- A View From The Bridge - Arthur Miller
A View From The Bridge is the tragic tale of a close Brooklyn family, told through the narration of Alfieri, an Italian lawyer friend of Eddie Carbone, the head of the family. Eddie is a dock worker and he and his wife Beatrice have been caring for their niece, Katherine, since her mother died. They are both very fond of her and Eddie is very protective and wants her to have a good life and better herself. Katherine has been training to be a typist and has been hand-picked to work as a stenographer at a large nearby plumbers office. Eddie is at first appalled, hoping for better things for Katherine, yet he ultimately relents when Beatrice tells him what an honour this is for Katherine, being picked out in front of the whole class as the best student.
The family are expecting Beatrice's cousins, illegal immigrants from Sicily, to arrive later that night. Eddie is initially glad to help and baulks at a story of a man who betrayed his family to the immigration authorities. The brothers, Marco and Rudolpho arrive and are both very grateful, telling Eddie, Beatrice and Katherine about life in Sicily and how they have to take whatever work comes their way. They paint a picture of a very rural way of life, a contrast to the life that now faces them in Brooklyn. The attraction between Katherine and Rudolpho is apparent straight away, and she swoons at his blond hair. Marco quips that this is a throwback to the days when the Danish invaded Sicily.
As Rudolpho and Katherine begin to see more of each other, it becomes clear that romance is blossoming, much to Eddie's dismay. He begins to criticise Rudolpho and his mannerisms, his skill as a singer and the fact that he seems to be behaving in a way that might get him noticed by the authorities. Eddie also questions Rudolpho's motives, believing that he only wants Katherine so that he can get citizenship if they marry. He cites Rudolpho's spendthrift behaviour as evidence of this, whereby Marco sends virtually all his money back to his wife and children in Sicily.
However, as he talks to both Beatrice and Alfieri about this, his protectiveness becomes more desperate and slightly disturbing. As Alfieri tells Eddie that there's nothing in the law that says that Katherine and Rudolpho shouldn't be together, and that Eddie's feeling that Rudolpho "just ain't right" has no basis in fact, and the only legal matter at hand is the manner in which the two brothers entered America. Beatrice later confides in Katherine, revealing to her the concerns she has regarding her relationship with Eddie. She is worried that at 18, Katherine behaves and dresses inappropriately around him, reminding her that she is now a young woman. Implicit in this is that she may be inadvertently stirring sexual feelings in Eddie, and she insists she is not jealous, and that she is genuinely concerned that their attachment to each other may not be healthy for all three of them.
A while later, the tension between Eddie, Marco and Rudolpho is manifested as Eddie tries to teach Rudolpho how to fight. Calling Rudolpho "Danish", mockingly due to his blond hair, Eddie knocks him down, only for Marco turns the tables on him by challenging him. He asks him to lift a chair in an awkward manner, which proves impossible for Eddie, yet Marco does it with ease, gloating triumphantly as he does so. It transpires that Katherine and Rudolpho are to be married. Katherine brings up the possibility of moving to Italy, but Rudolpho says he is unwilling to do since he wants a better life both for himself and the both of them; he wants to be married to Katherine, but as an American.
Eddie returns to appeal to Alfieri, who once again and more insistently this time, warns him to allow Katherine to live her life. However, in an act of desperation brought about by his feelings of powerlessness, he calls the immigration authorities. Back at home, Beatrice later tells Eddie that she has moved Marco and Rudolpho into another room nearby, and that Katherine and Rudolpho are going to marry as soon as possible so that Rudolpho can become a legal citizen. Eddie attempts to persuade Katherine to go out more and try to meet other men, but Katherine is resolute. This makes Eddie begin to panic about calling the authorities. This panic is made worse by the news that Marco and Rudolpho are now living with other illegal immigrants, with strong family connections, from which Eddie fears some retribution. He resolves to warn them to get out but it's too late and the authorities arrive to take them away. Marco, in a rage, blames Eddie and claims he has effectively killed his children. Eddie tries to deny what he's done but Katherine and Beatrice realise that it was he who notified the authorities.
Some time later, Alfieri informs Rudolpho that he will be able to remain in America if he and Katherine are married, however Marco will be sent back to Sicily. Desperate for the situation to be resolved as amicably as is possible, Katherine, Beatrice and Rudolpho plead with both Eddie and Marco to apologise to each other, yet neither of them back down. Seemingly accepting parole so that he may at least continue to earn money until he is deported, Marco is now released but to the horror of Katherine, Beatrice and Rudolpho, he confronts Eddie in the street. They both stand firm in demanding respect from the other but then they fight and in the tussle, Eddie is stabbed and killed by Marco. Alfieri finishes by musing on what has happened and states his belief that sometimes it is better to "settle for half".
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