Tragedy in A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller
"A View From The Bridge" is a play written by Arthur Miller. Arthur
Miller was born in New York 1915. This play is about a family, which
lives in America. They are bringing their relatives to America as
immigrants who are going to live with them. But bringing them is not a
good idea because by bringing them the normality of the play is going
to change into tragedy. Tragedy is a serious medieval narrative or
narrative poem written in an elevated style and typically dealing with
the downfall of an important or powerful person. But, is that what
Arthur Miller wants us to think? That is the question that I will be
analysing in this essay.
In the opening scene, the lawyer Alfieri tells us a little start story
about the play. Alfieri looks like a serious man by the way he talks
but he is also not happy about what he is saying. Alfieri is the
person who tells us the story. His character is a person who tries to
help people about their problems. After Alfieri, we see Eddie sitting
in the living room on his own. His character is curious "What's goin'
on", he is thoughtful "Come over here, talk to me", he is serious and
angry "Now don't aggravate me…" and he is also kind "You ain't all the
girls." After Eddie, Catherine enters the room to talk to Eddie. Her
character is a nice girl who has lost her parents. She loves the
people that she lives with. She likes Eddie and does everything he
says, she also likes Beatrice and she also knows that Eddie cares
about her a lot. After Eddie and Catherine, Beatrice enters the room.
Her character is a very thoughtful person who cares about every
members of her family. She loves her husband (Eddie) and she also
loves Catherine. This is the family, which is going to have their life
upside down after Beatrice's cousins come. This family makes audience
feel good because they are living their normal lives, which shows us
Tragedy is interpreted in various ways. For example the wise Greek philosopher Aristotle defines “tragedy” as a story that contains a character that commits a terrible mistake in his life that leads to his pitiful death. On the other hand, Arthur Miller defines “tragedy” as a characteristic common to all human beings who are willing to give up their lives for the necessary and righteous causes, and for their dignities. A composite definition of a tragedy is a character in a story that recognizes his awful error committed, and is willing to give his life for the necessary cause that would leads to his inevitable death. In The Crucible, John Proctor’s dilemma is to either confess about his affair with Abigail or remain silent about this secret to keep his reputation. John Proctor does have a tragic death and is thus a tragic hero, but he fails to be an admirable character in The Crucible for committing adultery.
Exploring the Themes of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge East of Staten Island is Brooklyn, the second largest borough and the
...t as I read the play I sensed that Alfieri didn’t care much about what happened. He seemed like an apathetic bystander, waiting himself for this accident to happen. In the quote “...to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky”, he seems quite self-effacing and sorry for himself. He says that lawyers like him are only thought of in connection with disasters. Since this is said in the beginning of the play we are already exposed to Miller’s main theme, the idea of inevitability, before Alfieri himself tells us about his trivial involvement in the actions of Eddie Carbone. He was only there to advise the characters on what to do, while also reminding the audience of the inevitable ending - “I could see every step coming, step after step, like a dark figure walking down a hall towards a certain door”. Little did Eddie know that this was the door to his death.
“He is a storyteller, a man with a marvelous memory, a simple man with a capacity for wonder, concerned with people and ideas” (The Paris Review). He is Arthur Miller. Born on October 17, 1915, Miller entered the world in Harlem, New York City. At age nineteen Miller wrote his first play. His passion for playwrights led him into the theater world inevitably leading him to meeting and marrying his second wife, Marilyn Monroe. Miller wrote the play, The Crucible, as an allegory of McCarthyism. Unlike most of his plays, The Crucible, was a dramatized historical play. In a interview, Miller stated that, with this play he “ was completely freed by the period [he] was writing about [...] It was a different diction,
'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 devil is defined as being a spirit or power of evil. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, numerous citizens of Salem Village are prosecuted and convicted for having made contact with the devil. While historically, the Salem Witch Trials were an effect of greed and vengeance and are said to be false, the devil was indeed present in the town of Salem; he takes the shape of a young girl named Abigail Williams. Abigail depicts her evil spirit and coalition with the devil though her deception of anyone willing to listen, her irrational behavior, and her immoral actions, which directly defy the Puritan church.
his family and how he is perceived in the public by his friends. He is
In this essay I will describe the way in which Miller hints at the tragedy in the beginning of the play ‘A View from the Bridge’. Miller gives us lots of clues in the opening section to try and get the audience thinking. He wants us to think about how the main character dies not what happened in the end because everyone knows that in a tragedy the main character dies. Miller uses a range of devices e.g. uses of plot devices, the structure foreshadowing o put an impact on the audience understanding of the play.
Persecution has been a round for sometime and can be traced historically from the time of Jesus to the present time. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith in the hands of the Jews. Many Christians have been persecuted in history for their allegiance to Christ and forced to denounce Christ and others have been persecuted for failing to follow the laws of the land. The act of persecution is on the basis of religion, gender, race, differing beliefs and sex orientation. Persecution is a cruel and inhumane act that should not be supported since people are tortured to death. In the crucible, people were persecuted because of alleged witchcraft.
She adds that she’s agreeable with everyone, with him as an exception. Benedick retorts that she’s lucky that she doesn’t love him like all the other women he knows, because he loves no one, especially not her. Beatrice responds, “A dear happiness to women, they would have been troubled by a pernicious suitor.... ... middle of paper ...
Although a strict society composed of high morality and disciplinary laws may be necessary for safety, it causes internal conflicts within the individuals. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller a theocracy in Salem rules and guides the citizens into doing what is “right”, but eventually backfires due to issues of reputation and jealousy. Society has a lot of influence on the citizens, and with a bad reputation, it is nearly impossible to live in a Puritan society. Salem’s strict Puritanical social structure causes personal struggles for the individuals involved in the events of The Crucible, and then eventually these personal struggles affect the society overall.
Arthur Miller states in his essay, "Tragedy and the Common Man," " . . . we are often held to be below tragedy--or tragedy below us . . . (tragedy is) fit only for the highly placed . . . and where this admission is not made in so many words it is most often implied." However, Miller believes " . . . the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (1021). It is this belief that causes Miller to use a common man, Willie Loman, as the subject of his tragedy, Death of a Salesman. Miller redefines the tragic hero to fit a more modern age, and the product of this redefinition is Willie.
commenting on events; he also plays a part in the play as a lawyer and
sight of a man destroying himself, while those around him are as powerless as the audience to prevent it. This is hinted at by the beginning of the play. This play shows a whole range of emotions and tackles many issues such as The American Dream, Justice, Law and family Honour. In the end I thought that because Eddie and Catherine cared deeply for each other this led to Eddie being jealous of Rodolpho and over protective of Catherine, which split the relationship between Catherine and Eddie but also led towards the death of Eddie. All the characters in the play then suffered a tragedy because nobody gained anything in the play or achieved their dreams but mostly lost things instead of gaining things.