Tuesday, June 4, 2019

A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller | Analysis

A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller AnalysisA View from the Bridge is a get together set in Brooklyn in the 1950s and was written by Arthur Miller. He wrote this adopt based on different aspects in his disembodied spirit as he lived in Brooklyn as a child and worked in the Brooklyn shipyards standardised Eddie and befri break offed the Italians he worked with. Miller heard a myth of some men coming over to work illegally and being betrayed which inspired him to write A View from a Bridge. It was originally a one act play, but he changed it into a two-act play later(prenominal) on. The play includes ideas from Greek tragedies, which is where the grammatical case of Eddie links into. Alfieri, another main character acts as a Greek chorus, a vital role in a Greek tragedy and he watches the action, comments on it and talks to the auditory modality directly, like a narrator. We see him in many different roles without the play and for each one role adding to the dramatic t int of the play.The first role Alfieri takes on is as a narrator, which is at the start of the play. You wouldnt have known it, but something am exploitation has honest march oned. You see how uneasily they nod to me? Alfieri uses the word you to include the reference and to make them feel involved. Also, as the narrator he highlights the importance of certain guessings and actions, as after the scene when Marco and Rodolpho arrive, Alfieri starts to talk again saying Eddie Carbone had never expected to have a destiny implying that because Beatrices cousins have come to stay, something leave alone change. Alfieri also mentions that we settle for one- half and uses repetition as in the first speech and the very last speech after Eddie has died he says that it is better to settle for half, it must be. By use the word we Alfieri is again involving the auditory modality and making them think that they should settle for half as well as Eddie, and is in that locationfore offering moral guidance to the audience. moreover by saying it must be better to settle for half, and using an imperative, Alfieri is trying to convince the audience and even himself that appreciating what youve got must be better than anxious(p) like Eddie did. When Alfieri is narrating the play, Arthur Miller uses dramatic devices for example using stage lights to focus on Alfieri, so the audience know what he is saying is very important.The statute title of the play A View from a Bridge has many different meanings, as it could be seen as Alfieris view from the bridge, as he is the one narrating the events and sexual congress his view on the events that unfold. Furthermore the title is literally the play, which is set in Brooklyn Bridge and is most the community around the area and the actions that happen which Alfieri tells as a narrator. Also the bridge could be a metaphor for the differences between Alfieris view on justice and Eddies differing opinions and can also incorporate Alfi eris view that we should settle for half as to do this you may need to compromise and meet in the middle, like the middle of the bridge. Another interpretation on the title is that the bridge is like a bridge between Eddies community in Brooklyn and Marco and Rodolphos community in Italy and they both have to understand each others way of life by using this bridge to help them.Another role Alfieri takes on is a character in the play as a lawyer. He gives Eddie advice on how to deal with Rodolpho and Catherine permit her go. Thats my advice. You did your job, now its her life wish her luck and let her go. The audience trust Alfieri, because of his character as a lawyer as more often wherefore not they are seen to be trustworthy and reliable. As well as advising Eddie, he also warns him when he feels Eddie is going too far. Because of Alfieris narration running through the play, the audience can see that there is a theme of law and justice running through the play. He explains these themes by giving more randomness about the different communities telling the audience that the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten, implying that the Americans of Red Hook do not really moot in the law. Alfieri attempts to explain the law to Eddie and Marco, telling them that the law is nature. The law is only a word for what has a right to happen. So when Eddie chooses to find justice by his own means, Alfieri feels that he cannot get involved and he cant do anything to stop Eddie.In the first scene when Alfieri meets with Eddie as a lawyer he describes Eddies eyes like tunnels. This simile gives the impression of a dark journey ahead of Eddie and gives the audience an image that Eddie cannot escape his fate that has been predicted by Alfieri as the audience already know its going to happen. It could also suggest that Eddie was thinking deeply or that he had many dark feelings rushing around his head. In this scene Alfieri is powerless to prevent what i s going to happen and this creates tenseness and suspense because the audience want to know what is going to happen next. I could see every tonus coming, step after step. Alfieri also acts as a warning sign, by preparing the audience for events that are about to happen. You wont have a friend in the world, Eddie By using the language you wont Alfieri is warning Eddie that something is in spades going to happen and that he should be careful. As the weeks passed, there was a future there was a trouble that would not go away. By using repetition, Alfieri is emphasizing the point that something is going to happen and is making the audience think through what will happen and why and therefore keeps them hooked. Arthur Miller uses dramatic irony as the audience and Alfieri know something is going to happen, however the characters