Arthur Miller, a View from the Bridge
How does Arthur Miller present family relations at the start of the play?
The relationships in ‘A View from the Bridge’ are very complex as because of people’s attitudes back then. There is secrecy, suspicion, love and concern. Eddie is weirdly attracted to Catherine and his relationship with his wife Beatrice deteriorates. The relationship between Eddie and Catherine is very close, although they are not immediate family Eddie has become a surrogate father and thinks of himself as her real father. He is very protective of his daughter and would probably die for her, but this first innocent love perverts into a weird incest like love for his niece. Eddie still treats her like she is five although she is going out into the big wide world, this shocks Eddie and it makes him closer to her and more possessive which turns ugly when Rodolfo is introduced. At the start of the play Eddie has a go at his daughter about what she is wearing, ‘Catherine I don’t want to be a pest……. Walkin’ wavy’. This shows he has genuine concern for his daughter similar to how modern fathers would react today; this is more of an example to show how much he loves her like a father rather than a lover. He also doesn’t want to let go for his ‘daughter’ and tries to shoot down any discussion of a job, ‘near the navy yard…….. Longshoremen’ he is unreasonably disagreeing with any suggestions of a real job for Catherine which just amplifies his blatant love for her. Catherine and Beatrice’s relationship is very different to the relationship between Eddie & Catherine, Beatrice wants the best for Catherine and wants her to go get the job and wants her to leave, and she is more positive than Eddie and less caring for her. This could be that she was not as committed to the adoption of Catherine compared to Eddie, but also as she has had less to lose because Eddie has paid for her to go through school and to live, whereas Bea is probably getting a little sick of her hanging about. She
The relationships in ‘A View from the Bridge’ are very complex as because of people’s attitudes back then. There is secrecy, suspicion, love and concern. Eddie is weirdly attracted to Catherine and his relationship with his wife Beatrice deteriorates. The relationship between Eddie and Catherine is very close, although they are not immediate family Eddie has become a surrogate father and thinks of himself as her real father. He is very protective of his daughter and would probably die for her, but this first innocent love perverts into a weird incest like love for his niece. Eddie still treats her like she is five although she is going out into the big wide world, this shocks Eddie and it makes him closer to her and more possessive which turns ugly when Rodolfo is introduced. At the start of the play Eddie has a go at his daughter about what she is wearing, ‘Catherine I don’t want to be a pest……. Walkin’ wavy’. This shows he has genuine concern for his daughter similar to how modern fathers would react today; this is more of an example to show how much he loves her like a father rather than a lover. He also doesn’t want to let go for his ‘daughter’ and tries to shoot down any discussion of a job, ‘near the navy yard…….. Longshoremen’ he is unreasonably disagreeing with any suggestions of a real job for Catherine which just amplifies his blatant love for her. Catherine and Beatrice’s relationship is very different to the relationship between Eddie & Catherine, Beatrice wants the best for Catherine and wants her to go get the job and wants her to leave, and she is more positive than Eddie and less caring for her. This could be that she was not as committed to the adoption of Catherine compared to Eddie, but also as she has had less to lose because Eddie has paid for her to go through school and to live, whereas Bea is probably getting a little sick of her hanging about. She