Miller, Arthur Questions & Answers

The play focuses on the demise of a common working-class man,

Eddie Carbone. Where does the tragedy take place?
Answer: Red Hook
Eddie lives with his wife, Beatrice, and his niece, Catherine in Red Hook - an
Italian-American slum in Brooklyn.

What is the bridge of the title?

Answer: Brooklyn Bridge
The play is set in a slum in New York, which 'faces the bay on the seaward
side of Brooklyn'.
In which state is "A View From the Bridge" set?
Answer: New York
The whole play is set in Brooklyn, New York City. This is the city where
all the main events happen that eventually lead to the climax.
Eddie agrees to shelter Beatrice's cousins, who enter the country as
illegal immigrants. What are their names?
Answer: Marco and Rodolfo
They are both immigrants from Sicily, trying to find work in America.
Marco has a wife and three children, whom he left in Sicily, and he
sends all he earns back to his wife to support them.
What is the slum where the characters live called?
Answer: Red Hook
Yes, it's in a borough in New York- 'The gullet of New York swallowing
the tonnage of the world'.

Where are Marco and Rodolpho from?

Answer: Italy
Marco and Rodolpho both come from Sicily, Italy. They arrive illegally in
America to work for their family. They seek refuge at Eddie Carbone's
house. Marco has solely come to America for the purpose of providing
for his family whereas Rodolpho has come to be an American citizen.
At the beginning of the play, Catherine tells Eddie that she has been
offered a job working at a plumbing company in Nostrand Avenue. What
is the job?
Answer: Stenographer
Eddie reacts badly to this, and doesn't want to let Catherine take the job
as he is very protective of her.
What does Alfieri say is very important in the slum?
Answer: Justice
Alfieri's idea of justice is law, however Rodolpho argues that 'All the law
is not in a book'. At the end of the play, Alfieri is forced to reconsider
what is just and what isn't and the play raises a lot of questions about
law and justice.
What is Alfieri's job?
Answer: Lawyer
Alfieri is a lawyer who counsels Eddie throughout the play. He is a
commentator, a narrator and a character in the play. He is the second
protagonist because he also works alongside Eddie to lead to the final
events of the play. He watches all of the action from Brooklyn Bridge as
indicated in the title.
Changing the subject from Catherine's job, Eddie starts to talk about his
work as a longshoreman instead. What did he mention he was unloading
from ships earlier that day?
Answer: Coffee
Eddie works on the docks in Red Hook unloading ships with Louis and
Mike.

Which character does Eddie have an inappropriate love for?

Answer: Catherine
Catherine is his seventeen-year-old niece. It is never said outright but it
is strongly hinted at, the evidence of which becomes apparent when
Eddie comes home drunk one night. Alfieri is the lawyer, Rodolpho is an
illegal immigrant and Beatrice is Eddie's wife.
Who is Catherine in love with?
Answer: Rodolpho
Catherine falls for Rodolpho as soon as he arrives. Rodolpho has the
same feelings for Catherine. He demonstrates this when he sings
'Paper Doll', at which Eddie gets angry due to its lyrics.
Alfieri is the choral figure in the play - he can comment on the action and
address the audience but is powerless to prevent Eddie's tragedy. What
is his occupation?
Answer: Lawyer
Alfieri's role as a lawyer allows him to view both sides of the Brooklyn
Bridge - although he is of Italian-American descent, and a part of the
Red Hook community, his job allows him access to the capitalist world
on the other side of the bridge.
Who narrates the play?
Answer: Alfieri
Alfieri is the lawyer who Eddie goes to see in order to stop his niece
getting married to Rodolpho, who Eddie believes is marrying her for an
American work permit.
Why does Eddie kiss Rodolpho?
Answer: to show that Rodolpho really is homosexual
Eddie arrives home drunk with five bottles of wine. He sees Catherine
come out of the bedroom adjusting her skirt just when Rodolpho
appears right behind her. The audience and mainly Eddie believe that
they have just returned from the bedroom after having sexual
intercourse. Eddie realises this and tells Rodolpho to pack his bags and
get out. He then kisses Catherine and Rodolpho. The double kiss is very

