A view from a bridge by Arthur miller Essay

At the beginning of act 2 in â€Å"a view from a bridge† Arthur Miller creates tension in a number of ways. The first way Arthur miller creates a sense of drama by using body language eg) Eddie’s arm â€Å"jerks slightly in shock† the body language of Eddie is Eddie showing his feelings of disapproval of Katherine and Rodolpho going out together to add to Eddys anger the fact that they both come out of the bedroom together. This shows Eddies love for Katharine but he is becoming far too over protective over Katherine. Arthur Miller also creates tension through the use of short sharp sentences through the scene as well as the repetition of key phrases during the scene, eg) when Katherine says â€Å"I think I can’t stay here no more† when Eddie says â€Å"You aint goin’ nowheres† after that Katherine says: â€Å"Eddie I’m not gonna be a baby anymore† these are all extremely short sentences used within quick succession. The use of short sentences like this is to heighten the drama by showing the views that the characters are in an angry and aggressive as mood well as showing Katherine’s new fear of Eddie and that something is inevitably going to happen. Certain unexpected key events occur in this scene, which shock the audience and create a heightened dramatic impact. This is when Eddie â€Å"reaches out suddenly, draws her to him, as she strives to free herself he kisses her on the mouth† then Rodolpho tells Eddie â€Å"have respect for her† after that: â€Å"Rodolpho flies at him in attack. Eddie pins his arms, laughing and suddenly kisses him. This shows that Eddie’s feelings for Katherine are so powerful that they are uncontrollable; this causes the audience to be shocked and lose respect for Eddie. As well as these happenings, emotions are revealed in this scene, which heightens the tension. This is shown best by Katherine’s fear of Eddie because she usually shows such admiration for Eddie. Eddie crying is also eddy showing emotion â€Å"Eddie strands of tears rolling down his face as h laughs mockingly at Rodolpho. † While Katherine â€Å"is staring at him in horror† Katherine and Rodolpho are also behaving â€Å"out of character† by showing disrespect towards Eddie. Katherine usually acts childish towards him as if Eddie really is her father; and Rodolpho is usually trying to avoid conflict with Eddie as well as trying to win Eddies approval over Katherine Craig young 11vk The mix of violence, humiliation and control in this scene all help to create dramatic impact. This is shown when Rodolpho is violent towards Eddie â€Å"Rodolpho flies at him in attack. † This shows the audience how Rodolpho has changed his attitude towards Eddie. Eddie shows control by forcibly kissing Katherine and then Rodolpho. Eddie does this to show his authority over Katherine and Rodolpho, and to degrade Rodolpho by showing that he has control over him. Further more proving that, Eddie is stronger than Rodolpho. In conclusion the contrast between the events with Eddie and Katherine and the mood of Alferi’s speech at the end of the scene, also creates a sense of tension; due to the contrast between the short sharp aggressive sentences earlier on in the scene then when Alferi speaks there becomes longer calmer sentences, this contrast creates a sense of tension by making the audience think that something more is going to happen. As well as this a part of Alferi’s speech makes the audience realise that something terrible was inevitably going to happen â€Å"but I will never forget how dark the room came when he looked at me; his eyes were tunnels. I kept wanting to call the police, but nothing had happened. Nothing at all had really happened. † This shows that Alferi had the feeling that something had already happened so it seems almost certain that something would happen. A View from a Bridge by Arthur Miller Essay There are several factors which lead to Eddie’s eventual decline. The main ones were things like the influence of the society, influence of the people around him and ultimately himself highlighting his unwillingness to negotiate and his excessively close relationship with Catherine. Nearly all the characters in the story were responsible for Eddie’s eventual downfall. In page 39, Catherine says: â€Å"You wanna dance Rodolfo? † At this point Eddie freezes in obvious disapproval. Rodolfo senses that Eddie is unhappy about her dancing with him so Rodolfo replies: â€Å"No, I-I’m tired† in defense to Eddie. Beatrice makes things worse by saying: â€Å"Go ahead, dance, Rodolfo†. Eddie particularly didn’t like the fact the Catherine had put on high heels in the house, just to make a good impression on a young man (Rodolfo) before the dancing incident. Eddie says: â€Å"What’s the high heels for Garbo? † Alfieri is also to blame for the death of Eddie. In page 58-59, Alfieri and Marco have a lengthy conversation. Alfieri tries to get Marco to promise that he wouldn’t take matters in his own hands but Alfieri didn’t succeed. Alfieri says: â€Å"I’m waiting, Marco, what do you say? † then further onwards Rodolfo says: â€Å"Marco, tell the man† Marco replies: â€Å"He knows such a promise is dishonorable† Marco clearly has pride for himself which he feels that he could lose. Alfieri then promises that Marco will not harm Eddie on behalf of him but this promise was outwardly unsecure. Eddie’s attempt to always be the man of the house was a factor leading to his breakdown. Eddie’s Sicilian background inter links with his 1950’s notions of manhood because it meant that he had to be very manly and be the one who goes off to work. Eddie shows his manliness when he starts to be competitive with Marco and Rodolfo for instance when he starts to teach him Boxing. Eddie says: †well come on , I’ll teach you† and then when Marco showed Eddie that he could pick up a chair with one hand, Eddie looked grumpy because he couldn’t do it, he felt like he was beaten. Many people look up to Eddie and he knows it which is a cause to his downfall. In page 25 Louis says: â€Å"Believe me, Eddie; you got a lotta credit comin’ to you†. Eddies neighborhood motivates him a lot because he is so concerned about his respect in the neighborhood he forgets about what he is doing to the people close to him. This is shown when at the final scene he kept on demanding respect. Eddie says: †wipin the neighborhood with my name like dirty rag ; I want my name back Marco , now gimme my name and we go together to the wedding†. As a result of this Eddie died.