A View from the Bridge – Quotation Bank (References from Penguin, Modern Classics edition)
‘Alfieri: […] another lawyer, quite differently dressed, heard the same complaint and set there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course.’ (Act 1, p2)
CONTEXT: This is taken from Alfieri’s opening speech, after he has spoken about justice and settling for half in the Italian-American community.
ANALYSIS:
Reference to Eddie’s later actions and the ‘bloody course’ they cause. Foreshadows his downfall, and makes audience aware of the tragedy. Gives them a sense already of what is the inescapable ending.
Language used by Alfieri makes Eddie’s story seem a legend.
‘Set there as powerless as I,’ shows Alfieri could see Eddie’s disintegration. It is a direct reference to the fact that the lawyer could do nothing to stop it, instead watching it run its course.
‘Eddie: Now don’t you aggravate me, Katie, you’re walkin’ wavy. I don’t like the looks they’re given’ you in the candy store. And with them new high heels on the side walk – clack clackclack. The heads are turnin’ like windmills.’ (Act 1, p4)
CONTEXT: Eddie says this to Catherine very early on the play when he first returns home from work to see Catherine shouting out to him on the street when he is talking to Louis.
ANALYSIS:
This shows Eddies possessive nature towards Catherine. He doesn’t like the way she’s walking, Catherine is in her late teens and shouldn’t be told how she should and shouldn’t walk and what she should wear on her feet. Eddie tells her straight how he doesn’t like the way she is walking and that he thinks she should change because the way the people are looking at here. This shows a bit of jealousy on Eddies behalf as other people are looking at Catherine and he doesn’t want other people to look at her.
•Deals with the relationship between both Eddie and Catherine
•First time we see how protective of CatherineEddieis
•Over possessive of Catherine and tells her how to dress
•Thinks of his reputation of the Community
•Jealous of what boys her age will think of her because of what she was wearing
•He is Concerned of what people in the communitymight think about her
•Starting to show he is bit controlling
‘Beatrice: You’re an angel! God’ll bless you.’ (Act 1: part b, pg 7)
CONTEXT: This is just after when Beatrice and Catherine had been told that their cousins got in and were to be arriving soon. Eddie says it is an honour to be giving them a place to stay.
ANALYSIS:
- This contradicts what is going to happen in the future as Eddie goes against his family so he won’t be blessed by god.
- Suggests that Eddie is a strong male figure in the household and he ruins that through his destructive flaw.
- Beatrice is trying to convince Eddie that it is a good idea that the cousins are coming but this contrasts with what happens as they are a catalyst for Eddie’s realisation of his sinful love for Catherine.
- It shows that B is grateful for what Eddie has done for her cousins.
- ‘Angel’ contrasts with Eddie’s true personality and his hidden feelings towards Catherine.
- It suggests that Eddie’s character looks out for other but really he is self centred and only does what he believes at the expense of others so it covers up Eddie’s true character.
‘Eddie: Listen, if everybody keeps his mouth shut, nothin’ can happen. They’ll pay for their board’ (Act 1, p7)
CONTEXT: Eddie is telling everyone that if they keep their mouths shut then everything will be okay and nothing can happen to the new comers.
ANALYSIS:
- This is ironic as this foreshadows Eddie’s later actions and ultimately betrays his own word.
- Eddie is telling Beatrice and Cathrine not to say anything or something bad could happen to the new family members
- Eddie is making this bold statement, like he plans to stick to it and make sure that nothing can happen but ultimately leads to Eddie opening is mouth and landing Marco and Rodolpho in trouble with the immigration officers.
‘Beatrice, with sympathy but insistent force: Well, I don’t understand when it ends. First it was gonna be when she graduated high school, so she graduated high school. Then it was gonna be when she learned stenographer, so she learned stenographer. SO what’re we gonna wait for now? I mean it, Eddie, sometimes I don’t understand you; they picked her out the whole class, it’s an honor for her.’(Act 1, p10)
CONTEXT: Beatrice says this to Eddie when he is arguing that she shouldn’t get her new job in the office on the other side of town. Eddie thinks that it’s a really bad idea and is very reluctant to let Catherine take the job as he is scared of what will happen to her.
ANALYSIS:
- Eddie doesn’t want Catherine to get the job because she will be growing up and he will lose a little bit of control over her
- Once Catherine gets a job she will not rely on Eddie as much as the sole provider for the house and Eddie doesn’t like that
- She has done what he has asked but everything is still not enough as he is making it as hard as possible to keep her his little girl
- Beatrice is showing signs that she does know something is wrong/weird with the relationship so she is trying to break it down by letting her go to work
- Eddie is only thinking about himself really because he knows nothing will happen to her, he just doesn’t want her to grow up
- He doesn’t see that it will be good for Catherine he just thinks he is going to lose her
‘Eddie: Him? You’ll never see him no more, a guy do a thing like that? How’s he gonna show his face?’ (Act 1, p13)
CONTEXT: Eddie says this to Catherine and Beatrice in their house when Beatrice asks what happened to Vinny Bolzano.