shocking to the audience and to Beatrice who later finds out from
Catherine.
What does Alfieri advise Eddie to do about preventing his niece from
marrying Rodolpho?
Answer: To let her go
Afieri tells him to 'Let her go and bless her'. It is Eddie's inability to do
this that results in the tragic ending of the play.
How long do Marco and Rodolpho stay at Eddie's house?
Answer: six months
Both brothers stay in New York for six months until they get captured
and taken to Alfieri by the Immigration Bureau Officers. Eddie betrays
them by calling the Immigration Officers right after he gets advice from
Alfieri about Catherine who tells him to 'put it out of your mind'. This
goes back on his word which he tells Beatrice at the beginning before
the cousins arrive: "It's an honour, B. I mean it".
Who is Rodolpho's brother?
Answer: Marco
They are both illegal Italian immigrants. Marco has come to get money
for his family back in Italy. Both men are Beatrice's cousins.
Eddie thinks Rodolfo is a 'punk' for several reasons, one of them being
that he can sing. What is the name of the song that Rodolfo sings on his
first night in Red Hook?
Answer: Paper Doll
Rodolfo also makes dresses, and Eddie believes that these qualities are
feminine and prove that Rodolfo is gay.
Who dies at the end of the play?
Answer: Eddie
Eddie tries to stab Marco but Marco twists the knife and thrusts it into
Eddie. Eddie dies in his wife's arms.

What does Catherine call Eddie on her wedding day when he forces
Beatrice not to go?
Answer: a rat
Beatrice is ready for Catherine and Rodolpho's wedding when Eddie
tells her not to go. Beatrice says that she is going for her sister and
Eddie tells her, "Now if that's more to you than I am, then go. But don't
come back". Catherine then enters the room in her wedding gown and
gets angry at Eddie. "How can you listen to him? This rat! He belongs in
the sewer! He bites people when they sleep! He comes when nobody's
lookin' and poisons decent people. In the garbage he belongs!"
Eddie finds it difficult to understand that there is nothing illegal about
Catherine marrying Rodolfo. What action does this lead him to take
against Rodolfo and his brother, Marco?
Answer: Turns them in to the Immigration Bureau
Eddie reports them and the Carbone apartment is searched. Marco and
Rodolfo are publicly arrested, and Eddie loses all the respect he had in
the Red Hook community as he has turned his back on one of their
beliefs.
What does Rodolpho want to buy when he earns enough money?
Answer: A motorbike
Rodolpho would like a motorbike. He plans to marry Catherine and
insists that they
stay in America after the two marry.
How does Eddie die?
Answer: he is stabbed during a struggle
Just when Marco calls Eddie an 'animal', Eddie gets out a knife and
aims at Marco. They both fight for the knife and Marco turns the blade
inward towards Eddie while it is in his hand and using pressure stabs
him. He dies in Beatrice's arms.

Eddie is killed with a knife following a confrontation in his apartment.

Who kills him?
Answer: Marco
Eddie raised a knife towards Marco and Louis, however Marco
managed to twist the knife and it was Eddie who was killed. He died in
the arms of his wife, Beatrice, and surrounded by his friends and family
within the community.
What talent does Rodolpho have that makes Eddie suspicious of him?
Answer: He can make dresses
Eddie thinks Rodolpho is homosexual, as he can also sing very well and
can cook. This is down to his jealousy because of his feelings for
Catherine.
What item does Eddie tell Catherine to change when Marco and
Rodolpho arrive at their house?
Answer: high heels
As soon as Marco and Rodolpho arrive at Eddie's house, Catherine is
seen wearing high heels in order to impress Rodolpho. When Eddie
asks her why she is wearing the high heels she replies, " I just figured
for tonight" trying to make Eddie realise she was wearing the high heels
for the occasion, when instead she was wearing them for Rodolpho.
Eddie realises this and immediately tells Catherine to change them.

What did Eddie hear about oranges?

Eddie heard that the oranges were painted orange.

Eddie: Yeah, I know. Its funny. (To Marco.) I heard that they
paint the oranges to make them look orange

What do we learn of the relationship between

Eddie and Beatrice?
The relationship is strained. Eddie ignores Beatrice both emotionally and
sexually. She knows that he lusts after his niece Catherine.

what is the relationship between eddie and

catherine
Eddie is Catherine's guardian, although he most certainly has a romantic
interest in her. Unfortunately, Eddie won't admit his feelings for the girl and
is driven to a jealous rage.

what does eddie do, after alfieri tells him to let

catherine marry rodolpho?
Eddie calls the Immigration Bureau to report Marco and Rodolpho as
illegals.

what does alfieri make marco promise , before

bailing him out?
Alfieri makes Marco to promise that hell not take revenge on Eddie so that
they can be bailed out.

why does eddie say that the waterfront is no

place for rodolpho? what does he think he
should do instead?
Rodolpho embarrasses Eddie because all he does on the waterfront is
sing, and that the workers have taken to calling him "Canary." Eddie says
that Rodolpho should work in a dress store or as a cook.
He says that Rodolpho is like a "chorus girl."

what has rodolpho done to offend eddie?

