A View From The Bridge - Page by Page Notes
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE: PAGE BY PAGE
PAGE 1:
Alfieri: “You see how uneasily they nod to me? That’s because I am a lawyer. In this neighbourhood to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky.”
This gives the audience some initial insight as to the type of people that live in this area. Alfieri suggests that they are maybe a little troublesome and therefore do not ‘like the law’, and perhaps some have even sinned; so feel uncomfortable around a priest.
PAGE 2:
Alfieri: “Justice is very important here.”
Could this perhaps be a reference to something that will go on to happen later on in the play?
Alfieri: “And every few years there is still a case…”
This particular sentence seems important, as the tone dramatically changes. Just before he was listing all of the ordinary cases that he has dealt with over the years, such as ‘family squabbles’ and ‘evictions’, however he then mentions that rarely, yet occasionally, there is that case, that perhaps is different…
“Heard the same complaint and set there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course.”
This is still building on the dramatic and serious tone that Alfieri has switched to, and suggests therefore that this case could soon be coming, and the reference to blood, although we do not yet know it has certain connotations. Nonetheless, even without knowing what happens towards the end of the story, we do begin to expect a start in turn of events.
PAGE 3:
This is the scene when Eddie Carbone is introduced. He is ‘forty – a husky, slightly overweight longshoreman’. When asked by his friend if he is working at the Docks tomorrow, he replies:
“Yeah, there’s another day yet on that ship.”
This could be an attempt by Miller to briefly show that Eddie takes his job seriously and is a hard worker. A strong relationship between Eddie and Catherine is immediately introduced by Catherine’s speech:
“Hi, Eddie!”
However a certain questioning and inquisitive manner of Eddie comes across when he
PAGE 1:
Alfieri: “You see how uneasily they nod to me? That’s because I am a lawyer. In this neighbourhood to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky.”
This gives the audience some initial insight as to the type of people that live in this area. Alfieri suggests that they are maybe a little troublesome and therefore do not ‘like the law’, and perhaps some have even sinned; so feel uncomfortable around a priest.
PAGE 2:
Alfieri: “Justice is very important here.”
Could this perhaps be a reference to something that will go on to happen later on in the play?
Alfieri: “And every few years there is still a case…”
This particular sentence seems important, as the tone dramatically changes. Just before he was listing all of the ordinary cases that he has dealt with over the years, such as ‘family squabbles’ and ‘evictions’, however he then mentions that rarely, yet occasionally, there is that case, that perhaps is different…
“Heard the same complaint and set there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course.”
This is still building on the dramatic and serious tone that Alfieri has switched to, and suggests therefore that this case could soon be coming, and the reference to blood, although we do not yet know it has certain connotations. Nonetheless, even without knowing what happens towards the end of the story, we do begin to expect a start in turn of events.
PAGE 3:
This is the scene when Eddie Carbone is introduced. He is ‘forty – a husky, slightly overweight longshoreman’. When asked by his friend if he is working at the Docks tomorrow, he replies:
“Yeah, there’s another day yet on that ship.”
This could be an attempt by Miller to briefly show that Eddie takes his job seriously and is a hard worker. A strong relationship between Eddie and Catherine is immediately introduced by Catherine’s speech:
“Hi, Eddie!”
However a certain questioning and inquisitive manner of Eddie comes across when he