Characterisation of Eddie Carbone
A View from the bridge Characterisation: Eddie Carbone
Explore the ways a central character is presented in the drama text. Use examples from the text in your response.
Eddie Carbone, a 40 year old Italian American Citizen from Sicily, is the tragic protagonist of A view from the Bridge by Arthur Miller. Alfieri, the chorus in the story, first introduces Eddie as a good, hard working man who does normal things like raising a family, eating, getting old, etc. However as Alfieri states, no one can know what his true self is like. Alfieri prepares us for the discovery of the secrets in the play. That two illegal immigrants Marco and Rodolfo are taking shelter in Eddies home and Eddie’s deep secret of his quasi-incestuous desire for his niece, Catherine. At first, Eddie is shown as a good man who is happy and respected by his family. Eddie behaves like a normal, fairly overprotective uncle towards Catherine and the audience would probably not have guessed that he has any desire of her other than the standard uncle and niece relationship.
However it is not the standard uncle and niece relationship in Eddie’s mind but far more complex. The first sense of uneasiness we see is when Catherine lights his cigarette. Eddie receives some kind of unnatural pleasure from this experience. A woman lighting a man’s cigar can have a sexual implication and this is what Eddie see in Catherine. Knowing that Eddie has these feelings, there are clues earlier back in the text to his obsession with Catherine. When Catherine sits on her heel beside him, he criticizes the length of her skirt. He doesn’t want Catherine to look attractive in public because he is worried that some man might ask her out. He wants Catherine all to himself and does anything he can to prevent her from getting a boyfriend. Eddie also does not want her moving out of his home. He wants Catherine always within his grasp. When Catherine tells Eddie that she got a new job, he disapproves straight away:
“No –
Explore the ways a central character is presented in the drama text. Use examples from the text in your response.
Eddie Carbone, a 40 year old Italian American Citizen from Sicily, is the tragic protagonist of A view from the Bridge by Arthur Miller. Alfieri, the chorus in the story, first introduces Eddie as a good, hard working man who does normal things like raising a family, eating, getting old, etc. However as Alfieri states, no one can know what his true self is like. Alfieri prepares us for the discovery of the secrets in the play. That two illegal immigrants Marco and Rodolfo are taking shelter in Eddies home and Eddie’s deep secret of his quasi-incestuous desire for his niece, Catherine. At first, Eddie is shown as a good man who is happy and respected by his family. Eddie behaves like a normal, fairly overprotective uncle towards Catherine and the audience would probably not have guessed that he has any desire of her other than the standard uncle and niece relationship.
However it is not the standard uncle and niece relationship in Eddie’s mind but far more complex. The first sense of uneasiness we see is when Catherine lights his cigarette. Eddie receives some kind of unnatural pleasure from this experience. A woman lighting a man’s cigar can have a sexual implication and this is what Eddie see in Catherine. Knowing that Eddie has these feelings, there are clues earlier back in the text to his obsession with Catherine. When Catherine sits on her heel beside him, he criticizes the length of her skirt. He doesn’t want Catherine to look attractive in public because he is worried that some man might ask her out. He wants Catherine all to himself and does anything he can to prevent her from getting a boyfriend. Eddie also does not want her moving out of his home. He wants Catherine always within his grasp. When Catherine tells Eddie that she got a new job, he disapproves straight away:
“No –