Arthur Miller’s ‘A View From the Bridge’ Essay

Masculinity is a familiar theme in Arthur millers A View From The twain. The four star(p) manlike characters in the wanton away Ed travel, Rodolpho, Marco and Alfieri individually turn different roles and different examples of hands. moth miller has represented men and masculinity in an unforgiving light in the play. It appears that it is men that confuse and create problems in the characters lives. apiece characters actions ar effectuate by the conflicting forces of determinism, where every font and situation is the indispensable result of its antedate states of aff stocks and freewill. It could be said that the staminate characters in A View From The twosome are non play playing, but universe acted upon.The main character in A View From The Bridge is Eddie. He is 40 years of come along, slightly overweight and is expound as husky. The huskiness utilize in the description refers to both(prenominal) Eddies roughness and his solid, burly build. His age sug gests experience, other manly quality. Eddies display reflects his attitude, strong and intimidating. In trying to prove his masculinity, Eddie is the focusing of m whatsoever conversations, as he feels that he must dominate the conversation. Eddies patois is very direct, with blunt wording. He invariably uses contractions and drops the last letter off words, much(prenominal) as in the phrase I didnt say nonhin. Eddies linguistic communication is non sophisticated in some(prenominal) sense. This is because Eddie spent his time working rather of chanceting a proper education. Eddie similarly comes from a working divide family, which would toy with that his education is special(a). The conglomeration of these factors conveys Eddie to be take d have to a greater extent(prenominal) masculine. It is very pull ahead that moth miller has constructed Eddie to represent the epitome of masculinity however the character has a propensity to be acted upon rather than acted .Although Eddie is portrayed as a very masculine character, the turmoil in his mind is evident to the reader. Within himself he is trying to control his feelings, or act. Instead, it appears that the happenings most him control Eddies actions. When Eddie allows Rodolpho and Marco to stay, he is acting, as he is making the purpose as the patriarchal member of the Carbone family. He has the pickax of whether to accept them or non. He acts push through of freewill. The best example Eddie macrocosm acted upon is when he calls Immigration ab pop out(a) Marco and Rodolpho. At this demonstrate in the play, Eddie thinks that he has no other options.He is struggling to control his feelings for Catherine, which on its aver is an example of be acted upon. Although Eddie knows that these incestuous feelings are not acceptable, he cannot alleviate but feel this sort. Catherines create relationship with Rodolpho is clear testing Eddies poleurance. Eddie in addition feels that Rodolpho is a bad make on Catherine, as Eddie can no longer control her as he used to. Realistically, this is because Catherine is growing up more than Rodolphos influence. However, Eddie feels that the only solution is to get rid of Rodolpho. By doing this, Eddie hopes that everything will bring around to its original state, with him being the patriarch. Consequently, Eddie calls Immigration. It can clearly be seen that Eddie is not acting, as eliminating Rodolpho is something that is inevitable if Eddie wishes for things to return to their initial state.Rodolphos appearance in A View From The Bridge is one that is far more maidenly and gentle than that of the other characters. He is expound as a slim platinum blond with a nice calculate. His gentle features are considered womanly, and so he is not considered to be masculine. Rodolphos age can be estimated to be in the mid-twenties. This denotes a lack of carriage experience, other indicator towards femininity rather than masculinity. Miller has constructed Rodolpho as a much slight masculine character than Eddie so as to juxtapose the two characters. Unlike Eddie, Rodolpho is a more sage character. He is more cautious in what he says. due(p) to this discretion, Rodolphos speech is very limited in A View From The Bridge. However, his rational behaviour does not stop Rodolpho from being more acted upon than acted.Even though Rodolpho tries to chorus from causing too much of a disturbance in America, he is visibly maddening Eddie by showing warmness towards Catherine. However, Rodolpho cannot control his feelings. He stands up for his castigate to have a relationship with Catherine and, no matter of what Eddie does or says, Rodolpho still has these feelings for Catherine. Rodolpho does not prefer to be attracted to Catherine, it simply happened. The concept that Catherine and Rodolpho both care for each other is not a matter of prize or freewill, it is clearly determinism. For this reason, Ro dolpho is more acted upon than acting in A View From The Bridge.Marco is described in A View From The Bridge as a thirty-two year ageing square up built peasant. His square build implies strength and an intimidating physique, which evokes an air of masculinity. His age puts him between Eddie and Rodolpho. Throughout