telling the story, so it could be referring to him watching the story unfold from a distance. Or it could be linking the past and the present. In Alfieris opening speech he says In some Caesars year, so hes speaking of the Roman Empire and mentioning that this is the kind of tragedy you would come across in ancient Greece and Rome. The drama in this play is very much based on illegal immigration and family loyalty in different cultures. The Carbones are an Italian- American family and the performance is all about their life and justice throughout the neighbourhood. The Carbones are made up of Eddie (husband), Beatrice (wife) and Beatrices niece Catherine who is a 17-year old orphan who has been brought up by them. The narrator, who also plays the lawyer - a huge part in the play, is called Alfieri. He starts off with an opening speech about a previous case he paid very close attention to and tells the audience that it will run its bloody course. The play starts with Beatrices cousins, Marco and Rodolfo, who travel to America illegally from Italy to stay with them in order to work and send back money to Marcos family. Almost immediately Catherine and Rodolfo take a fancy to each other and their relationship starts to grow and blossom. However, Eddie is very much against Rodolfo and repeatedly states, he just aint right. But we soon learn Eddies real reason for disliking Rodolfo. He soon starts arguing with most of the people around him and tension soon sparks between him and Marco. Eddie then decides to address his issue with Alfieri and going against Alfieris advice he spitefully phones the immigration bureau to get rid of Rodolfo once and for all. As Catherine is announcing her and Rodolfos engagement, the immigration officers arrive and take them away. Marco is furious of the betrayal and when let out on bail he goes straight to Eddie and they fight in the street surrounded by the entire neighbourhood. It finally ends in Eddies bloody death. Throughout the play there is a lot of tension expressed between each character with Eddie generally being the source of it. Im going to explore and discuss the ways in which Miller creates and sustains dramatic tension for the audience in A View from the Bridge. One of the first ways in which Miller creates dramatic tension is with Catherine and Eddies denial of their feelings for each other from start to finish, even though they flirt continuously. This childish flirting is specifically shown towards the end of Act 1, when Rodolfo and Catherine are on their way home from the Paramount. Bearing in mind most girls in the late 1940s got married or engaged towards the end of their teen years, Eddie still worries about what time she gets home. He waits out on the street for them to arrive. When they do get back the reader is instantly presented with Eddies feelings when he cant help smiling at the sight of her and leads onto Catherine hitting him on the arm playfully and going to him when she says the wrong thing. This -1-

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flirting seems very new and childish, and although it doesnt hold any tension it leads onto the subject of Rodolfo. This quickly turns Eddies emotions and for the first time, the reader witnesses one of his many excuses for his disliking Rodolfo. Miller produces a main excuse to cover up the truth for why Eddie doesnt want Rodolfo and Catherine together. The excuse is brought up over and over again throughout the play. Each time it creates tension between the characters especially between him and Beatrice because she is aware of his feelings towards Catherine. This tension always links back to the main character Eddie who is kind- hearted and righteous but has one flaw, which we find out is Catherine. The first time the excuse is said, Eddie and Catherine are alone which makes it easier for him because Beatrice isnt there to stand up for her. Catherine is pained when she hears his view of Katie, hes only bowin to his passport and she goes straight into denial saying, Oh, no, Eddie, I dont think so. This instantly confuses Catherine and as soon as she mentions that Rodolfo loves her Eddie starts getting infuriated and moves on with Dont say that, for gods sake! This is the oldest racket in the country-. But he doesnt get the chance to finish because Catherine has already started running upstairs to her support, Beatrice. This immediately grabs the audiences attention because Beatrice has previously just told Eddie to leave her alone already and hes gone against her wishes. However, you could argue that Eddie doesnt realize his feelings for his wifes niece and is just being over-protective like some fathers because he has helped raise her and been her father figure. It is therefore only normal for him to want better for her. Beatrice mentions that even if it was a prince came here for you it would be no different. Nevertheless, what Beatrice and Catherine dont realize is that this argument has given him the incentive to go and speak to Alfieri. So the excuse, just like Eddie is another main source for all the troubles throughout the family because the excuse started the argument which made him decide to go and talk to Alfieri, and grass on Rodolfo and Marco, creating tension. Eddies language is often viewed as uneducated and his typical ItalianAmerican accent quite frequently comes across very direct and confrontational. Whereas some of the audience may see Eddie as a hero and a man who meant well but somehow took the wrong turn somewhere along the way. Others could view him as a hypocrite, at the start of the play he very passionately warns Beatrice and Catherine in a heated discussion it never comes out of your mouth who they are or what theyre doin here. Eddie later on does exactly what he told his family not to do, but is too wrapped up in his own world that he doesnt realize or understand why his family then want to disown him and finishes his life with Then why- Oh, B.! So Miller created Eddie to be a dramatic, muddled and profound character and by himself was able to create and sustain a lot of tension. He seemed to give off this tension like a ray to the people surrounding him, making him the source of all problems. Beatrice comes out of the play looking like the poor widow, who everyone feels sorry for. But Miller has given Beatrice a lot of depth, that when looking at her as an individual, makes the audience question whether she is as sweet and innocent as perceived. Right at the end of Act 2, when it looks like Beatrice is finally going to side with her husband during yet another heated

