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A View from the Bridge

Arthur Miller

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Mar 13, 2009 Lynne rated it liked it

This play is my second dip into Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman was naturally the first), and in both plays he has a wonderful way of melding the structure of a Greek play with the "everyman" in a modern-day setting. Alfieri, an attorney, is the narrator of this play and takes on the role of the Greek chorus, explaining to the audience/reader what is happening and giving a voice to moral and social mores of the time. And in true classic form, Alfieri ends the play by giving us a bit of advice This play is my second dip into Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman was naturally the first), and in both plays he has a wonderful way of melding the structure of a Greek play with the "everyman" in a modern-day setting. Alfieri, an attorney, is the narrator of this play and takes on the role of the Greek chorus, explaining to the audience/reader what is happening and giving a voice to moral and social mores of the time. And in true classic form, Alfieri ends the play by giving us a bit of advice. (I partially disagree with this advice, but that's for another day.) I believe that this is where the title stems from: Alfieri has the view from the bridge; he takes the position of God in looking down on the action taking place. He is detached and, as narrator, invites us to take on that view of the action as well.

The main character, Eddie Carbone, is cast in the mold of the tragic hero. He is certainly no king or general, but he is portrayed as a man no one could dislike; he's hard working, good to his family, and charitable. However, like the tragic heroes of the ancient Greeks and those carried forward by Shakespeare, Eddie does have a fatal flaw; he carries within him the potential for self destruction. (I don't consider that a spoiler. It's Arthur Miller, for god's sake! Of course everything is not going to be sweetness and light.)

Inspired by the true story of a dockworker who informed on two illegal immigrants, this play's theme, at base, is one of discovery. This is demonstrated not just in the content but also in the form of the play itself. Like my man Chekhov, Miller tells his story and lets the readers or audience members decide--or discover--which characters deserve sympathy. Though Eddie is the tragic hero of the story, it is up to us to judge him; Miller doesn't tell us how we should feel. Also like Chekhov, Miller's method for accomplishing this is through understatement; he leaves it up to us to discover certain personality traits. He does this by merely giving us only a peek into particular actions rather than showing us the actual scene. In one particular instance, we aren't privy to seeing Eddie manhandle Rodolpho; we merely see the characters allude to it later when Eddie first talks to his wife, Beatrice, about it, and then later discusses it with Alfieri. This forces the audience to draw their own conclusions about what happened, to discover events right along with the other characters.

Finally, is it just me, or does Miller's sense of desperation bring to mind this little gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM_v3V...

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