A view from the bridge Essay Example for Free

A view from the bridge Essay Upon hearing the story of Vinny Bolzano in the first scene of the play, we are immediately introduced to the aggression of Sicilian justice, and are given a glimpse of events that are to unfold. After Beatrice has told Catherine the story of Vinny Bolzano, Eddie exclaims On his own Uncle! , expressing disgust that anyone could possibly do such a thing to a relative under any circumstances. At this point in time it is totally out of Eddies character to go to the immigration authorities, at this time in the play he would not even think about it, but he is later driven to it by what he feels to be a personal tragedy on an epic scale. This tells us that when Eddie informs the authorities he knows exactly what effect this will have on him; he knows of his inevitable fate after word gets out. The Sicilian values of justice are totally separate and exempt from American law. In some ways it is more lenient; it does not condemn Marco for killing Eddie because of two things; firstly, Eddie reported him to the authorities, and secondly, he won in a fair duel. Nevertheless, as we see, its sentences are far harsher. Sicilian justice is not even a harsher version of American law. As we hear from Alfieri at the beginning of the play, in Sicily, from where there fathers came, the law hasnt been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten. It is totally separate and in direct opposition. Sicilian justice demands that Italian-Americans help immigrants and pay money for them. American law is exactly the opposite. Alfieri sums up the idea of justice in his opening lines, Oh, there were many here who were justly shot by unjust men. This shows the idea that these gangsters, despite being criminals, shot men justly as far as Sicilian justice goes. Alfieri is the bridge between the Sicilian justice (in so far as he is an Americanised Sicilian, experienced enough to see Eddies fate), and American law (in that he is a lawyer). Moreover, he is a bridge between the two cultures. He acts within the bounds of American law, generally on behalf of the immigrants, who distrust him because he has made the step up into an American job, and therefore American money and lifestyle. Due to the range of Alfieris experience, he is also the bridge between the characters and the audience. Alfieris role as a bridge in the play, and the very essence of the play as a clash of cultures is perfectly shown in Alfieris first narration at the very beginning of the script. Firstly, Alfieri introduces the idea of the Sicilian way of life in America, and addresses the issue of Sicilian justice, referring to the 1920s and 30s gangsterism in a tone suggesting the glory days. Still, Alfieri claims that now they are quite civilised, quite American, and that his practice is entirely unromantic and then of course he moves into the story of Eddie Carbone, an illustration of how Sicilian ways are still dominant to this civilised and American culture. The play A View from the Bridge is about a clash of cultures, or perhaps more about the effects of mixing two cultures into the American cultural melting pot, and the clashes this causes between the cultures. The plot of the play itself is more about the personal tragedy between a parents incestuous love for his daughter, and a girl who is growing up to become a young woman and wants to behave in accordance with her womanhood. This is the subject of the play, rather than the clash of the cultures, this is not to say that the culture difference is not relevant, on the contrary, it is a main theme of the play, but it only aggravates the personal problem. It confuses Eddies situation, as he is obviously more in favour of Sicilian values, but finds his personal situation with regard to Catherine threatened by Sicilians, and therefore has to resort to using American culture to neutralise the situation. It makes the divide that Catherine has to cross into womanhood much greater, making it necessary not only to become a woman from her childhood under Sicilian ideas, but also to become a fully, modernised, Americanised, independent woman. In addition, it supplies Eddie with a method of solving his personal problem, if in a rather extreme manner. It makes the consequences of doing so much more dramatic. The personal tragedy suffered is fuelled by great love, which leads to insanity, giving the play the qualities of a Greek tragedy, if not a somewhat contemporary Greek tragedy. Matt King Page 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.