A View From the Bridge
“A View from the Bridge” is a play by Aurthur Miller which is set in the 1950’s in Red Hook, New York. The play is based around Eddie Carbone who is a rough, simple man who works as a longshoreman. Eddie throughout the play slowly becomes more and more obsessed with his niece Catherine which eventually leads to his downfall. Throughout this essay I shall explore the ways in which Aurthur shows signs of Eddie’s instability I shall then discuss the reasons for Eddie’s instability and how they add to my understanding of the play.
When we first meet Eddie we are quickly shown how he is a simple man. He sees his niece Catherine and “He is happy therefor shy about it” this shows us that Eddie is a man who struggles to show his emotions. So instead of showing them he tries to suppress them. This could be perceived as Eddie thinking of Catherine in a sexual manor because he is instantly happy when he sees her but he feels that he must hide the feelings he has for her. We see signs of Eddie’s instability early on when he finds out about Catherine wanting to leave school to get a job. Eddie is arguing with her about the fact that he doesn’t want her to leave school and that she should get an education first. However, he is just being overprotective of her and is trying to keep her for himself showing how much he relies on Catherine. We also see how much Catherine cares about Eddie. When Catherine shows him her new skirt and Eddie thinks it’s “a bit short”. Catherine is “almost in tears because he disapproves”. This shows that Catherine also has strong feelings for Eddie -not necessarily in a sexual way- and if he disapproves of what she is wearing it will bring her close to tears. We later on see Eddie suppressing his emotions again when “he is affected by her but he smiles the emotion away”. He is once again showing not only that he struggles to show his feelings but that he has strong feelings for Catherine and that her being upset really gets to him.
When
When we first meet Eddie we are quickly shown how he is a simple man. He sees his niece Catherine and “He is happy therefor shy about it” this shows us that Eddie is a man who struggles to show his emotions. So instead of showing them he tries to suppress them. This could be perceived as Eddie thinking of Catherine in a sexual manor because he is instantly happy when he sees her but he feels that he must hide the feelings he has for her. We see signs of Eddie’s instability early on when he finds out about Catherine wanting to leave school to get a job. Eddie is arguing with her about the fact that he doesn’t want her to leave school and that she should get an education first. However, he is just being overprotective of her and is trying to keep her for himself showing how much he relies on Catherine. We also see how much Catherine cares about Eddie. When Catherine shows him her new skirt and Eddie thinks it’s “a bit short”. Catherine is “almost in tears because he disapproves”. This shows that Catherine also has strong feelings for Eddie -not necessarily in a sexual way- and if he disapproves of what she is wearing it will bring her close to tears. We later on see Eddie suppressing his emotions again when “he is affected by her but he smiles the emotion away”. He is once again showing not only that he struggles to show his feelings but that he has strong feelings for Catherine and that her being upset really gets to him.
When