Analysis of Scenes in A View From the Bridge

Look closely at the end of Act 1. How does Arthur Miller create tension in this scene and create clues as to how the play will end? 'A View from the Bridge' is a play script that is based on a true story written by Arthur Miller in the 1950s and published in 1955. 'A View from the Bridge' is a tragedy; a tragedy is a play, often in verse, where a man has an inevitable downfall that you can see from the beginning and his or her death is something that no one can stop.

The protagonist in 'A View from the Bridge' is a man named Eddie Carbone. The play is narrated by a chorus, a man named Alfieri. Alfieri is a lawyer in Brooklyn, where the Carbones live; in Alfieri's first speech he says, "I am a lawyer. In this neighbourhood, to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky." This shows how they obviously live in a rough area, and how people are not always legal in the way they do things.

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The play opens with a scene of Eddie and Catherine, Eddie comes home and you immediately feel that he has feelings for Catherine by how he is "pleased and therefore shy about it" and him feeling shy about his feelings make you think that maybe he shouldn't have them or possibly he doesn't want her to know. Catherine obviously looks up to Eddie a lot, and cares a lot for his opinion in the stage directions it says how Catherine is "almost in tears because he disapproves", showing how much she values his opinions and respects him.

You learn about Beatrice and how kind she is, "You've got a good aunt, but she's got too big a heart", and it also hints to if there is tension in the family, Beatrice might not want to get involved. As soon as Rodolfo and Marco arrive Eddie takes a sudden dislike to the cousin, Rodolfo, unlike Catherine who flirts with Rodolfo, much to Eddie's distaste. When Rodolfo sings for the family Eddie "rises and moves upstage", physically moving himself away from Rodolfo, the first bit of tension shown in the house.

Within three months Catherine and Rodolfo are dating and Eddie is becoming more and more protective. "It's after eight... they must have seen every picture in Brooklyn by now." It's still early in the night, and Eddie's complaining that they aren't home, how they must be doing something else, not just seeing one film. This will create tension between Eddie and Catherine because she doesn't want him to pester her all the time or to ruin her time with Rodolfo, also Beatrice will wonder why he cares so much about Catherine and Rodolfo and not as much about her, Rodolfo will wonder why he cares so much about Catherine as well, this will create tension between them all.

Eddie and Beatrice's relationship is also breaking apart, "Beatrice enters on the street. She sees Eddie, smiles at him. He looks away." Eddie shows here how he has a lot on his mind and it doesn't include Beatrice, also it shows his anger how he can't even smile at his own wife. Their sex life has also broke down. Beatrice asks Eddie, "When am I going to be a wife again Eddie?" and he says, "I ain't been feeling good. They bother me since they came." Showing how he cares more about Marco and Rodolfo than he does about his wife. I think this shows just how much he does care for Catherine since Catherine dating Rodolfo dating is enough for him to forget about his wife. The tension between Eddie and Beatrice is building stronger now as Beatrice has more reason to worry about his feelings for Catherine.

In Italy 'the mafia culture' is very strong, and even stronger in Sicily, this means that family will protect family or close friends, like the saying, 'blood is thicker that water.' This saying is relevant here in how that Marco will protect Rodolfo from Eddie, even though he is living in Eddie's house. Marco is compared to a bull; quiet but very strong. Whereas Rodolfo is compared to a canary, he sings and is blond. Marco knows and sees Eddie's strong dislike for Rodolfo and tension is building up stronger and stronger inside of him, soon he may snap, that will create very strong tension in the house as the family would have to pick sides.

Eddie is now losing more and more control in the house, in the beginning of the book, he made the decisions and everything had to go past him. He was the man of the house, when Catherine gets a job, she asked for Eddie's permission to take it, at the beginning of the play, Eddie says to Catherine, "Why didn't you ask me before you take a job?" and Beatrice replies, "She's askin' you now, she didn't take nothin' yet".

But now, if anyone wants to do anything, they just go ahead and do it, without asking for Eddie's permission first, Rodolfo takes Catherine out without asking Eddie's permission, showing how Eddie has lost the control in the house. People now just do things without asking anyone, no one is head of the house. Because of this Eddie and Catherine have their own tension creating, Eddie has noticed that Catherine barely speaks to him anymore, and blames Rodolfo, but the more that Eddie is blaming Rodolfo the more annoyed Catherine gets with him. At the beginning of the play, when the cousins had first arrived, Catherine feels bad that she isn't with Eddie as much of the time, but now, it seems as though she doesn't even care.

There is no obvious tension between Eddie, and his two friends, Louis and Mike, but they keep inviting him out and he keeps on denying the invitation, for example when Louis asks, "wanna go bowlin' tonight?" Eddie just says, "I'm too tired. Goin' to sleep." This makes it seem as though he no longer wants to be friends with them and do things apart from work, so if he needs them in a later situation, they may not help them. He is changing towards them and towards other people, this means they might now leave him when he needs them, they don't know what he might do anymore, and there is a slowly building piece of tension between the friends now.

At the beginning of the scene at the end of Act One the whole family is sat around the table having a friendly conversation. Catherine begins clearing the table and Eddie moves over to his rocking chair, this shows Eddies masculinity, moving away from the table to get out the way, whilst the women stereotypically clear the table. Rodolfo and Beatrice finish clearing the table and Marco moves over to a stool, Marco, like Eddie, shows his masculinity, whereas Rodolfo shows how he is feminine, but it also shows how he is trying to help around the house, how he is trying to please Eddie. That shows how the tension in the house is still there, but Rodolfo is trying to even it out.