Miller is famous for writing plays in the style of Greek tragedies. However, unlike Greek tragedy, Miller’s plays examine the lives of the ‘common man’.
Background of A View From The Bridge
A View From The Bridge premiered on Broadway in September, 1955. The original version is very dissimilar to the popular rendering. Miller originally wrote the play in verse, and it only consisted of one act.
The original play was not successful. So, in 1956, Miller revised the play for a London production. He re-wrote the dialogue into the more generally accepted form of prose. In addition, he re-structured the play to a two-act format, which allowed for a more substantial role for Beatrice and Catherine.
Synopsis of The Play
A View From The Bridge tells the story of immigrant workers living and working in Brooklyn. The neighbourhood is a tight-knit community. Many of the residents are in the U.S illegally; therefore they are unable to approach the police and so have their own laws and codes of conduct.
Eddie Carbone lives with his wife Beatrice and orphaned niece, Catherine. Eddie’s feelings towards Catherine develop as the play progresses, eventually his possessiveness becomes an obsession.
Rodolpho and Marco have entered the country illegally, and Catherine instantly falls for the charming and handsome Rodolpho.
When Catherine announces that she intends to marry Rodolpho, Eddie’s jealousy drives him to behave in ways he never imagined possible.
Sources of The Play
Miller was inspired to write the play after he had been working on a screenplay called The Hook with Elia Kazan. The script was eventually withdrawn as studios claimed it was un-American. However, the themes of The Hook are used in both Kazan’s On The Waterfront and Miller’s A View From The Bridge.
Miller stated that the play was based on a story told to him by a Brooklyn dockworker, who claimed the story was true.
Theatrical Techniques
The new two-act structure allowed Miller to mark a division in Eddie’s story. The first act consists of Eddie’s attempts to prevent Catherine from falling in love with Rodolpho. Eddie discovers in the second act that his attempts have been in vain. He then tries to dispose of Rodolpho.
In his portrayal of Italian and Sicilian immigrants, Miller is able to use language to his advantage. Each character has a different level of articulacy, with Alfieri as the only educated English speaker. It is therefore Alfieri who is able to define the action of the play to the audience.
Eddie’s language is more basic. He speaks in Brooklyn slang, which appears to be more realistic than perhaps Rodolpho or Alfieri. However, it also shows Eddie’s inability to express himself in words.
Romantic interest, Rodolpho, has a very precise speech pattern and he is prone to poetic phrases. His descriptive language is very seductive, so it easy to see why Catherine falls for him.
Miller uses stage directions prolifically throughout A View From The Bridge, this is often to reveal the symbolism of the play to the actors and director. For example, it could be said that the community is a microcosm of the world, which could explain the play’s title. There is also symbolism in the fact that Eddie is killed essentially by his own hand, this suggests his self-destructive path which renders his death inevitable.
Adaptations
A View From The Bridge has been successfully revived on numerous occasions. In 1998, Michael Mayer’s production won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Revival. The play was also adapted for the big screen in Sidney Lumet’s film Vu Du Pont.
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