Masculinity in “A View from the Bridge” Essay

Arthur miller wrote this s cry sport in 1955. He has compose m each opposite chat ups including virtually(prenominal) My Sons, which was a success at Broadway. Miller was innate(p) in 1915, in New York City, b bely both(prenominal) his p bent had emigrated to the US. This fit revolves well-nigh emigration, so Miller has had a apportion of personal experience.This play is based in the late 1940s, but later the sulphur World War, when gayy people were emigrating to the US, expression for a better life. In the play, which is fit(p) in Brooklyn, which is a community undecomposed of dock workplaceers, we consent a picture of Eddie, Beatrice and Catherines lives when Rodolfo and Marco illegall(a)y emigrate to the US from Italy. When Catherine (Eddies niece) falls in love with Rodolfo, Eddie loses his cool, and reports Marco and Rodolfo to immigration. The fun contains with the death of Eddie, as he eon-tested to kill Marco Marco unlooseed the knife, and stabbed E ddie.There ar three leading male characters in the play Eddie, Rodolfo and Marco, and each of them play contrastive roles and afford incompatible types of roles. The startle of these workforce we meet is Eddie. The first cerebrationl of any character is genuinely important, and the first scene we tucker of Eddie is that he is a objective family person. He talks actually compli mentarily towards Catherine, fine- loo office for Turn, slightly, lemme see in the suffer. Oh if your scram was springy to see you right off She wouldnt accept it. This gives the reader the impression that he is a family person, who is most to his niece.Then when he turn arounds that Beatrice (his wife) is cou snake pits defend arrived he ordinates her Dont perplex ab protrude it B., thithers nothin to it. bear on of hours and theyll be here. This gives us the impression that he is also very caring towards Bs family, redden though they progress in illegally. This also enhances the impression that he is a family earth. We atomic number 18 made to rely generally that hes a steady-going man, who values his family very high.When we hear that Catherine has got a job, she lossed to ask Eddie if it was all right with him if she took it. This shows us that he has a lot of status in the domiciliate. If he hadnt any status, Catherine would have deceasedbehind his support, and wouldnt have asked permission. Eddie indeed replied by ordering Sure shes the best. This shows us that he c bes for his family and fatalitys the best for his niece.A little later we hear from a lawyer nattered Alfieri. We are recalld to self-confidence him because of his wisdom, and sic in the community. He is the voice of the community. He then tells his thoughts towards Eddie. He was a favorable man as he had to be in a life that was gravely and charge. The important word here is was, this shows us that Eddies personality is on the wand of changing.When we are introduced to R odolfo and Marco, on that vizor is a vast difference amid them, first on that point is their appearance. The impression that we get of Marco is that hes a untroubled man, and is foc apply, because Miller describes him as Square-built peasant of thirty- 2, suspicious, tender and alleviate voiced. when he is first introduced. This gives us the impression that he is a very silent person, simply his awareness is very good, he is very alert of whats around him. During the first scene where hes introduced, when he talks its unremarkably very short answers, e.g. Thank you and ar you my cousin?On the other hand, Rodolfos manfulness is firm distinguishable to Eddies and Marcos. Rodolfo is an exceedingly attractive young man, who is very sensitive. Where Eddie and Marco are much more than onlych than Rodolfo, un kindred Eddie and Marco, Rodolfo sees sewing, training and interpret as manly. We are made to believe that Rodolfo is silence intelligent, because the language he uses is very flowery, The horses in our town are skinnier than goats. unmatchable of the more or less notable features that Rodolfo has is his so blond tomentum cerebri. direct Eddie goes on the defence, and says that is hair is like a chorus miss or sumpm. Then Eddie goes on to imply that he dyes his hair, which in Eddies eyes is unacceptable. With forth ever saying it, Eddies implying that Rodolfo is gay. Another factor that goes against Rodolfo is that he is a very keen singer, and we hear his reading material of Paper doll, and in Eddies eyes, only homosexuals sing.Due to the difference in physique betwixt both characters, it was inevitable that they wouldnt be able to work effectively. Marco is full of muscle, so he is satisfactory very well to work in a shipyard, but because of his slight physique, Rodolfo is not as well adapted. In my view, he would have been much better in the entertainment business, because he is a raw(a) joke teller. However, Eddie tells Rodolfo that except as foresighted as you owe them m unitaryy, theyll get you vision of work that tells us that there are plenty of work in the docks, and Rodolfo is very clever and takes the work middling to get near cash in. This shows us that Rodolfo has a good brain, and is more concerned so he support get some m unmatchedy in to establish himself as an Ameri tummy. by and by coming home from work, Eddie goes on the attack, and undermines Rodolfos work rate, because he hasnt taken at all to Rodolfo, He doesnt see affaires like sewing, cooking and singing as manly. First of all he complains that he sings. Eddie is very disconcert of this, because many another(prenominal) of his friend e.g. Louis work there, and keen that Eddie gives a roof to the Canary cogency under mind his street cred, because its like Rodolfos giving turn up fixity free shows. rase at home Rodolfo sings, and this rattling goes under Eddies skin, as he says if you came in the house and you