A View from the Bridge by Miller - 1609 Words

Miller’s A View from the Bridge, originally written in 1956 as a one act play, has many features of a classic Greek tragedy. It is set in the Italian-American neighbourhood, situated in Red Hook, near Brooklyn Bridge in New York. It is in this community Miller chooses to dramatise themes of conflict, betrayal, love and obsession. The underlying omerta is present throughout the play and is the reason for the conflict as it is defied by Eddie Carbone, the Italian longshoreman, who destroys himself in a clash between his blind passions and primeval ideas of his own people about right living. In Eddie, Miller creates the classic Italian-American ‘family man’ who strives to be head of the household and goes about with a sense of pride and†¦show more content†¦The Code of honour binds families and the whole neighbourhood with a sense of community, and to betray or defy it is the most disgraceful thing to do as everyone is supposed to look after each other. In a traditional Greek tragedy, the tragic hero upsets the gods or their destiny or a code. So it is fitting, then, that Miller has chosen the Italian-American society to situate his tragedy in as it is in this society where he can use the code of silence in the community, the omerta, to replace the gods or destiny which is usually defied by the tragic hero. Miller has shown that respect is a recurring theme throughout the play, and is critical to the tragedy as a whole, as it is present in males. This is manifested in Eddie who repeats his name over and over: ‘Eddie Carbone. Eddie Carbone. Eddie Carbone.’ The play is centred on respect; it begins with a name (‘This one’s name is Eddie Carbone’) and ends with the same name repeated three times again. The name represents everything he is, not just physically but socially too – it is something the community will hear and immediately have a perception of the person, for example if a person has a good name they are generally ‘respectable’. Eddie must have respect for his role as a tragic hero, which he does as he yearns for it throughout the play as he wants to be a masculine figure. This is a crucialShow MoreRelatedA View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller1814 Words   |  8 PagesA View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller A View from the Bridge is a 1950s play written by Arthur Miller. It follows the same structure as an Ancient Greek tragedy, where the main actor and in this case Eddie Carbone falls to a tragic and yet a predictable inflicted death. I will be explaining the difference in culture between America and Italy and how this could have affected the outcome of the play. 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