Choose a play in which A CHARACTER IS SEEKING THE TRUTH, AVOIDING THE TRUTH OR HIDING THE TRUTH.
Explain to what extent the character achieves this aim and discuss how the dramatist uses the situation to reveal important aspects of the character’s role in the play as a whole.
‘A View from the Bridge’ by Arthur Miller is a modern version of a Greek tragedy . Instead of a King or Hero being damaged by their ‘fatal flaw’ of being unable to see the truth about themselves, Miller wants us to see that the downfall of an ordinary man is just as painful. Eddie Carbone’s journey from ‘an angel’ to a ‘rat’ like Vinnie Bolzano is Miller’s way of showing how avoiding the truth can only lead to one outcome: tragedy. Miller is successful in leading the audience through Eddie’s continued denial of his obsession with Catherine , clearly showing the audience the tragic impact on his wife, his family and ultimately his whole community. He does this through his skilful use of a variety of dramatic techniques, enabling us to reflect on our ourselves and our own inability to face up to the more unpleasant sides of our nature.
The initial view of Eddie’s inability to see the truth about himself is from Alfieri – the metaphorical ‘Bridge’ between the Italian and American community. He reveals that even from the beginning he could see signs of Eddie’s fatal flaw that hinted at the tragedy to come. His mention of having to watch events ‘run [their] bloody course’ hints at the tragic outcome even from the beginning. Eddie’s desire to keep Catherine at home is our initial introduction to the way that he is unable to see the truth about why he wants to keep her at home. Eddie’s controlling ways – commenting on Catherine ‘walkin’ wavy’ and her short skirt symbolise his growing discomfort at the fact that she is growing up and getting ready to ‘fly the nest’ . Eddie only sees the situation from his own perspective, saying “That ain’t what I wanted” to her bid for adulthood. The tragedy occurs because Eddie himself is blind to what is happening. Eddie’s fatal flaw is that he cannot see the truth behind Alfieri’s assertion – that Eddie’s determination to keep her at home is because he has “too much love” for her
Miller also uses his relationship with his wife, Beatrice to expose Eddie’s inability to face up to the truth about himself The abrupt way that he deals with Beatrice asking when she is going to ‘be a wife again’ shows that he alone wishes to deal with the ‘passion’ that had ‘moved into his body like a stranger’. His denial only grows worse as the play continues as he alone cannot recognise the pain he is causing for his family. He is determined to blame his unhappiness on Rodolpho using the imagery of a brightly coloured and useless ‘canary’ to display how inappropriate he is as a husband. His words to Alfieri “He’s stealin’ from me” reveal something nearer to the truth : Eddie sees Catherine as his – a possession that he cannot give up to a ‘punk’ or ‘weird’ like Rodolpho. This is a truth however, that Eddie – despite Beatrice and Alfieri’s words of advice – cannot face up to.
Eddie’s inability to deal with the truth also isolates him from the rest of the family: as soon as he sees the way that Catherine looks at Rodolpho, we sense that the catalyst of the ‘submarines’ arrival will bring about an ‘explosion’ in the Carbone household. Miller reinforces the reality of Eddie’s obsessive jealousy as he watches the young couple dance to ‘Paper Doll’ . Here, Miller cleverly conveys Eddie’s true feelings through the symbolism in this dance tune. The words of the song are a striking metaphor for the control that Eddie wants to have over Catherine so he can protect her. He believes that his feelings are natural, that any father would have for a vulnerable child. Here, Miller’s visual metaphor of Eddie twisting the newspaper as the young lovers dance is a clever suggestion that his feelings are ‘twisted’. The audience share the misgivings of those around Eddie as he continues to deceive himself about his true feelings.