ANALYSIS:
The quote is important because Eddie is criticising the actions of Vinny when he ends up doing the exactly the same thing which is foreshadowing. It also highlights the respect aspect in the Italian culture and how once you have lost it, it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible to gain back.
‘Eddie: […] Just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away.’ (Act 1, p13)
CONTEXT: Eddie says this to Catherine after they have been talking about Vinny Bolzano. This section relates to the themes of family/community loyalty and American law.
ANALYSIS:
•Reveals/exposes irony and madness of Eddie’s character
•Lectures Catherine about how they must not tell anyone of cousins & warns of consequences
•Story and comment foreshadows Eddie’s fate
•Spends rest of play ‘giving away words’ – contrasts with Marco’s silence
•Tragedy fore-grounded – Eddie is aware of consequences/own fate but cannot control his own self-interest – cannot escape fate
•Remains powerless (like Alfieri) or too mad to stop it
•Miller sets up Eddie so vehemently against betrayal that his transition to betrayer seems illogical
•Set-up requires him to undergo a drastic change/complete breakdown
•Force of transition reinforces his self-destructive madness & deepness of unspoken love of niece
•The significance of it is that Eddie say’s this at the start as a way to try and keep Catherine and Beatrice’s mouths shut about the cousins, but in the end Eddie is the one who opens his mouth about them staying there illegally and he can’t take the words back. Eddie is the one that goes back on these words and others that he said by phoning the immigration bureau.
•Eddie’s saying that if someone steals something from you it’s easy enough to get it back some way or another, but if it’s your own words that you give away, it’s your word against theirs as to whether you said it or not.
•It gives a sense of Eddie not trusting the girls as much, in the way that, it might not be them he doesn’t trust, but the people that they may tell and think they can trust.
‘Marco: […] I want to tell you now Eddie- when you say go, we will go’(Act 1, p16)
This indicates that Marco and Rodolpho are willing to do as Eddie wants or says and portrays the way they feel about Eddie and they know he is in charge. This is significant as in the rest of the Eddie is fixated on preventing the relationship between Rodolpho and Catherine and goes to great, desperate lengths to do so despite the fact that he invited them into the home and they are willing to leave as soon as he says. His family loyalty and honour is too great to kick them out – but in the end he betrays them, causing everyone to suffer in the process, including Marco and his children who are wholly innocent. It also highlights the respectful nature of Marco which he maintains throughout but his loyalty to his brother becomes clear as the play continues.
‘Eddie: Do me a favour, will you? Go ahead.’(Act 1, p22)
This is directly after Eddie discovers that Catherine is wearing heels. He immediately asks her to take them off which greatly conveys the power and control he has over her. It also becomes obvious that he does not want her dressing provocatively around the two cousins – again reflecting his protective nature but also highlighting his jealousy. Catherine is now angry at Eddie – not upset like when he referred to her as walking wavy. This indicates the first significant step of the relationship changing as Catherine no longer desperately seeks Eddie’s approval for everything she does and, as a result, Eddie sees his power decreasing. Catherine is now interested in the two cousins – particularly Rodolpho – and Eddie does not like this at all.
‘Beatrice: The girl is gonna be eighteen years old, it’s time already.’ (Act 1, p25)
CONTEXT: Beatrice is telling Eddie that he needs to let Catherine go, because he is too protective over her.
ANALYSIS:
•Beatrice knows that Eddie’s relationship with Catherine is not normal.
•Beatrice is pleading with Eddie to treat Catherine like a adult and not a child.
•Beatrice is a bit jealous of Catherine’s relationship with Eddie.
•Eddie is in denial and doesn’t listen to anything Beatrice says.
•Beatrice is trying to solve the problems and mediate between Catherine and Eddie.
‘Eddie: I don’t see you no more, I come home you’re running around someplace’ (Act 1, p28)
This is said by Eddie to Catherine after he tells Rodolphoto go inside when he and Catherine come back from paramount. This quote portrays the fact that he likes to keep Catherine to himself he wants her home where he can keep an eye on her. Also he is complaining about not seeing her which highlights his feelings towards her in that he likes to spend time with her and this is not normal for an uncle-niece relationship
‘Alfieri: […] His eyes were like tunnels; my first thought was that he had committed a crime, but soon I saw it was only a passion that had moved into his body, like a stranger.’ (Act 1, p33)
CONTEXT: Alfieri describes his first impressions of Eddie on his first visit to the lawyer. Eddie seeks to have Catherine and Rodolpho’s relationship stopped by American law on the grounds that Rodolpho is ‘not right’ and that he wishes only to marry her for a passport.
