A View from the Bridge

A View from the Bridge

1. Characters

   • Eddie
     • Initially nice person at the start of the play. He has strong sense of honor and pride in the community. He gradually has an incestuous desire towards to Catherine. He is also fixated on Rodolfo's sexuality to repel Catherine from him, but then fails himself as he kisses Rodolfo himself. He then loses respect as he snitches to the Immigration Bureau and gets killed by himself.
   • Catherine
     • She looks at Eddie as a fatherly figure, but then she is reaching adulthood. Eddie still tries to keep her as a child; she successfully lands a job and has romantic interest towards Rodolfo. She shows the growth of independence.
       • walkin wavy
       • rat
   • Beatrice
     • Suspicious of Eddie's feelings towards Catherine and encourages Catherine to be independent. She tries to encourage Rodolfo to be with Catherine, but she still loves Eddie.
       • My B
   • Rodolfo
     • Paper Doll
     • He sings, dances, cooks, sews; Eddie is suspecting him of being homosexual. He falls in love with Catherine and Eddie suspects him of wanting an American citizen.
     • just a kid
   • Marco
     • He is hard-working and is masculine. When Eddie reports him to the Immigration Bureau, he spits on Eddie's face and accuses him of betrayal. He has a strong sense of justice and personal honor. Marco makes Eddie stab himself.
   • Alfieri
     • Italian-American. He is the narrator of the play. He goes against Eddie's opinions of Catherine and Rodolfo. Through Alfieri’s advice about the extent and limitations of the law, we see that what is legal is not always what is just, and what is illegal is not always what is unjust.

2. Theme

   • Tragedy
   • Immigration
     • Immigrants are misunderstood and picked on. It is the land of opportunity, this isnt always a good thing they have to live in fear and hide. They miss their home. The gradual assimilation to the new home.
   • honor reputation respect
     • Eddie has a lack of reputation in the play. He is respected by family and has a sense of personal honor. But tragedy loses his repect as he is constantly worrying about being disrepected. He is infuriated when Marco spits on him and this happened in public. The need to prove himself right again
   • love
     • main plot driver. Catherine and Rodolfo and Eddie's intense love for Catherine. Desires doesnt fit in traditional love. Eddie is overprotective and has incestuous desires. He might also have repressed desires, after kissing Catherine, he kisses Rodolfo. He claims Rodolfo is homosexual so his motivations are unpredictable. He is obsessed with proving Rodolfo ain't right
   • Justice
     • Alfieri guides audience through the events of the play as a lawyer, showing that law and justice has an importance in the play. We as readers question whether law is right. The law fails to match with justice. Having illegal immigrants questions the justness of having American work hope. Eddie has his own sense of justice. He behaves legally by calling the immigration bureau but he is betraying his family, not having justice.Marco choose justice over law by killing eddie. Alfieri shows inability of law to stop tragic events.
   • Independence
     • Catherine goes from childhood to adulthood. Eddie tries to keep her under control. But Beatrice helps her mature. Eddie also thinks Rodolfo is a kid. But later on in the play, we can question whether she has really reached adulthood or not since she still cares for eddie. She asserts independence cause Beatrice told her to, ironic! Moving away from Eddie = Rodolfo controls her now. And since it's 1950's

3. Symbols