Miller Through Eddies Moral And Social Conflict example essay topic

Jo Hawkins Assessment 2 Semester 1 1998 A playwright with a social conscience. Analyse the ways in which Arthur Miller presents Eddie Carboni as a victim of Brooklyn in the 1950's. In his play, A View From the Bridge, (1955), Arthur Miller (1915-) portrays the protagonist, Eddie Carboni, an uneducated Italian-American longshoreman, as a victim of American society in the 1950's. Set in Red Hook, an industrial area of Brooklyn, Eddie lives with his wife, Beatrice and her sisters child, his niece Catherine, of whom he is unwittingly over protective. Life is hard but even until the arrival of two illegal immigrants, Marco and Rodolpho, who are relatives of Beatrice. When Rodolpho forms a relationship with Catherine, Eddie is threatened in a way he can neither articulate nor even acknowledge.

He does his best to destroy this relationship in order to preserve his unchanging lifestyle and when his attempts fail, he calls the immigration department and turns informer. When challenged by Marco, Eddie fights to uphold his honour and is killed. Through this conflict, Miller explores the issues of gender roles and justice within American Society. This is achieved by the skilful use of theatrical conventions including character and setting. As Millers succeeds in presenting Eddie Carboni as a victim of society he proves himself to be a playwright with a social conscience Miller explores the changing gender roles in Brooklyn of the 1950's, detailing the demise of patriarchy and Eddies reactions to this dramatic social change. This confusion, accentuated by the arrival of two submarines, Marco and Rodolpho, serves to highlight the underlying sexual tension between Eddie, Catherine and Beatrice.

This tension is present from the beginning of the play as Eddie laments youre walking wavy to Catherine, acknowledging her sexuality, his jealousy apparent as he voices his disapproval. The admission of Catherine into the work force is hard for Eddie to accept as her maturity becomes harder for him to ignore. His pride also begins to falter as he learns that Catherine earns more money in her first year as a stenographer, than he does as an experienced longshoreman. Beatrice recognises Eddies hidden desires before he or Catherine are aware of it, this becoming apparent in the first act as she snaps at Eddie Im not mad, youre the one is mad.

With the arrival of Marco and Rodolpho, Eddie struggles to uphold his position as head of the family. Rodolpho possesses an unconscious femininity that patriarchal Eddie does not understand and his developing relationship with Catherine causes much jealousy and resentment. As Eddie struggles with his own gender identity and strong feelings for Catherine he turns to the law in an attempt to find justice. The differences between justice and American law is explored by Miller through Eddies moral and social conflict as he tries desperately to stop Catherine from marrying Rodolpho.

The play begins with an exposition from Alferi, a middle class lawyer who acts as an impartial commentator for most of the play. Alferi connotes that the American-Italian population has a disrespect for written law with roots that spread deep into their Italian ancestry. Consequently, he acknowledges their own system of family law and its Mafia parallels. Miller recognises the strength and validity of family law, the nature of which remained incomprehensible to American society. The differences between the two cultures are highlighted and criticised as Alferi reminisces, Oh, there were many here who were justly shot by unjust men.

Eddie, blinded by a passion for Catherine he cannot understand, does not recognise the differences between these cultures and alienates himself from both of them by refusing to compromise between both. Informing the immigration bureau of Rodolpho and Marco was not an illegal act, Miller simply presents it as immoral. Eddie becomes a victim of both societies as he attempts to conform to both. Miller uses the other characters to provide drama and further the plot, limiting their development as complex individuals. In this way, Millers forms a true portrait of Eddie as the betrayer, marginalizing those whom he betrays. It is through Beatrice that Eddies desires become articulated and Catherine becomes aware of the reasons he resents Rodolpho.

Catherines own loyalty for Eddie makes her feel guilty for loving Rodolpho and when she recognises his misplaced passion she gains enough strength to leave. Eddie blames the immigrants for the dramatic social change he experiences, not recognising that they were only the catalyst. He never accepts them and therefore cannot understand them, a folly that leads to the eventual communication breakdown. Rodolpho is well liked by all who know him therefore Eddies rejection of him is considered unjust and emphasises his apparent jealousy. Marco, however is very quiet and restrained until the plays tragic conclusion in which he makes damning accusations of Eddie in front of the whole Neighbourhood when he shouts, That one!

I accuse that one! The strength of this words have more impact as they contrast Marcos usual character and indicate his great anger, justifying his later vendetta. When Eddie refuses to conform to unwritten civil law he is victimized by his own family and those he had helped in the past. Setting is used in A View from the Bridge to create contrast between the American and Italian cultures and to make the themes more potent. Rodolpho does not conform to the male Italian stereotype and is therefore unacceptable to Eddie. As a blonde man, set in a tight knit society of Italian-Americans he serves as an example of the new generation of men more in touch with their feminine sides and less dependent on patriarchy as a control mechanism.

On arrival into America, Rodolpho and Marco are awed by Eddie and Beatrice clean, sparse, homely workers flat. The audience is therefore sympathetic to these immigrants and their predicament. The fact that they had broken United States law is marginalised to such an extent that the conservative American audience of the 1950's that Miller wrote his play for would reject their own morality, at least for the plays duration. By encouraging the audience to disregard preconditioned moral standards concerning illegal immigrants in America, Miller encourages them to sympathise with Eddie whose own morality is likewise divided. Miller explores the themes of changing gender roles and justice through victimisation of the central protagonist, Eddie Carboni due to his moral dilemma.

Theatrical conventions used in his portray include setting and character development. The introduction of the two illegal immigrants, Rodolpho and Marco proves to be the catalyst for the revelation of the underlying sexual tension between Eddie, his wife and his niece. The tension is accentuated as Eddies position as head of the household is threatened by Catherines new job and the success of the two submarines in conforming to American society. The differences between family law and the constitutional law are also explored as it is Eddies refusal to obey both and make a compromise that causes his own downfall.

Miller never truly develops the other characters into complex individuals but uses them to futher Eddies own development. The setting is used to contrast the two cultures and the two types of justice, promoting audience sympathy for the two immigrants Rodolpho and Marco which leads to a greater understanding of Eddies morality. By gaining audience sympathy and positioning them to see an different aspect of Brooklyn in the 1950's, Miller displays a heightened social conscience as he presents Eddie Carboni as victim of his own rigid morality.