'A View from the Bridge – Notes\r'

'A View from the bridge deck †Notes â€Å" further remember, kid, you can quicker get book binding a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away. ” Eddie speaks this inverted comma in Act I, while eating dinner with Beatrice and Catherine. This quote reveals the irony and emotionalness of Eddies case. In the fountain of the forgather, Eddie tells the taradiddle of a young boy who called immigration on his relatives. Eddie lectures Catherine about how they must tell no champion about Marco and Rodolpho, the outlaw(prenominal) immigrant cousins the family provide be hiding. However, in the end of the pass out, Eddie plainly calls Immigration on these cousins, h integrityst ilk the boy.Miller sets up Eddie so vehemently against betrayal that his renewing to the betrayer seems illogical. The set-up requires Eddie to nethergo a drastic change, if not complete breakd have, within the play to make such a tran nonplusion. The force of this tran sition reveals no only his self-destructive madness, simply the perspicacity of his unspoken contendmaking for his niece. This quote similarly reveals that Eddie knows his hold fateâ€he knows what give happen to him, and cannot escape his fate. Much like Alfieri, Eddie watches himself make decisions he knows will not only ruin his paper in the residential argona, however also possibly bulge him.Eddie may know the consequence of what he does, but remains plyless or too mad to stop it. â€Å"His eyes were like tunnels; my prototypic impression was that he had committed a crime, but currently I saying it was only a lovingness that had locomote into his body, like a stranger. ” In this quote, shew in Act I, Alferi describes Eddies appearance at their first meeting, to the audience. Alfieri almost seems to fear Eddie as a clairvoyant beast, a remnant of the bully Greek or Ro human being tragedy. Alfieri truly believes that Eddie was possessed with, â€Å" fury that has moved into his body, like a stranger,” and was unable to control him.The passion that Alfieri describes is the passion for his niece Catherine. The passion, unreleased and suppressed in his unconscious mind was a stranger to Eddies conscious self that behaveively denied any thoughts of incest or differentwise. This quote also reveals the flare of Alfieri. Alfieri tells the tale of Eddie Carbone as if he is a legend. Eddie is expound with dramatic and literary descriptions that are unusual in the dramatic form. â€Å"Eddie: Then whyâ€Oh, B.! Beatrice: Yes, yes! Eddie: My B.! ” This quote occurs at the expiration of the play and is spoken amid Eddie and Beatrice.As Eddie lies anxious(p) in Beatrices arms, the couple finds just about sort of reconciliation and repair of their torn and battered race. Beatrice, regular under such horrible circumstances, is able to forgive Eddie. Eddie ceaselessly dominates Beatrice throughout the play, but in t his tiny molybdenum Eddie demand Beatrice to a greater extent(prenominal) than she needs him. It is the first term the audience hears that Eddie needs and it is the first time that he honestly needs Beatrice. Beatrice is the tirelessly forgiving character of the play. She is terribly jealous of her niece, who receives more direction from her conserve than she does, but motionless forgives Eddie in the end.This final place setting was one of the major alterations of the revised script of A View from the Bridge. In the original version, Eddie dies at the feet of Catherine. However, because of Beatrices change magnitude presence in the revised version and downscaling of the relationship between Eddie and Catherineâ€Eddie must return to Beatrice. Beatrice is the only female who, in the end, needs him. Catherine, now beyond his control, no longer seeks his approval. Thus, Eddie is drawn to Beatrice and for the first time he seeks out Beatrice, her forgiveness and love. â⠂¬Å"Beatrice: You want somethin else, Eddie, and you can neer have her! ”This quote, spoken by Beatrice in the conclusion of Act II to Eddie, is the first time that Eddie seems to empathize his true feelings for Catherine and recognize his own madness. Until this moment, no one has directly spoken about Eddies feelings for Catherine. Although they are obviously known by Beatrice and Alfieri, know one has dared to actually tell Eddie what is wrong with him. But veritable(a) when Eddie realizes his demon, the love for his niece, he is powerless to stop it. Eddie lunges forward and attempts to dash off Marco. In this moment of Sicilian revenge, Eddie cannot pull himself back or regain any sense of reason.Perhaps even the recognition of the sexual taboo makes Eddie even more determined to seek revenge or at least find some sort of victory or honor in his destruction. Eddie does not even have the power to deny Beatrices claim, but instead follows through his destructive pat h. This moment may take away Eddie out of his madness enough to lie in Beatrices arms as he bleeds to death. Once he has recognized his sinful love for Catherine, Eddie seems to find himself at one time againâ€which may explain why he is able to fabricate his relationship with Beatrice. â€Å"Most of the time we settle for half and I like it better.Even as I know how wrong he was, and his death useless, I tremble, for I confess that something perversely sensitive calls to me from his memoryâ€not purely inviolable, but himself purely And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be! And so I mourn himâ€I admit itâ€with a certain alarm. ” This quote deals with the central conflict of A View from the Bridge: the self will verses the will of the friendship. The whole man that Alfieri describes in Eddie is the self- involutioned man. Eddies actions within the play are completely motivated by his own desires at the expense of others.Thus, humans must act half way to p earmark the rules of the conjunction and lives of others. The idea that Alfieri suggests, that Eddie acted as a whole person, unrestrained and uninhibited is true. However, Eddies ace was at the expense of his own family and eventually himself. He only get away restraint because he escaped consideration of other raft or the participation at large. Eddies wholeness is a whole interest in his own life. His tragic f justice is this opportunismâ€a flaw that seems both admirable and direful to Alfieri. Themes The irrational human animal pic][pic]Eddie looses control of his actions in the play. Driven and possessed by incestuous love for his niece, Eddie resorts to desperate measures to protect his identity and name in the friendship. Alfieris commentary often remarks on this beginning. Alfieri seems constantly surprise by Eddies actions and his own reactions to the events of the play. Alfieri sees