Rodolpho dared to date Catherine.

what are 4 qualities ( charactristics ) of eddie?

and what are 4 quotes prove these 4 qualities?
self absorbed
-he lives in a vivid fantasy world (ex. calls immigration in a very heavily
populated immigrant Italian community and thinks it is fine or he imagines
"protecting" Catherine from male suiters and taking her for himself.Oh,
Catherine happens to be his niece.)
-Looks out for himself even above family.
-Longs for intimacy but doesn't understand how unnatural his longings are.
It would take me a long time to dig up quotes but here are a few,
Eddie: "Katie you are walkin' wavy! I don't like the looks they're givin you
The heads are turnin' like windmills." (Eddie likes his niece a little too
much!)
In the Stage Direction Eddie pins [Rodolpho's] arms, laughing, and
suddenly kisses him. Eddie is attracted to Rudolph in his crazy private
world?
Eddie: "And then you'll move away. That's life. And you'll come visit on
Sundays, then once a month, then Christmas and New Year's, finally."
(Eddie is sooo self absorbed, it's all about him!

how does catherine react to rodolpho? how does

eddie respond to this?

Catherine is smitten, and Eddie isn't happy. He doesn't want her ending up
with what he considers to be a man who acts like a blonde canary.

Long Questions
How does Arthur Miller present the ideas of manliness, hostility and aggression in Act One of A
View from the Bridge?

Eddie, Marco and Rodolpho each exhibit distinctly different types of

masculinity in this play.
Eddie is presented as an emotional (over-emotional perhaps) patriarch. He
makes commands in his household, which he expects to be obeyed. He
proclaims his views openly and acts protectively (over-protectively).
Rodolpho is less traditionally masculine and seemingly unconcerned with
appearances regarding his ruggedness or lack thereof. He sings, sews and
cooks. His masculinity is of a foreign type. This difference causes some
problems for Rodolpho.
[Rodolpho] has difficulties at work with the other longshoremen because he is
too effeminate...

Marco's silence, his warning demonstration of strength, and his code of

behavior present him as an Old World figure. The silent and polite Marco
shows himself to be prepared to defend his family if that should be necessary.
Marco then proceeds not only to lift the chair but also to raise it over his head,
revealing himself as a hidden threat.
His masculinity is of an almost ancient type.
Though Eddie is the only truly hostile character in the play in his treatment of
Rodolpho and Catherine, it is Marco who best shows the idea of aggression.
Eddie is mostly content with threats and violent language, whereas Marco is

beholden to a code that binds him to violent action when crossed. This trait is,
however, latent in the first act of the play.
Eddie's hostility toward Rodolpho is demonstrated repeatedly in his
discussions with Beatrice and Catherine, as well as his discussions with
Alfieri. Though Eddie has agreed to house Beatrice's cousins, he is thoroughly
unable to be hospitable because of his jealous feelings for Catherine.

In A View from the Bridge, what are the themes that run through Eddie Carbone?

Eddie Carbone is deeply conflicted and confused. He is unable to be honest

about his feelings for his niece, though others can see clearly that Eddie's
fatherly affections for Catherine have at some point morphed into a romantic
and jealous love.
...Eddie has unarticulated and perhaps unconscious desires to possess
Catherine himself.
Beatrice attempts to persuade Eddie to let go of Catherine early on, but
cannot directly confront Eddie with her views of the situation. This oppression
of the clear truth is a theme of the play. Open secrets are at the heart of this
play's dramatic conflict.
Eddie's love for Catherine is clear yet remains undisclosed and un-discussed.
This is paralleled by Marco and Rodolpho living in the neighborhood as illegal
immigrants. Everyone knows that the two are illegally working, but nothing is
ever said openly in public about it.
Another theme expressed through Eddie (and Marco) relates to a certain
tortured confusion of the role of the protector. Eddie and Marco are both
patriarchs who feel they must protect their families. For Eddie, this protective
urge becomes a misplaced romantic affection. Eddie unwittingly merges his
role as caretaker and lover, an emotional act that causes him to be jealous of
Rodolpho's interest in Catherine.
Later, Marco finds himself called upon to protect Rodolpho in a way that
confuses protection with revenge. This confusion of the protective urge leads
to violence at almost every turn in the play. Propelled by what they feel is an
emotional necessity, Eddie and Marco both demonstrate the ways in which

role and identity can be as unconscious as they are conscious, leading to out
of control behavior.
When deeply felt passions are in play and out of control, horrible things will
emerge.
This is not merely a case of masculinity gone awry. Eddie and Marco are
driven by the cultures they have internalized. The two men express a conflict
that is much larger than two individuals.
Discuss the function of Alfieri in A View from the Bridge.