Eddie’s visit to Alfieri also vividly depicts his ‘fatal flaw’. Alfieri plays the role of a Greek chorus in a more conventional tragedy. Miller uses this technique in order to let us see how distorted Eddie’s perception of events has become. He desperately wants to prove that the ‘guy ain’t right’ and that he’s ‘only bowin’ to his passport’. Miller uses imagery here to emphasise Alfieri’s rising feeling of horror as he realises that Eddie’s feelings for his niece are ‘too much’. He uses the metaphor of a figure walking down a hallway towards ‘a certain door’ to reintroduce Eddie’s denial of tragedy that is his own making. The darkness of the figure is perhaps another way that Miller represents Eddie’ s ‘blindness’ to the inappropriate way that he is behaving
In this, as in any other tragedy, the fatal flaw can lead to only one conclusion :like Alfieri, we are forced to watch ‘powerless’ as Eddie’s overwhelming feelings which he is unable to admit to, drive him onwards towards his downfall. Miller is very skilful in this characterisation as he ensures that we retain our sympathy for Eddie through the stage directions. Eddie is conveyed as being ‘close to tears’ as he tells Alfieri that he went hungry when times were hard so that Catherine could eat and only a heart of stone would not feel sorry for this longshoreman weeping because he feels that if she marries this ‘weird’ then he will have failed to keep the deathbed promise that he made to her mother. Here Miller shows us that Eddie is just like us, he cannot face up to something which is too painful to consider – so he turns his anger outwards and ignores the truth which is clear to everyone else except himself.
Eddie’s desire to keep Catherine at home reveals the consequences of his denial of the truth more clearly than anything else. We can clearly see the impact of this flaw on those around him when we witness Beatrice’s rising anger, culminating in her accusation that
‘ You can never have her’ . Here, Miller reveals that Eddie’s feelings are clear to everyone but himself. He cannot admit how he feels – even to himself and it is this flaw – ultimately – that leads to his tragic downfall.
Eddie’s inability to face up to the truth is also made vivid by Miller in the visual metaphors in the boxing scene too. Eddie thinks that by challenging Rodolpho to a physical ‘spar’ then he will show Catherine what a ‘weird’ he really is. Miller reveals Eddie’s desperation to retain Catherine’s sympathy here and also emphasises how misguided his ‘alpha male’ tactics actually are. Catherine is more concerned for Rodolpho’s injuries than impressed by Eddie’s strength; Marco too is becoming alienated by Eddie’s increasingly strange behaviour. The symbolism of the chair at the end of Act II is meant by Miller as a symbol that brute strength alone does not achieve anything. Eddie’s flaw is that he does not recognise that he is the one whose action are inappropriate; because of inability to face up to the truth he can only see the faults of those around him; he is blind to how they are suffering
Eddie’s denial of the truth brings tragedy and loss to those around him; made vividly clear by Miller in the final scenes. Again Miller uses the setting to vividly convey this ‘dark’ time for Eddie as a visual metaphor. The glowing telephone kiosk is blue – symbolising the sadness and isolation that Eddie is choosing if he makes the call to immigration. Our feelings here for Eddie are a mixture of horror, sympathy and anger as he isolates himself from the whole of his community rather than face up to how he really feels . Miller has very cleverly foreshadowed this call by making Eddie ironically tell us the story of Vinny Bolzano. Eddie is scandalised , telling Catherine ‘ You don’t know who they are. It could be your best friend’. Eddie’s desperate actions here make us see how lost in self denial he actually is that he will turn away from the morals of his entire society, rather than let the young couple marry and be happy.
Eddie’s refusal to ‘settle for half’, even though it means his own death is one which Miller conveys as both tragic and heroic. Miller’s stage directions build up tension as they did in the earlier scenes – we are left in suspense , sharing Eddie’s horror and isolation as his ‘name’ hangs in the balance. He would rather be denounced as a ‘rat’ than let Catherine marry this ‘canary’. Miller shows us through Alfieri’s love and admiration for Eddie that even though it ended in tragedy, there was something noble about Eddie Carbone. It is highly symbolic that Miller chooses to have Eddie die on the tip of his own knife and it is this vivid metaphor which shows us most clearly that denying the truth to yourself can only lead to tragedy and self destruction
This play is so moving as we too have to stand back as ‘powerless’ as Alfieri and watch events ‘run {their} bloody course’ . Eddie’s flaw : an inability to confront the truth about himself moves us as many of us can identify with his desire to deny aspects of our personalities that we’d rather avoid. Eddie’s need to hide from the truth eventually costs him everything he has and his tragedy is an unforgettable one. There, but for the grace of God, goes any one of us.