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argument, she says, Then we all belong in the garbage. You, and me too. Whatever happened we all done it, and dont you forget it Catherine. In this short heroic speech of Beatrices she could simply be trying to calm everyone down because theyre all arguing and nothing will get resolved that way. On the other hand, if you look deeper into it, she could be saying that theyre all responsible and go down as a family because Eddie and Catherines relationship has been happening all along and they shouldve found a way to prevent it but they didnt and now the damage is already done. She could also be implying that its her relatives, so shes partly to blame and Catherine has overstepped the boundary of her and Eddies relationship, by the simple little acts like walking around in front of Eddie in her slip etc. Beatrice always has an answer for everything, this sustains the tension throughout because Beatrice is constantly arguing with Eddie and seems to talk down to him quite a bit. So could the title of the play be linking to the honest housewife who is standing back, taking a wider view of everything? Another way Miller creates tension is through body language and facial expressions. A good example of this is in the final scene of Act 1. In this scene, Miller builds up the tension gradually, beginning with subtle stage directions. The scene starts off with Eddie ignoring all of Rodolfos comments, like hes imaginary and talks directly to Marco. Luckily, Rodolfo just takes Eddies rudeness on the chin and ignores him. But Eddie then seems to remember that Rodolfo is in the room after his comment- lemons are green. Eddie instantly lashes out and talks down to Rodolfo like hes stupid, saying, I know lemons are green, for Christs sake. If the audience hadnt noticed the tension before this point, they would definitely be feeling it now. Its almost like Eddie snaps at Rodolfo every time he speaks because he shouldnt be contributing in the conversation. Eddie then starts to read the newspaper, but lowers it when the subject of Rodolfo cooking comes up. He then makes the snide comment; Its wonderful, he sings, he cooks, he could make dresses he comes across very amused, like hes mocking him. However, the rest of the Carbone household thinks its brilliant. Rodolfo and Catherine begin to dance to Paperdoll, but Eddie turns his head away, like he cant bear to watch, so he quickly changes the subject onto fighting. Up until this point Marco and Eddie have had a good relationship, always seen eye to eye. This may be because him and Rodolfo are staying under his roof and hes grateful to them. But Marco manages to wipe the smile off Eddies face by testing their strengths. This is presented to the audience with a competition as to which man can lift a chair above their head with one hand and the scene soon ends with Eddies grin vanishing as he absorbs Marcos expression after Eddie is defeated. In conclusion, all the characters have their problems throughout, but it always links back to Eddie, making him the main source. This is down to his extreme stubbornness and possessiveness towards Catherine, and throughout the play he never understands his weakness, which is of course his underlying feelings for Catherine- his wifes niece. As we learn from the play, people cant seem to compromise in the Carbones culture. Once someone goes against the family loyalty, they lose everything. However, Alfieris closing speech states, Most of the time now we settle for half and I like it better. So even though its too late for Eddie Carbone, people have realized that family values arent worth killing over.

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