his own irrational thinking, just as he recognizes Eddies irrational behavior. Irrationality is also how Alfieri defines acting wholly. The human animal becomes irrational when he acts fully on his instinctsâ€just as Eddie does in the play.Alfieri proposes that humans must act as a half, or restrain some of our instinctual needs or wants for reason. Nonetheless, Alfieri still admires the irrationalâ€the unleashed human spirit that reacts as it will. Allegiance to federation law There is great conflict between community and American law in the play. The community abides by Sicilian-American routines protects illegal immigrants within their homes, values attentiveness and family, is hard on the job(p) and know the shipping culture, has strong associations with names, believes in self-confidence and wants revenge when a member has been wronged.Some of these values, however, come in conflict with those of the American system of justice. Eddie Carbone chooses to turn against his community and abide by the state laws. He looses the respect of hi s community and friendsâ€the name and personal identity he treasures. Eddie Carbone, with a stronger allegiance to the community, reverts back to another custom of Sicilian-Americans: revenge. Not only is Eddie pulled back to the values of his community, but the final victor of the play is symbolic of community valuesâ€the Italian, Marco. Thus, the small community is stronger than American law.Motifs brawness Although specifically articulated, homosexuality or what makes a man â€Å"not right” is a persistent theme of the novel. Eddie obviously identifies Rodolpho as homosexual because Rodolpho sings, cooks and sews a prepare for Catherine. Eddie also questions Rodolpho because he does not like to work and has bleach blonde hair that makes him look more feminine. Eddie gives Rodolpho several tests of his masculinity. In the first he teaches Rodolpho how to incase and the second, more blatantly, Eddie kisses Rodolpho on the lips.Many critics think that this kiss is a sign of Eddies own suppressed homosexual feelings, an informal parallel with his kiss with Catherine. Miller seems to take no stand either way, and the sexuality of Rodolpho or Eddie is unclear. However, the stereotypes of the gay man and societal implications of being gay are obvious. Louis and Mike, when talking about Rodolpho, clearly think on that point is something wrong with him and Eddie speaks directly to Alfieri about the specific things that razz him about Rodolpho. Womanhood The idea of what makes a char or what defines a woman is precise ordinary in the text.Catherine and Beatrice talk specifically about the price in their conversation in Act I. Beatrice thinks Catherine needs to grow up and become a woman. To do this she needs to decide by herself whether she wants to marry Rodolpho. She needs to stop walking around the house in her slip in front of Eddie, and not sit on the edge of the tub while Eddie shaves his beard. In essence, being a woman means reserve an d modesty in front of men, and independently making decisions. The idea of independence or separation from Eddie is coupled with the decision to find another male to impound to, a husband.Catherines attempt at womanhood is deciding to marry Rodolpho and follow his rules rather than Eddies. familiarity Community is a powerful context for the play; it dictates very specific norms and rules for the family that controls the actions of the characters. All of the characters are forced to reconcile between American culture and the Italian community culture that surrounds. The cultural and moral difference between the two provides one of the great conflicts in the play. The firm community around them also creates great strain in the Carbone family because they are constantly being watched.The neighbors knew when Marco and Rodolpho arrived, saw Marco spit in Eddies face and Eddie die by Marcos hand. The community is the watcher; the group controls and monitors the behavior of either mem ber. Although Eddie takes a substantial turn away from the community by calling the Immigration Bureau, he still needs acceptance and spends his last moments fighting Marco for his good name in the community. Symbols High Heels [pic][pic]For Catherine, gamy heels are representative of womanhood, flirtation and sexiness.She has just started wearing luxuriously heels around the community and to school and obviously enjoys the attention she gets from men. They are also symbolic as a rite-of-passage to womanhood. As Eddie strongly disapproves of her wearing them, Catherine purposefully rebels against her uncle either time she puts them on. The high heels give her sexual power over menâ€they look, stare and gawk at her beauty. Eddie thinks the heels are threatening for the same reasons Catherine loves them. Eddie is fearful that, if she looks attractive, some man will ask her out and she will leave the house.Eddie has a powerful reaction when she wears the high heels, as if she mus t take them off so they do not arouse him or anyone else. Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is symbolic of a pathway of prospect to Manhattan and also the linkage between American and Italian cultures. The bridge, which is very close to the Red Hook community, is a constant reminder of American hazard and industry. From the bridge, one can see the community below and, like the title of the book, one can see the unblemished community and seek greater abstract significance from his viewpoint.Alfieri is symbolic of the person on the bridge look down upon the Red Hook community or, perhaps, he is the bridge himself, allowing the people to cross into Manhattan and modern, intellectual American culture. Alfieri attempts to unite the American laws with Italian cultural practices and act a place in between the two. Alfieri, narrating the story from the present looking back to the past, has the same advantage point as one looking from the bridge. subsequently some time passes, he is able to execute the events and see the greater societal and moral implications it has for the community as a whole. ItalyThe origin of the majority of the people in the Red Hook community, Italy represents homeland, origin and culture. What the farming means to characters greatly varies. Catherine associates Italy with mystery, romance and beauty. Rodolpho, on the other hand, is actually from Italy, and thinks it is a place with little opportunity that he would like to escape from. All of the characters, as much as love the benefit of living(a) in the U. S. , still strongly hold to Italian traditions and identify it as home. Italy is the basis of the cultural traditions in Red Hook and unites the community in universal social practices and religion.\r\n'