A View From The Bridge - What makes a view from the Bridge 'good'

A View From The Bridge - What makes a view from the Bridge 'good'

theatre.What techniques does Miller use to create dramatic impact

and meaning.

Question 2: What makes a view from the Bridge 'good' theatre.

What techniques does Miller use to create dramatic impact and meaning

Miller uses very clever techniques throughout 'A View from the

Bridge'. As most of his plays will show you, he likes to focus his

work on different groups in society. In this particular play, he

writes about Latino Americans, and there struggle to survive in the

Bronx.

Characterisation is a key factor to creating tension in 'A view from

the Bridge'. Miller uses a lawyer, Alfieri, as a narrator. Alfieri

appears at different stages to explain the situation in more detail,

he addresses the audience. By doing this the audience begin to trust

him, and are more likely to believe what he says. This makes the

audience feel more involved, and thus they are more inclined to pay

attention.

Alfieri links the action between the scenes. He bridges the gap

between audience and play. Yet again, this bridge makes the people

watching feel more involved. When Alfieri opens the play, he is very

light hearted and appears respectable:

"You wouldn't have known it, but something amusing has just happened.

You see how uneasily they nod to me? That's because I am a lawyer."

This beginning makes the audience feel at ease. The audiences first

impressions of Alfieri are positive, with him wearing a suit and

appearing 'good-humoured' and 'thoughtful'. This trail of thought

continues throughout.

Alfieri is used as a dramatic device, and not as a person In this

play. Although, he does participate in this piece. He smoothly glides

between narrator and actor:

Stage directions: [Alfieri pauses, looks down at his desk, then to

Eddie as though he were continuing a conversation with him]

Miller uses complex stage directions which although hard for the

character, if performed correctly, produce great theatre. In this

particular path he makes Alfieri address the audience before gliding