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A view from the bridge

Discuss Eddie as a Greek tragic hero in Arthur

Millers A View from the Bridge

In this essay I shall be discussing the classic Greek tragedy A View from the Bridge

by Arthur Miller. The lay was written in the !"#$%s and tells a narrati&e of a Greek

tragic hero known as 'ddie (arbone. 'ddie is a resected )icilian longshoreman

working on the *ew+ork docks with an unearthly desire for his wife%s niece

(atherine. (atherine is a caring innocent teen who is influenced by her uncle and

father figure 'ddie. Throughout the lay we as the readers notice a great

transformation within 'ddie from an insiration, lo&ing husband and resected father

figure to an obsessi&e neurotic rat. It all goes wrong when 'ddie disco&ers that his

wife%s cousins, Marco and -odolfo, come to seek refuge as illegal immigrants from

)icily. Trouble truly stirs when (atherine becomes attracted to the younger of the two-odolfo. -odolfo is known as the attracti&e, humorous cousin with a slightly

feminine mind and makes an immediate imression on (atherine as soon as he

arri&es. At this oint of the lot 'ddie realises that he has lost his tight hold on

(atherine and is immediately filled with rage and ealousy and subse/uently attemts

to do what e&er he can to kee -odolfo and (atherine aart which Marco the oldest of

the two cousins will not stand for. Marco is the stronger one of the two and is rational

and has a strong sense of ustice this hels him be a better family man and more

rotecti&e of his brother -odolfo.

The chorus of the lay is a wise man known as Alfieri, a figure of law. Alfieri haens

to be the indi&idual that e&erybody goes to in order to seek ad&ice,. Alfieri%s rologuesuggests that 'ddie should settle for half and that although this may make him

unhay and ultimately lead to his downfall. As the lay rogresses 'ddie transforms

into an irrational character whose eyes were like tunnels this metahor shows that

he is only able to see things from his oint of &iew and is unwilling to listen to

oinions of others. At the beginning of the lay 'ddie has a ositi&e and amiable

ersonality causing his &iewers and readers to like him but unfortunately as the lay

goes on 'ddie%s feelings get the best of him and he makes such mistakes as, getting

drunk and kissing (atherine on the lis. 0owe&er moments later he kisses (atherine%s

fianc1 on the lis, 'ddie ins his arms laughing and suddenly kisses him this shocks

the audience and causes us to lose resect for him.

As act one draws close to an end, tension is built between 'ddie and Beatrice as well

as (atherine and Beatrice. (atherine lights 'ddie%s cigar which highlights hallic

symbolism. It is something a wife would con&eniently do for a husband yet, in thiscase it is his niece that manages to e2cite him. The tension built between 'ddie and

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Beatrice is most aarent when Beatrice asks her husband when am I gonna be the

wife again, 'ddie has told her a wife should belie&e a husband. +et she and the

audience are aware that 'ddie is taking his feelings to far.

As the lay goes on something that 'ddie, the masculine man is unable to comete

with. 'ddie dislikes him e&en more now because he can not comete with hisfemininity. 3hen 'ddie seaks to Alfieri he refers to -odolfo as the blonde guy,

latinum this is symbolic of the 4anish in&asion hence -odolfo is the blond 4ane

who in&ades 'ddies society. This is the first time he hints that -odolfo and Marco are

illegal and can only see things from his oint of &iew eyes like tunnels. At one oint

of the lay 'ddie attemts to teach -odolfo how to bo2. 0e does this in attemt to

show (atherine that -odolfo is not as feminine and is therefore and is not a genuine

man like himself. )uddenly 'ddie hits -odolfo in the mouth and makes him bleed. At

this oint Marco rises out of his chair. This is a sign of that he is &ery rotecti&e of his

younger brother, and attemts to mock 'ddie by challenging his strength by asking

him to lift a chair abo&e his head.

The chair is symbolic of Marco finally disco&ering the truth about eddies feelings.Therefore in conclusion 'ddie is a con&entional Greek tragic hero as his ersonality

transforms from a noble man to one who causes his own downfall.