How Does Miller Create Tension in Act 1 of a View from the Bridge?
How does Miller create tension in Act 1?
Miller creates tension in Act 1 of A View from the Bridge using several techniques. A View from the Bridge is set in Red Hook, in Brooklyn, which was a poverty-stricken slum. Also, Eddie Carbone is a longshoreman, and longshoremen were not well paid. The fact that poverty in this area is so large creates tension and from the beginning of the play we feel this tension.
Alfieri is the first character we are introduced to in this play. Alfieri’s speech at the very beginning of the play sets the scene and actually foreshadows what happens in the play. ‘There were many here who were justly shot by unjust men.’ This quote is an example of how foreshadowing occurs in his speech. This foreshadows that someone is going to be killed and we can tell this even though we don’t know it yet. The effect of this foreshadowing is the creation of tension and as we see the play unfold, we begin to realise what Alfieri said in his opening speech is actually true.
Perhaps the biggest creators of tension are the characters and the relationships between them. It was obvious from the moment the brothers walked into the house that Eddie and Rodolpho were not going to get on well. Minutes after the brothers arrive and have settled in, conversation gets quite awkward, especially when Eddie tries to divert conversations. For example, as soon as Rodolpho and Catherine start talking, Eddie demands for the coffee. All throughout Act 1, Eddie describes Rodolpho as being “not right” because he is not as masculine as Eddie would like him to be. This is the excuse he uses but the audience have their suspicions that in fact, Eddie is jealous of Rodolpho and that he is actually in love with Catherine. We get this idea when Beatrice says to Eddie, “You’re just jealous.” The effect of this creates tension all throughout Act 1.
Following on from this, Catherine is the next character to fall out with Eddie. Eddie is not actually Catherine’s father but he is the
Miller creates tension in Act 1 of A View from the Bridge using several techniques. A View from the Bridge is set in Red Hook, in Brooklyn, which was a poverty-stricken slum. Also, Eddie Carbone is a longshoreman, and longshoremen were not well paid. The fact that poverty in this area is so large creates tension and from the beginning of the play we feel this tension.
Alfieri is the first character we are introduced to in this play. Alfieri’s speech at the very beginning of the play sets the scene and actually foreshadows what happens in the play. ‘There were many here who were justly shot by unjust men.’ This quote is an example of how foreshadowing occurs in his speech. This foreshadows that someone is going to be killed and we can tell this even though we don’t know it yet. The effect of this foreshadowing is the creation of tension and as we see the play unfold, we begin to realise what Alfieri said in his opening speech is actually true.
Perhaps the biggest creators of tension are the characters and the relationships between them. It was obvious from the moment the brothers walked into the house that Eddie and Rodolpho were not going to get on well. Minutes after the brothers arrive and have settled in, conversation gets quite awkward, especially when Eddie tries to divert conversations. For example, as soon as Rodolpho and Catherine start talking, Eddie demands for the coffee. All throughout Act 1, Eddie describes Rodolpho as being “not right” because he is not as masculine as Eddie would like him to be. This is the excuse he uses but the audience have their suspicions that in fact, Eddie is jealous of Rodolpho and that he is actually in love with Catherine. We get this idea when Beatrice says to Eddie, “You’re just jealous.” The effect of this creates tension all throughout Act 1.
Following on from this, Catherine is the next character to fall out with Eddie. Eddie is not actually Catherine’s father but he is the