Arthur Miller’s Essay

The first point I noted was when Alfieri said: â€Å"A lawyer means the law, and in Sicily, from where their fathers came, the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten† This suggests that before Christ and Christianity, the law was quite sloppy, and people could get away with crimes, but since the spread of Catholicism and ‘An eye for an eye†¦ ‘, people have been scared to cross the law since people have the right to exact revenge, without scorn from the community, and it worked because people knew that felonies could result in death, they stop committing them. A very important point is where Alfieri is talking about men in the Mafia who were shot by thugs from other ‘families’, and refers to those men as ‘justly shot by unjust men’ which means that those men deserved to die, yet they shouldn’t, in the eyes of the American Judicial System, be killed without trial, that being one of the Amendments of The Constitution. Perhaps the most important occurrence when dealing with this category is the prefiguration about Vinnie Bolzano (which has been previously mentioned), because it serves as a prefiguration about what happens when someone breaks the Code of Conduct, with regards to immigrants. The next type of tension is about Eddie as a sympathetic character. Miller wanted the audience to feel sympathetic for Eddie and does this by creating a sense of emotional involvement with Eddie, which forms a certain sense of empathy with Eddie, and a sorrow which implants a sorrow due to Eddie’s fate. This type of tension is similar to climatic tension except it creates an apprehensive mood in the audience’s mind. Because this is in place early on, it is easier for the reader to justify Eddie’s actions and then empathise with him. In Arthur Miller’s view, Eddie â€Å"posses or exemplifies the wondrous and human fact that he too can be driven to what in the last analysis is a sacrifice of himself for his conception, however misguided or right, dignity and justice. † This to me provokes real empathy because it is very difficult to sacrifice for your beliefs, and for what behaviour he displays, he deserves so much more respect that he is given. Alfieri, upon meeting Eddie, described Eddie as having ‘eyes like tunnels’ which suggests that he is in a trance like state, and he has probably given way to his emotions, which is not necessarily his fault, it may be that he is emotionally unstable, and insecure, it may be that he is suffering from stress, which makes him less mentally adept, but whatever he is, he should not, in this situation, be held accountable for his actions. Early on in the play, with Eddie’s conversation between Catherine & Beatrice, a lot of Eddie’s gentle and more compassionate side is exposed when Catherine wants to work, Eddie wants her to stay in school, but she protests: Eddie: You wanna go to work, heh, Madonna? Catherine: Yeah Eddie: Alright, go to work. This shows Eddie’s compassionate side, because he gives in to Catherine’s demands, even though it is against his will, he does it because it is in Catherine’s interest. Another moment where Miller shows Eddie’s consideration for Catherine is the moment where she lights the cigar, and almost burns herself: Catherine: Here! I’ll light it for you! Don’t worry about me Eddie, heh? Eddie: Don’t burn yourself. (Just in time she blows out match) This shows Catherine’s naivety, and perhaps her inability to function independently without Eddie, and how much he cares for her. She soon forgets this when she encounters Rodolfo, and Eddie feels displaced by him, like he is no longer needed, and for this reason, I think his goal becomes to have Rodolfo deported. But only because Catherine completely ignores him, and feels she is independent, when clearly, she is not. The last kind of tension is emotional tension. This is the disarray that begins due to the introduction of a stranger into this family, and continues due to Rodolfo’s unusual behaviour, Eddie’s emotional insecurities, Catherine’s naivety and Beatrice’s selfishness plunge them into. Due to analysis, I have come to realise that there is a vicious emotional cycle in place that erodes the already fragile relationship these characters share. Here is a diagram and an explanation: Catherine and Rodolfo take Beatrice’s advice. They become closer, get more intimate. They start to ignore Eddie’s opinion more. Catherine starts to become less nai ve, more aware, much to Eddie’s disapproval. Next Catherine and Rodolfo’s actions make Eddie more irate. He becomes more hypnotised by rage. He is more desperate to separate Catherine and Rodolfo. He feels displaced, like Catherine is bestowing all her affection on Rodolfo. He starts to ignore Beatrice and begins to focus solely on Rodolfo’s expulsion. Then Beatrice is annoyed by Eddie. She feels he is not attentive enough. She feels displace by Catherine and becomes even more jealous of the attention she receives. She encourages Catherine to become more independent and intimate with Rodolfo in the hope that she, with Rodolfo, moves out leaving Eddie to pay Beatrice more attention. This continues to occur, and destabilises this very dysfunctional family, with each party becoming more bitter and resentful to the others. It changes slightly so that Beatrice almost sides with Catherine and Rodolfo, I think purely for selfish reasons, as she has the most to gain from Catherine’s absence. In the end, I think is no one person’s fault. I think it is the fault of all three parties. Catherine, because she is to nai ve to know what she is doing, and cannot see through Beatrice’s advice, Eddie for being too overprotective and getting too involved, and Beatrice, for wanting Catherine gone for all the wrong reasons. With all this, I think it is all the deceit and selfish motivation that accompanies a dysfunctional family that sees the Carbone family on their knees. In conclusion, Arthur Miller uses many types of tension in his play ‘A View From The Bridge’: climatic tension, dedicated to keeping the middle unknown; tension of discovery, to keep the play fresh with plenty of plot twists, and to keep the character’s personas mysterious, the Sicilian Code of Conduct to keep the play within the same era, and to put his knowledge to good use, Eddie as a sympathetic character to keep the audience engrossed and to exploit one of the most fascinating human traits, and the triangular relationship between Eddie, Catherine and Rodolfo and Beatrice to show how easily a nuclear family can be dissolved by the introduction of a stranger who is welcomed with mixed opinions, much like a specie from a different ecosystem being introduced to a new one. Interestingly, with regard to the opinions, each member of the family represents a different opinion; Eddie represents the negative extremity (by wanting Rodolfo gone), Catherine the positive extremity (wanting to marry Rodolfo), and Beatrice who is neutral (doesn’t mind, just wants Catherine gone). All these kinds of tension help to portray what happens when strangers enter a close-knit family which has mixed opinions, and that when pushed hard enough, people will forgo almost anything to protect their loved ones; their beliefs, their life, even if it really is all for the sake of self justified pride and dignity. To summarise it in one sentence, it basically says, â€Å"Welcome to the human condition. † Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.