With Close Reference to the Play ‘ View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller , Show How the Relationship Between Eddie and Catherine and Other Members of the Household Change.

With Close Reference to the Play ‘ View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller , Show How the Relationship Between Eddie and Catherine and Other Members of the Household Change.

  • Submitted By: funmi
  • Date Submitted: 01/04/2009 10:01 AM
  • Category: English
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English Literature Coursework

With Close Reference to The Play ‘A View From The Bridge ‘ By Arthur Miller , Show How The Relationship Between Eddie And Catherine And Other Members Of The Household Change.

‘A View from the Bridge ‘is a play that uses controversial topics such as incest and immigration to illustrate the depth of insanity that uncontrolled feelings can take a man to. The relationship between Eddie a longshore man and Catherine his niece is the main focus of the play. Eddie’s relationships with other characters in the play are simply in place, to put emphasis on, or show the extent of Eddie’s worsening, irrational behaviour.
A lot can be learnt from the first scene about the type of relationship that Catherine and Eddie share, such as the closeness and comfort that they appear to have around each other. They do not have what could be described as a normal uncle and niece relationship .However this is understandable as Catherine is an orphan and Eddie is the closest thing that she has to a father.
Act 1 begins with Eddie returning home from work. Immediately, he draws attention to Catherine’s new hairstyle and clothing, illustrating how observant he is of her. Catherine appears to be seeking his approval or opinion on her new look. She asks him whether he likes her look three times, forcing him to compliment her three times. He says ‘Yeah it’s nice’, ‘Beautiful’ and ‘you look like one of them girls that went to college’. These quotations demonstrate just how comfortable and attentive Eddie and Catherine are with each other and also how Catherine values Eddie’s opinion.
However, as the scene progresses the audience begins to witness another side of Eddie, when he mentions the length of Catherine’s skirt;

‘I think it’s too short ain’t it?’

Eddie phrases this as a question so he doesn’t come across too harshly. But this seems rather odd as only a few moments ago he was praising her...

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