in the play are preoccupied to this. Alfieri informs the audience that his customers are prepared to settle for half, however in the final paragraph he tells the audience that something else is going to happen by using the phrase and yet. Alfieri uses the commendation bloody course to paint an image in the audiences head of blood and violence and the images that are left in the audiences mind leaves them curious about the rest of the play which creates dramatic tension. It also shows Alfieris importance in the rest of the play, as it shows he is predicting the play and Eddies fate. In the last sentence of Alfieris first speech, he links to his past saying every few years there is still a case to tell the audience that this story will definitely be tragic. He then introduces Eddie This ones name was Eddie Carbone, and the fact that Alfieri immediately mentions Eddie after talking about that culture of Red Hook and also speaks about him in the past tense shows that his fate has already come to an end and gives another indication that Eddie will die at the end of the play so the audience are left wondering not what will happen to him but how it will happen. The way in which this quote is presented shows that Eddie is one of many of Alfieris clients whose tragic story is like many others in Italy that die of unfair causes.The setting of Red Hook is a poor community and Alfieri creates the atmosphere of Red Hooks by describing it as the slum that faces the bay seaward side of Brooklyn Bridge. There is a lot of cultural context linked into the story as Alfieri comes from the same Italian background as Eddie therefore he understands both American and Italian lifestyles and he helps the audience to understand the 1950s Brooklyn society in which the characters live. Alfieri also explains how the thick and the poor are divided in their community by their jobs and states that Eddie has a hard job as a longshoreman working on the docks.I often think that behind that suspicious little nod of theirs lie three thousand years of distrust. This is a quote that Alfieri says at the beginning of the play which gives the audience an insight into what Red Hook is like and suggests that there is a lot of dishonesty in the area. He mentions the characters Al Capone and Frankie Yale who were former Italians that had a account statement of crime and violence, In those days, Al Capone the greatest Carthaginian of all was learning his trade on these pavements, and Frankie Yale himself was cut precisely in half by a machine gun, he uses this quote to emphasise the case that he is about to handle which shows that it will be of violent nature and he also uses this quote to show that the play will end tragically.The audience sees Alfieri as a character in the play when Eddie goes to see him for advice. However Alfieri feels that he cannot help Eddie as he knows about the disaster that is going to happen at the end of the play so he feels powerless over Eddie as his friend and his lawyer and cannot prevent the decisions Eddie is choosing to make. Another role Alfieri takes on which is a very important part in the play is as a moral commentator. Alfieri gives his own views and opinions on the characters and their actions and this guides the audience rather than allowing them to make their own minds up. The audience has the same opinion of the narrator because Alfieri talks directly to them affecting their view on the situation and characters and they deliberate everything he says. Alfieri comments on Eddies moral character saying he was as good a man as he had to be in life that was hard and even, and he explains that Eddie is neither entirely good nor entirely bad. Alfieri only guides the audience influencing their opinion, but sometimes gives two differing opinions on Eddie allowing the audience to make up their own minds.In the play there are only two acts, which is unusual for a play however there is many different things that happen in these two acts. As an audience we see that Alfieri is very important to the structure of A View From A Bridge as he is the character that opens the play and end s the play with his two dramatic speeches therefore adding to Alfieris dramatic impact to the play.Finally Alfieri acts as the Greek chorus in the play, explaining the events on stage to the audience without actually participating in them. He has to know a lot about each of the main characters and actions to be an effective chorus however he communicates with the audience more thoroughly than with the characters, to inform them of the actions and thoughts of the characters. The idea of the narrator was developed in the Greek tragedies of the 5th century called the chorus who commented on the actions of characters in the play which is like Alfieri. A Greek Tragedy was originally a play that consisted of tragic events with a main character (like Eddie) whos fate would soon come to an end and usually die at the end. A View from a Bridge uses the conventions of a Greek Tragedy, as Arthur Miller used a final culminate in the play where Eddie Carbone (one of the main characters) tragical ly dies, which suggests his play is based on a traditional Greek tragedy.In conclusion Alfieri helps contribute to the dramatic impact of the play in many different ways, because of his different roles but also because as an audience we know that what is going to happen as Alfieri predicted the events to come which adds tension and suspense. Throughout the play Alfieri keeps emphasizing that we should settle for half, which shows that Arthur Millar was trying to give a moral message to the audience and also society saying that they should settle for half, and constantly bring justice to the world as otherwise we might end up with Eddies fate.Bibliographywww.bbcbitesize.co.ukwww.sparknotes.co.uk

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