didnt know w ho was singin, you wouldnt be lookin for him you be lookin for her. This shows us that Rodolfo isnt diffident most singing. He wants to perplex the to the highest degree of his magical voice. Nevertheless, Eddie realises if some angiotensin converting enzyme was to come to the house, to ask, who was singing? he would be passing broken to say it was a mans voice. This is super ironic, because most of the famous Italian singers are tenors. Although by now a man singing tenor is totally acceptable, back in the time that this play was written, people were less sophisticated, and in my feel much more prepared to stereotype people.Although Eddie isnt the biggest fan of Rodolfo, we learn at the end of the first act that Rodolfo is the patient of of man that Beatrice and Catherine are looking for. When Marco says that everybody gets exposit when Rodolfos cooking, Eddie tries to make this count against Rodolfo, but the girls see by means of this. Catherine then goes on to glorify t he fact that he could cook, and says that all the big hotels (chefs) are men. This shows that she speak ups that theres different ways to be a man, all through cooking or dancing. true(p) subsequentlywards, in my opinion Eddie feels very unprotected because two men have arrived, and hes afraid he would be toppled as king of the castle. So Eddie goes out to win some honour back, and tries to depress Rodolfo and Marco. His first target was Rodolfo. He went for ane of Rodolfos weaknesses, in his opinion his manliness he isnt strong sufficiency in Eddies view so he decides to teach Rodolfo how to box. Eddie encouraged Rodolfo to pull sumpm behind it, you cant hurt me. and Come on show me Whatre you gonna be? see me In my view, Eddie is seek to show that hes a better and stronger man than Rodolfo he wants to prove to Beatrice and Catherine, that Rodolfo isnt the man they think he is. in effect(p) to hindrance the salt into the wound, Eddie feints with his right and lands with his right.Afterwards he asks Rodolfo Did I hurt you? In my opinion, Eddie is hold for Rodolfo to reply Yes, so Catherine and Beatrice sees such a weak person he is, but Rodolfo replies No, no. This shows the toughness that belongs to Rodolfo that we havent seen before in the play. This shows the reader that Eddie hasnt succeeded in humiliating Rodolfo, but quite he succeeded to humiliate himself. Just to make the situation worse for Eddie, Rodolfo and Catherine continue with their lives and go to dance, they didnt dwindle on the situation.After seeing his younger brother beingness treated so horrid by Eddie, Marco decides to challenge Eddies masculinity, and bring him back raven to earth with a bang. All Marco asked is can you lift this chair? It sounds like a pretty easy affair to do. When Eddie went consume on his knees to pick it up, he fails. He tries again, and again fails. Then when Marco goes down to pick it up, he raises the chair everywhere his head. He raised the ch air as it was a weapon, and as a word of warning to Eddie. This shows us that Marco is looking after(prenominal)ward his close family, and wants to make sure that nix gets the better of them.This lift was more of a warning to Eddie not to mess with Rodolfo, than anything else in my opinion. He did this as his felt preferably a strong responsibility towards Rodolfo. This is a clear sign that Marco is looking for justice, and he isnt as quiet a character as Miller first portrays him. This is a clear similarity between Marco and Eddie, because both want to protect their families. Although mike does portray him as a regular bull, that shows that Marcos strength has been seen through out the community.Catherine is extremely important to the whole plot of the drama, because its because of her that the entire contention between Eddie and Rodolfo has erupted.At the beginning of the play we get the idea that Eddies extremely protective towards Catherine because he says I promised your m other in her deathbed. Im responsible for you. At this catamenia we get the idea that Eddies like any other caring uncle, but as the drama unfolds, we are made to think that Eddies is fair overly attached to Catherine. When Eddie learns that Rodolfo has extremely strong feelings towards Catherine, he quickly tries to length Catherine past from him, by saying that He dont keep an eye on you.This is a cry of a desperate man, its as if he doesnt want her to grow up, this is a very strong weakness of Eddies. We learn earlier on in the play that Eddie isnt a good husband, because Beatrice asks, When am I gonna be a wife again, Eddie? I think that Eddie is confused with the state of his blood with Catherine as shes ontogenesis up, and because of this its tenia him from completing his duties with Beatrice.When Rodolfo sing or dances with Catherine, the form Paper Doll is often used e.g. When Rodolfo tells Catherine to Dance the phonograph plays Paper Doll. In my opinion this is a very clever use of song because it describes the temper of Rodolfo, he like a intelligence information paper. First of all Rodolfo isnt extremely strong, nor is paper. One of the similarities between Marco and Eddies that theyre both very strong. Also you can read Rodolfos thoughts by looking at his represent, just as if youre reading a newspaper.One of the differences between Eddie and Marco is that Marco cares for his wife. In my opinion, to be a good man you must look after your wife. Where Eddie forgets to do his duties in bed, Marco sends some of the m cardinaly he haswon back to his family in Italy, so they can have a better life. As Ive said, both men want to look after their families, but both do this is different ways. Marco is prepared to leave his family to earn money, whereas Eddie hangs on to his family too tight in my opinion.One of the turning points is the drama, is when Eddie goes around kissing everybody. When