After Eddie, Alfieriis the most important character in the play. His role is similar
to that of the chorus of the Greek tragedies as he narrates, comments, and
sometimes participates in the play. Although he is wise but he was unable to
prevent Eddie's Betrayal to his family. He had said so,"being an intelligent
man, he was so powerless to stop the tragedy". He is the first who opens the
play by discussing how law is important in America. In Italy, there was no law
to protect them therefore they took their revenge with there own hands.
Alfiere is a good lawyer as well as a rational judge of people. And
professionaly detached himself (Emotionally as his family had advised him),
and views situations from the bridge. He advises Eddie many times to settle
for half and let Catherine go, all Eddie can do is "bless her".
He gives details on time, date, and place thus filling gaps between scenes. He
skillfully weaves his opinions while throwing in a description on characters. It
is obvious that he knows Eddie from before as he "presented his father in an
accident case some years before" thus having some acquaintance with the
family.
Alfieri is the voice of reason as he warned Eddie that he better settle for half
or he wouldn't have a friend in the world. He is Arthur Millers Mouthpiece
therfore he makes us understand, Condemn, Admire and Forgive Eddie on
what he had put himself into due to his oversexuality that he had no control
over
How does Arthur Miller create tragedy in A View From the Bridge?

One of the ways in which Miller creates tragedy in this play is through the
conflict between the self and the community. Throughout the play, Miller

makes it clear that there is a difference of will that is occurring: the will of
Eddie Carbone and his own individual desires and then the will of the
community, that requires its members to act in a certain way to sustain the
interests of that community, and sharply censures anyone who does not act in
this way. Tragedy is created through Eddie's actions in disregarding the
community and pursuing his own desires in conflict with the interests of the
community. Note how Alfieri reflects on Eddie's tragedy at the end of the play:
Most of the time we settle for half and I like it better. Even as I know how
wrong he was, and his death useless, I tremble, for I confess that something
perversely pure calls to me from his memorynot purely good, but himself
purely And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be! And so I mourn himI
admit itwith a certain alarm.
What is interesting about this quote is the way that Alfieri refers to the tragedy
of Eddie as something that both challenges and inspires him. Alfieri
recognises that there has to be give and take in this conflict between the
individual and the community, and that this "half" is the best thing to settle for.
Yet, what Eddie did was to be himself and be "perversely pure," which ended
in his death because of the way he defied the community. Even though Alfieri
thinks this is dangerous, the oxymoron in "perversely pure" shows the
attraction he finds in Eddie's example, in refusing to let oneself be inhibited by
the needs of the community. The tragedy is thus created in this play through
this conflict between the individual and the community and what happens
when one man acts for his own goals against the community.

What reaction might 'ordinary humans' with little knowledge of the immigrant communities have
towards A View from the Bridge?

There are many elements of this play unrelated to immigration. In fact, the
central drama is not directly related to the circumstances of Marco and
Rodolpho as illegal immigrants.
Rather, the central conflict of the play and its dramatic impact is drawn from
Eddie Carbone, his jealous and innappropriate feelings for his neice, and his

inability to understand himself. The rivalry between Eddie and Rodolpho

grows out of these elements.
Eddies desire for his niece is exacerbated by her growing affection for her
second cousin.