ANALYSIS:
•Alfieri seems to fear Eddie as a paranormal beast (remnant of Greek/Roman tragedy
•Eddie seems almost possessed, emphasising Alfieri’s feelings of powerlessness to control him
•Passion = passion for niece
•Unreleased & suppressed in his subconscious – stranger to Eddie’s conscious self
•Actively denies thoughts of incest (why he is unable to take responsibility for actions later
•Self-interest and self-denial is his tragic flaw
•Style of Alfieri as chorus – dramatic & literary descriptions (repeated in later descriptions) – tale of Eddie becomes almost legendary
•Creates significance for audience – learn lessons from story/tragedy
‘Alfieri: […] There’s too much, and it goes where it mustn't. A man works hard, he brings up a child, sometimes it's aniece, sometimes even a daughter, and he neverrealizesit, but through the years- there is too much love for thedaughter,there is too much love for theniece. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?’ (Act 1, p36)
Here Alfieri is suggesting or trying to hint to Eddie that hisobsession (too much love for Catherine) isn't healthy. He is suggesting that Eddie has a problem, the problem being Catherine. Alfieri never actually states the love is "unhealthy" but he's trying to insinuate so with some sympathy but also a parental relation. This quotation in some way foreshadows what could happen, with there being "too much love".
‘Catherine, quietly: I’m afraid of Eddie here.’ (Act 2, p48)
CONTEXT: Catherine says this to Rodolphowhen he questions her about why she has stopped talking about the wedding and she tests him by asking if they could move to Italy when they marry.
ANALYSIS:
This shows how she knows what Eddie is capable of doing and has a feeling that he will end up trying to get Rodolpho in trouble with the law if they remain in America. This highlights the inevitability of Eddie’s actions and how his tragic flaw is revealed throughout the play before his final action in the end.
‘Eddie- Finally his resolution hardens: What I feel like doin’ in the bed and what I don’t feel like doin’. I don’t want no-‘ (Act 2, p56)
Eddie brings up the problem of their marriage troubles without any prompts from Beatrice. Within the section, Eddie is seeking an argument with Beatrice despite her clear signs that she does not want to speak as Eddie always starts the conversation but gets no response from her. Eddie’s problem in the bedroom has been happening for months before Marco and Roldolpho moved in so he can’t blame it on that but he does try. The epicentre of this problem is his unusual feelings towards Catherine in which is the reason behind his lack of love. Eddie here has decided that he cannot make love to his wife while Catherine is still on his mind and by using the fact Roldolpho is here and on his mind as an excuse.
‘Eddie: Because I know, I don’t go around makin’ accusations. He give me the heeby-jeebies the first minute I seen him. And I don’t like you sayin’ I don’t want her marryin’ anybody. I broke my back payin’ her stenography lessons so she could go out and meet a better class of people. Would I do that if I didn’t want her to get married? Sometimes you talk like, I was a crazy man or sump’m.’ (Act 2, p57)
CONTEXT: Eddie said this to Beatrice to try and convince her that he wanted the best for Catherine
ANALYSIS:
•He says he didn’t go out making accusations but that is exactly what he did do; he said things such as he is just marrying her to be a US citizen and that Rodolpho is gay.
•He says that he doesn’t like Beatrice saying “I don’t want her marryin’ anybody” because it is true, he wants her for himself but he can’t bear to hear it.
•He only put her through the stenography classes so that he didn’t have top let her go and she could stay with him at home for longer.
•When he says “you talk like I was a crazy man or sumpin’, he himself feels like he is going crazy and is in denial, he can feel that something is wrong but is oblivious to his own downfall.
‘Eddie: Catherine? She turns to him. I was just tellin’ Beatrice…if you wanna go out, like… I mean I realize maybe I kept you home too much. Because he’s the first guy you ever knew, y’know? I mean now that you got a job, you might meet some fellas, and you could get a different idea, y’know? I mean you could always come back to him, you’re still only kids, the both of yiz. What’s the hurry? Maybe you’ll get around a bit grow up a little more, maybe you’ll see different in a couple of months. I mean you be surprised, it don’t have to be him’ (Act 2, p59)
CONTEXT: This quotation is taken from the point where Eddie is trying once again to persuade Catherine not to marry Rodolpho and in this desperate attempt he admits that he was wrong to restrict her freedom so much. But it seems that he has not learnt for this mistake as he is trying to control Catherine decisions
ANALYSIS:
- The repetition of the ellipsis is able to show how hesitant Eddie is to admit that he may be responsible for the way in which things have turned out.
- Eddie asks questions which in a way represent both his hope to dissuade Catherine to make what he feels is a rash and wrong decision but also his lack of understanding as to why Catherine has chosen Rodolpho. It is also as if Eddie is pleading with Catherine and is attempting to bargain with her “allow her to go out more” so that she will stay with him. But both Catherine and reader knows this is a promise that can not be fulfilled as Eddie behaved in a similar way before Rodolpho arrived.
- Eddie sounds extremely desperate here as he is trying to come to some arrangements with Catherine and we know that he likes to keep Catherine at home and to have her all to himself, and he is telling her to go out and live a little. We wouldn't expect Eddie to say this because he is usually too protectiveover Catherine, as we know she hasnever really had a social life,but he clearly wants to prevent her from being with Rodolpho so much that he would throw that protection away just to stop her from being with him and to go find another man. Although he tells her to look forsomeone elsethe audience know that Eddie doesn't actually want Catherine to be with anyone else as we discover early on in the play. He acts as though he ownsCatherine and he cannot face the fact that she has fallen in love with Rodolpho.
‘Marco: In my country he would be dead now. He would not live this long.’(Act 2, p65)