the play, Marco is compete as quiet, yet thoughtful. His communication is minimal, until the terminal sequence where the conflict between him and Eddie erupts. Although his dialogue is entirely different to that of Eddie, the pair are both seen as masculine characters. This is because Marco is self-confident with himself, and does not feel it is necessary to public lecture or dominate the conversation. In doing so, his authorisation shines through as being masculine. Again, Marco is a character that appears, in most cases, to be more acted upon than acting.Marcos strong and speechless persona allows him to understand and recognise elements in the characters more so than Eddie and Rodolpho. He sees Eddies challenging nature towards Rodolpho and challenges Eddie back. In this sense, Marcos actions are acted. He understands what is happening and uses his own freewill to make a decision of what to do. However, the closing sequences are clearly an recitation of how Marco is more acted upon than acting. When Marco spits in Eddies face, it is the shutdown of Eddies attitude and actions that cause him to do so. After trusting Eddie, Marco has been proverbially stabbed in the back. However, Marcos reception was eminent. Eddies on overtaking dislike of both Marco and Rodolpho would eventually vex at a confrontation.Marcos reaction was clearly determinism it was the inevitable result of its prior states of affairs. In this flair, the character of Marco is more acted upon than acting. Similarly, when Marco kills Eddie, it is inevitable. If not for Eddies death, the play would be going nowhere. Eddies sanity is questionable towards the end of A View From The Bridge. If Eddie were to survive the stabbing, thither would be no closure for any of the characters. When Eddie pulls the knife out and attempts to stab Marco, it is clear that he is not thinking rationally. Marco so acts in self defence when he stabs Eddie. He knows that one of them will die in the struggle, and sees that his killing of Eddie is the only way he will come out alive. For this reason, Marco acts not out of freewill, but stabs Eddie as in that location is no other way for the battle to end. Hence, Marco is more acted upon than acting. However, this attribute is not shared by all of the anthropoid characters in A View From The Bridge.The final male character in A View From The Bridge is Alfieri. Alfieri is the oldest of the characters, described as being in his fifties, good turn grey and portly. His age implies much life experience, as does his generously proportioned physique. His appearance is also one of a higher class than the rest of the ch aracters. Alfieri speaks with distinction. Unlike Marco and Eddie, who feel the choose to express their masculinity, Alfieri is confident in himself, and so needs not demonstrate this through his spoken communication.For this reason, Alfieri remains to be a masculine character even though his language is very poetic and eloquent. For example, when consulting Eddie and Marco, he says To send for not to kill, is not dishonourable. As substantially as showing Alfieris intelligence, the statement gives his words a scale of importance. Alfieris masculinity shines through in his instructing and weapons-grade manner. Unlike the rest of the male characters in A View From The Bridge, it is felt that Alfieri is not being acted upon, but is acting.As Alfieri is not directly involved in the bend relationships that take place in the apartment, he has the advantage of having a less worked up reaction to the occurrences. Alfieri also has the advantage of being able to think about things rat ionally before offering an opinion. When attempting to guide Eddie in his turmoil, Alfieri informs him that he can take no statutory action. In doing so, Alfieri is acting out of freewill. Nothing is forcing him to tell Eddie this. Theoretically, Alfieri could ignore the legal aspect and tell Eddie to take his chances. Instead, Alfieri offers his own advice, to let her go. Although Alfieris inherent aptitude to seek resolution may be seen as more acted upon than acting, his pressure in guiding Eddie to do the right thing, or lack thereof, is freewill, as Alfieri made the choice in not forcing Eddie to stop acting in the manner that he was. For this reason, Alfieri is acting more than he is acted upon.Although each of the male characters in Millers play A View From The Bridge represents a different role and different type of man, each of their actions can be seen as either an act of freewill or an act of determinism. In many instances, it appears that there is no other way for t he calamity to occur. At other times, the characters make choices, physical exercise their freewill. As Eddie, Rodolpho and Marco are all emotionally involved in the relationships in the play their actions tend to be acts of determinism. All trine are trapped in sexual practice roles, not wanting to appear weak. As Alfieri is more of an onlooker in the play, his actions are a result of freewill. Confident with his masculinity, he is able to decide what to do, not be forced into doing something. For this reason, the male characters in A View From The Bridge can be said to be predominantly more acted upon than acting.