A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller

A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller

'A view from the bridge' by Arthur Miller is a tragic intense play about family struggle, lust, passion and deceit. My aim is too look at the relationship of Catherine and Eddie. To understand the relationship, we must understand the atmosphere and culture. To do this we need to know why Miller wrote the play, background history and why this is significant to understanding the relationship between Catherine and Eddie.

Arthur miller wrote the play in reflection of his own life and experiences. During World War 2 he worked as a ship fitter where he met many Italians, many of which were Sicilians like the characters in the play. At the time Brooklyn's population was increasing with immigrants and refugees many from Italy). These Italians look for work as Italy was unstable and had large mass of unemployment. Many of the immigrants were illegal, and so if anyone were to go to the immigration bureau and inform them, they would be shipped back to their country with no money, but with a family to feed. So for anyone to do this would be a great insult to the Italian community. This is one of the main aspects of the play, betrayal. Arthur miller makes it clear early in the play how it would affect someone who would betray their family, when Eddie tells Catherine the story of Vinny Bolzano, the story of a boy who deceived his uncle and told the immigration bureau. "They spit on him on the street", "you'll never see him again" this gives a great understanding of how deceitful it is and how someone would become a victim of family and community.

Arthur miller incorporate the culture of the Silicans and their suffering with a story he heard from a lawyer friend, about...

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... frustration Marco lashes out at Eddie. The consequences were harsh, as Eddie becomes a victim of his own crime.

In conclusion Eddie's jealousy and passion destroyed everyone's lives and received no achievements for himself. His passion for Catherine grew strong along with his jealousy. In the end his name was hated, he is seen as selfish, unthoughtful and deceitful. As there is a time gap in the play we can tell what the development of the relationship is. From the beginning there was a happy, and calm atmosphere. But towards the end the relationship is faint and there is a lack of communication, they grew apart as others could see the future so their duty was too keep them apart. Catherine was to blind to see what Eddie's thoughts of her were as she felt there was no reason to part from him, and Eddie was to jealous and stubborn to part From Catherine.