Tension in Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge
In “A View From the Bridge”, Arthur Miller explores a variety of
themes in the relationships between the main characters in order to
build tension for the audience. Firstly, through Eddie’s talk with
Alfieri, we can see that he is jealous of Rodolfo’s relationship with
Catherine, and his eventual loss of authority in his own house leads
to anger and a desire to once again become the stereotypical alpha
male. This creates tension because the audience knows that he will
want his authority back, and as he gets more and more desperate, the
audience may think that he would do anything to regain control over
his household. Secondly, although early in the play Eddie appears to
be overprotective of Catherine, the audience grows to see his hidden
love for her, and he becomes either blind of his obsession with her,
or just does not want to admit/see it. This helps to create tension
because the suggestion of incest is highly tabooed in modern society,
and the audience does not know if Eddie will act on his feelings.
Moreover, there is more tension built in Eddie’s relationship with
Marco, as Eddie and the audience both have a moment of realisation at
the very end of the first act that Eddie has met his match, and is
once again fearful of appearing less masculine, and at the same time
it makes him even more angry that his pride has been dented. Lastly,
the love in the relationship between Rodolfo and Catherine creates
immense amounts of tension as Eddie is completely against it, but they
almost seem to taunt him with it regardless, and the audience knows
that this incessant taunting and tragic ine...
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...ing, as is suggested by the term
“unconsciously”. This short section climaxes quickly, as one line of
dialogue later, the stage directions say: “He has bent the rolled
paper and it suddenly tears into two.” This creates tension because
the audience may think that Eddie is pretending the newspaper is a
limb of Rodolfo’s, or something similar to that effect. It also
creates tension because it suggests that Eddie is becoming closer to
the point at which he can not sustain a calm nature for any longer.
In conclusion, Arthur Miller creates tension in “A View From the
Bridge” by exploring many themes. These include: masculinity, incest,
pride, love, jealousy and obsession. Miller successfully uses these
themes to build huge climaxes at many points throughout the play, and
create vast quantities of tension for the audience.
The statement,“The Crucible is essentially about courage, weakness, and truth,” is proven true numerous times, throughout the play. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller, about the true events that happened in Salem, Massachusetts, between the years 1692 and 1693. The Salem witch trials consisted of many hangings, lies, and complete mass hysteria. The citizens of Salem followed the religion of Puritanism, and the ideas of predestination. The root of the mass hysteria comes from their belief in the sense that in something happens then it must have been planned by God. In Miller’s portrayal of the story, Abigail Williams was the ringleader of the witch trials, and she used the idea of predestination to cover up her own sins. Abigail was a very manipulative girl and ruined many lives. John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor were just a few of the victims in Abby’s game. John, Mary, and Elizabeth exhibit the traits courage, weakness, and truth, whether it was in a positive or negative way.
In the excerpt from The Crucible, the scene begins in an empty room of the Proctor house. Arthur Miller paints Elizabeth as an angelic figure when she “is heard softly singing to the children.” Eventually Proctor enters, exhausted after a day of planting. He halts by the fireplace and “swings a pot out of the fire…he lifts out the ladle and tastes.” Unsatisfied, he “takes a pinch of salt, and drops it into the pot.” He needs more flavor, perhaps in both the soup and his own marriage. The tension between husband and wife is clear; there is an abundance of small talk, with little to no extended interest. “Are you well today?” asks Proctor, answered by Elizabeth with a mere, “I am.” Even so, John makes multiple attempts to break the silence,
Fear, resulting in chaos, and overturned lives affected the personal decisions of John Proctor, thus creating inner conflicts, as well as desperation in the story. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor's stand in a society where opinion drove fate created ignominy towards him and his beliefs. At first he hid his horrible sin inside, fearing the consequences. When he finally did, he was placed in a tangled labyrinth of feelings as to what his next action should be. Lastly, it's Proctor's defiance and integrity in his own self that proved him stronger than the entire community of Salem. Proctor's tremulous feelings and general unease of the situation built up to his defining point of confession. Theocracy came together to take coerce control Salem and it's actions. Proctor saw this and feared, for diabolism was a practice unheard of. Danforth states, "You must understand, sir, a person is either with the church or against it, there be no road between. We live no longer in the dusky afternoon and evil mixed itself with good and befuddled world. Now by God's grace the good folk and evil entirely separate"(63).
The story 'A View From The Bridge', is set in the 1940's in Red hook
where you are going which is a lot like Eddie in the later stages of
'A View From The Bridge' is set in early 1950's America at a time when
Rodolfo, "I'm not a baby, I know a lot more than people think I know."
The play, ‘The Crucible’, illustrates how people react to mass hysteria created by a person or group of people, as people did during the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s and the Salem witch hunts of 1962. Many Americans were wrongly accused of being Communist sympathizers. The activities of the House of Un-American Activities Committee began to be linked with the witchcraft trials that had taken place in the town of Salem. This provided Miller with the catalyst to write ‘The Crucible’. Without the knowledge of the McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch hunts, ‘The Crucible’ may be seen as a melodrama and the events in the play, sensationalised. It is not a melodrama because it is not overly dramatic; the McCarthy hearings and the witch hunts inject realism in the play. The play deals with historical events and with characters that have a historical context.
Writers may use literature as a vehicle of social criticism. In which ways does Arthur Miller criticize society?
Analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller ‘You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ Assess the developments in John Proctor’s character that validate this statement. How does Miller create a sense of tension and suspense in the build up to this climatic moment in Act 4? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he has used many dramatic devices in order to create tension and build up to the climaxes of the story.
doesn't want her to grow up and as she develops into a woman he wants
Fear holds a great control over any mortal human-being through daunting and restricted words, most commonly seen while anyone is under pressure. While being controlled over fear, you may come to realize that you are being manipulated to the possibilities of a threatened punishment and may also be mislead by lies. Arthur Miller’s classic novel, The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, where a lot of times fear would be used to control anyone to blame another of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller elucidates this through Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Mary Warren, that fear holds a great torment on the truth.
Throughout the pay, Eddie’s commanding tone serves to emphasize his desperate need to bring his brother back into reality. In the beginning of the play, Eddie forcefully questions Robbie saying “O.K, Robbie?... You O.K.? ... Of course you’re O.K.”
from the start that she is very reliant on Eddie and she wants him to
The first person that Eddie meets was a member of the freak show his name was