A View From A Bridge Essay Example for Free

A View From A Bridge Essay How does Arthur Millers portrayal of attitudes to family and law within A View From A Bridge cause conflict throughout the whole of the play? By Francesca Jastrzebska A View From A Bridge is the tale of a Sicilian family, who are trying to make a better life for themselves in America. Throughout the play Arthur Miller shows his portrayal of attitudes to family and law by basing the characters on real life people / Storys he has been told by friends and family. By focusing on the different characters I will explore a range of issues such as moments of conflict between the characters in the play and the consequence the characters actions have on everyone else. As Eddie views are the ones that cause the most conflict in the play I will start with him. The first conflict in the play is in the first act when Eddie comes back from work and Catherine is wearing a new skirt and has her hair done differently. Eddie notices and asks her were she is going all dressed up Where you goin all dressed up? Catherine leads Eddie over to the armchair in a loving kind of way and sits him down. As she sits on her heels Eddie makes a comment about her skirt being to short. I think its too short, aint it. This creates tension between the two of them. The tension builds as she argues with him over the skirt and Louis who she was waving to from the window. The skirt and high heels represent the fact that Catherine is growing up and is becoming more feminine. The cause of this tension is the fact that Catherine is growing up and there is nothing Eddie can do to stop her. Later on when the Carbone family are sitting down for dinner Beatrice and Catherine say they have some good news to tell Eddie. Catherine has a job. Eddie however does not think of this as good news as she will be earning her own money and it is a job of her choice. It is another thing that shows that Catherine is growing up. He believes that growing up would involve her moving away and coming back home less and less. Whats the high heels for Garbo?.. Do you me a favour will you? Go ahead. This I believe is the next scene that causes tension between Catherine and Eddie. When Eddie says this it makes Catherine embarrassed and angry that Eddie could make her feel so small in front of the new residents of da house. She gets up giving Eddie a cold look then goes back to what she was doing. Eddie does this to show that he is the man of the house and the people living in it must follow his instructions and commands. When Catherine and Eddie come back late from the cinema, Eddie is outside waiting for them to come home. Beatrice comes out and talks to him about Catherine and Rodolfos relationship. She calls him jealous but trys to cover up the fact that she thinks that it is true she smiles jokingly. (Smiling) Ah, go on, youre just jealous. This causes tension between the husband and wife, as Beatrice believes that its time for Catherine to grow up and she cant do that with Eddie standing over her also that it is her life and if she is making a mistake its her mistake and she needs to learn from it. Later on Beatrice admits that Catherine and Rodolfos relationship is not her only worry. When am I going to be a wife again, Eddie? Eddie says its because he hasnt been feeling well and that the brothers, Marco and Rodolfo, being here bothers him. Beatrice argues that they have only been there for a couple of weeks and hes been like he has for three months. The stage direction before he answers shows that he doesnt want to actually no what is troubling her, as it might make him look less of a man. The next part in the play that causes conflict is when Eddie starts showing Rodolfo how to box. This makes Marco feel uneasy. As Catherine come back into the room eddies tells Rodolfo that he is going to hit him Now Im going to hit you, so block me, see this alarms Catherine seeing the two men in her life that she loves boxing. Eddie punches Rodolfo and he staggers. Marco is the only one that knows eddies hidden agenda. Rodolfo then shows that he may not of been the last one to throw a punch but he still got Catherine by dancing with her. Marco then shows Eddie that he is stronger by lifting up the chair with his one hand. This creates tension by them Act 2 is the final act were all the characters are involved in upsetting Eddie which leaves him with only one solution, to get rid of the brothers. Act two starts with Catherine and Rodolfo talking about getting married and going to live in Italy. Rodolfo believes that living there they will be poor and that they would have a better life in America. How can I bring you from a rich country to suffer in a poor country. They later go into the bedrooms. Unfortunately for them Eddie comes home drunk. Catherine hears him shouting and comes out adjusting her dress. Eddies thinks nothing of it at first but then Rodolfo come out and stands behind her in the doorway. Eddie goes mad and starts shouting at Rodolfo to get out. The causes conflict because Eddie loves Catherine and doesnt want her to be with another man, especially Rodolfo as he makes dresses, cooks and sings. Eddie believes he goes against all the male roles and is too feminine. As Eddie is shouting at Rodolfo Catherine decides it time to grow up and tells Eddie she is leaving. She tells him shes not going to be a baby anymore and he pulls her close and kisses her while she tries to get free of his grip. Rodolfo gets involved and tells Eddie to get off of her and show some respect. This makes Eddie angry, as he should be telling them what to do and that they should show respect. When Marco is trying to get bail he has to promise not to hurt Eddie if he gets out. Marco says in his country Eddie would be dead by now in my country he would be dead now, he would not live this long Hes talking about the Sicilian way of life, the laws of Omerta. Promising not to kill Eddie would be dishonourable. Marco finally promises Alfieri, ashamed, that he wont touch Eddie. When Marco turns up at eddies house he is shouting his name. Eddie believes that he has come to apologies and give his good name back. Now give me my name and we go together to the wedding. This ends in a fight between Eddie and Marco and Eddie dies. Throughout the play Arthur miller shoes his portrayal of laws and family throughout the characters actions. Each character represents something, for example Eddie represents an over protective father and Catherine represents a little girl. They cause conflict because as Catherine grows up Eddie needs to change his ways of controlling Catherine, as she is not little anymore and can make her own choices and decisions.