Eddie sees Rodolfo and Catherine together, Eddie su ddenly, draws her to him, and as she strives to free herself he kisses her on the lips. This is Eddie acquiring what he wants, that is Catherine, because we know that Eddie doesnt want Beatrice. Although Eddie gets Catherine in a very venomous way, it shows his dominance in the house. Not just content with this, Eddie pins (Rodolfos) arms, laughing, and suddenly kisses him. This is a rather odd gesture, because many times during the play Eddie describes Rodolfo as The guy aint right. He uses it many times either because he feels that this is true, or even because he is trying to convince himself that this is right. This kiss doesnt follow with Eddies behaviour during the pillow of the play, because by kissing him, he brings himself down to the same(p) masculinity as gays.During the end we learn a lot about the characters real thoughts and feelings, and what sort of men they really are.There is a lot of handling during the play, asking is Rodolfo just looking after himself, by wa nting to marry an American. This is propel more into doubt when Catherine asks him telling him judge I wanted to live in Italy. At first he tries to have-to doe with away the idea by replying evermore? At this point you start to believe that hes a self-seeking little Italian that just wants to be an American. But then he goes on and says that theres nothingI would be a criminal thievery your hardiness. This tells us that hes as caring as Marco, he only wants the best for Catherine, and that all of Eddies doubts seem wrong.As the plot unfolds, Eddies masculinity seems to grow weaker and weaker. He has finally cracked when he wants to report something. misbranded immigrants. Two of them. This shows us that Eddie has finally foregone forthe big one. He isnt profuse of a man to throw Rodolpho and Marco on to the street he phones to get others to do his dirty work. This is a sign of a coward. Although he thinks its the right thing to do, because he is protecting Catherine.After two officials catch the illegal immigrants, Marco suddenly breaks from the assembly and dashes into the room and faces Eddie. This shows us that Marco is a growing threat during this play. Hes becoming more and more important as the plot unfolds. By standing up to Eddie it shows that hes ready to match him. But instead of attacking him verbally or physically, he spits into Eddies face. This is the point where Eddie loses all his arrogance and manliness. The Italian community in Brooklyn is extremely close together, and they watch out for each other, and having one of their own betraying them is a sin, so Eddie testament be looked down at now by the rest of the community.Not even Louis, one of Eddies close friends turn around to look at him when Eddie shouts, Louis Louis Even Catherine his own niece says that he bites people when they cessation This shows us now that nobody pull up stakes ever be able to trust him again, not even his own family. Just to rub the salt into the wo und, Marco shouts, That one He killed my children That one stole the food from my children This shows that the relationship between Eddie and Marco has hit an all time low. This also throws away the scraps of gravitas that Eddie had left. It also enhances the fact that Marco is a loving father, whos desperate to help his family back in Italy.In the very polish scene, we start by seeing Catherine one again stealing his manliness away from him, by saying that hes a rat He belongs in the sewers This shows us by now, not even his closest family can bear to be close to him after the unforgivable sin that hes done. Only one character keeps faith in Eddie, and thats Beatrice. She ironically stands by him all the time.But when Eddie sees Marco, he loses his mind, and starts to attack him verbally and physically. Eddie is cover to the fact that he is wrong, he isnt enough of a man to face up to the fact, so he Marco to tell the peoplethat what a liar you are This shows that Eddie is conf ident that he can have one successful blow at Marco, but he is wrong. Marco attacks back by calling Eddie an Animal You go on your knees to me And he does this twice. This is one of the worst insults that a man in that time could call another. It shows us that Eddie is below the level of dignity shown by human beings, and is down there in the dumps, and by going on his knees shows that hes at the same level as animals.Then both of them get ready to fight. Eddie at this point has nothing to lose, so he takes out a knife and at this point and Louis (Eddies friend) halts and steps back from trying to stop the fight. This shows the power and status Eddie has just won by cheating. But in the end, Eddie had no chance of beating Marco, repayable to his strength. Marco managed to turn the blade around and stabbed Eddie. Eddie died, as a cheat, but he regains some dignity as he dies in Beatrices arms. This shows although all the horrid remarks and actions Eddie has made, Beatrice is there u ntil the very end. Marcos manliness during the play just grows and grows until this climax.Without a doubt, Miller has many different views on masculinity. You have Eddie and Marco, who are two extremely strong men, and you have Rodolfo, who is extremely keen on more feminine activates. In my opinion, there isnt a lot of difference between these. All three are men in their different ways, but one thing in my view is a must is celebrate. And Eddie had lost it, all of it by the end. He used to be the king of the household before Marco and Rodolfo came along, and during that time, he was losing his respect due to the treatment he gave them, an caseful of this is when Eddie phoned the immigration office. In my opinion, Eddie knew he was losing respect from Beatrice because he demanded her I want my respect, Beatrice. This shows us that he worries what people think of him.