An audience will recognize this scenario as a universal one, without constraint

or contingency on the issue of immigration. This is a tragic scenario, wherein
family affections lead directly to role-based dramatic conflict and inevitable
confrontation.
The flawed father-figure brings suffering to his family and though his flaw
leads him to attempt to punish others and inflict harm, the greatest harm is
ultimately done to him. Eddie's inability to understand his feelings for his niece
and to control his passions prove to be his undoing.
Miller based this play, formally, on Greek tragedy, a medium meant to be
expressive of large and even universal themes. In his introduction to the play,
Miller writes at length about his interest in creating "social drama", a mode
defined by its aims for communicating ideas relevant to society as a whole.
[Miller] decided to create an American myth using many of the structural
devices found in the works of the Greek masters.
This intention speaks to the secondary nature of immigration in the play.
Additionally, we can read the immigration element as symbolic. The Italians,
Marco and Rodolpho, represent an "old world" that exists in a complicated
imbalance with the new world (both in contemporary theater and in American
values regarding otherness).
Audiences do not need to be versed in immigration history or politics to relate
to the conflicts and themes of the play, which attempts to be classic and
universal in its approach to drama.
In A View from the Bridge, explain Eddie's complexity and evolution throughout the play.How
can you explain Eddie's complexity

Eddie Carbone's complexity grows out of his lack of ability to see himself
clearly. Eddie has developed a romantic love for his niece.

Eddie has unarticulated and perhaps unconscious desires to possess

Catherine himself.
He does not fully recognize his feelings for what they are. Instead, Eddie
insists that he is protective of Catherine because that is his role. He has
raised her as a father. He refuses to admit that his love for Catherine is
something other than fatherly love.
Eddie's mercurial passions stem from the conflict created by his inappropriate
feelings for his niece. He cannot control these feelings. The fact that he is
incapable of admitting to these feelings creates much of the complexity in his
character.
Additionally, Eddie exists in a cultural situation that limits his ability to take
revenge against his rival, Rodolpho. The one course of action open to him is
reprehensible. Eddie cannot, morally, turn in his cousins to the immigration
office, though it is his only legal option if he is to avoid losing Catherine to
Rodolpho.
To report the two to the immigration office may be the legal recourse, but, as
Eddie knows, it is not the moral choice.
This lack of options but need to act leads to another complexity in Eddie. He is
generally a "good man", but he is carried away by his passions and his
weaker impulses. He violates the code of his community.

What are the literary devices used in A View from the Bridge?

A number of literary devices are employed by Miller in this play. The first and
most obvious literary device of the play is the use of a frame story.
The lawyer, Alfieri, opens the story with a monologue (this is another
repeatedly used literary device from the play. In a poetic speech, Alfieri
introduces the themes of the play, including the background themes and the
foreground themes.
In the background of this play stands a notion of the Old World meeting the
new. To some extent, the conflicts and tensions of the play grow out of this
meeting of two worlds (we might even say "collision" of two worlds).

Alfieri opens and closes the play with the same poetic refrain, repeating
certain phrases and reiterating directly the idea that this play is not only about
interpersonal conflict but also about a conflict of ages, so to speak.
These monologues function as a frame story, as Alfieri introduces the
protagonist in the opening monologue and makes a final comment in the
closing coda.
Alfieri serves as spokesperson for all as he delivers the final monologue,
bringing the tragic tale to a close.
Additionally, Alfieri functions as the chorus in this play, hearkening back to
Greek tradition.
Alfieri's repeated narration of events helps to control the way time passes in
the play, separating periods of time with his monologues. Functionally, these
narrative monologues replace scene breaks that would otherwise be used.
How does the audience' view of Eddie Carbone change from the beginning to the end of A View
from the Bridge?

s the play opens, Eddie is a sympathetic character. Though he remains

somewhat sympathetic to the very end, his behavior, his moral standing, and
his persona all suffer a fall. Eddie becomes more a vehicle for pathos than
sympathy.
When the audience is introduced to Eddie, he is a caring man taking care of
his family, willing to raise an adopted niece and to harbor two cousins who are
immigrating from Italy. These generous impulses quickly degenerate into
selfish impulses however, even in the opening scene as Eddie doles out
heavy-handed advice to Catherine.
Eddie's greedy and improper affections for Catherine become clear over the
course of the play, yet Eddie's attempts to find an acceptable way out of his
predicament suggest that he is still not a bad person.
Eddie visits Alfieri, the lawyer, seeking some legal protection for his family.
He wants to free himself of his conflict by finding a way to avoid it.

This weakness in his character eventually comes to dominate, rendering

Eddie a pathetic character in the eyes of the audience, powerless over his
own passions and impulses.
Ultimately, it is not Eddie's feelings for Catherine that will characterize the view
the audience holds of him. His morally low actions regarding Rodolpho (and
Marco) become the final comment.
In desperation, Eddie places the call to the immigration office, an act he soon
comes to regret.
This act effectively removes Eddie from a position allowing real or pure
sympathy from the audience and places him instead in a position of pathos.
The audience is sorry for him in the end, but would not imagine doing what
Eddie has done.