AVFTB Themes

AVFTB Themes

1. Family

   • Italian Americans put Family first
     • They look after and protect their families, even when it was illegal
     • Family was the most important part of most Italian Americans' lives
   • The Carbones are a typical Italian American family
     • Tradition family with traditional values
       • Eddie is the head of the family (patriarchy)
         • Hard-working, respected and protective of his niece
       • Beatrice is a housewife
         • Stays at home
           • Cooks and cleans
         • Always putting her family before herself and fussing about how the hose looks
       • Catherine is like a daughter to the couple
         • She's obedient and eager to please
         • Listens to Beatrice and Eddie's advice and tries to please her parents
   • The Family's problems get worse as the play progresses
     • Already tensions at the start of the play. Beatrice is tired of Eddie's possessiveness of Catherine
       • Beatrice tries to make them less of a family, reminding Eddie that Catherine is 'no baby no more' and telling Catherine that Eddie isn't her father
         • Open conflict breaks out in the family after Catherine and Rodolpho start dating. Eddie's behaviour pushes Catherine away, and she's eventually forced to choose Rodolpho over her uncle.
           • Eddie's call to Immigration is the last straw. The family bonds are broken and Catherine calls him a 'rat'
             • But , Beatrice stays loyal to Eddie throughout the play and when Eddie is stabbed - neither of them have really stopped caring for him

2. Masculinity and Homosexuality

   • The men have traditional beliefs about masulinity
     • Both Eddie and Marco are hard-working family men.
       • Open conflict breaks out in the family after Catherine and Rodolpho start dating. Eddie's behaviour pushes Catherine away, and she's eventually forced to choose Rodolpho over her uncle.
     • Eddie, along with others, think Rodolpho is strange
       • Because he isn't manly
         • Blonde
         • Talkative
         • Sings
         • Sews
         • Cooks
       • Eddie thinks Rodolpho might be gay because he looks and behaves in a away that was traditionally considered feminine
   • Eddie's kiss with Rodolpho is ambiguous
     • Very significant
       • Eddie is trying to show Catherine that Rodolpho is gay
       • He's trying to impress Catherine by showing her he's the dominant male
       • He's trying to take back Catherine's virginity from Rodolpho by kissing the man who kissed her