The role of women in A View From The Bridge
In A View From The Bridge Catherine is presented to the audience by being an ambiguous yet socially inexperienced character.
"You're getting to be a big girl now, you gotta keep yourself more, you can't be so friendly, kid."
This quotation is said earlier on in the play by Eddie but Beatrice later gives the same advice to Catherine but in regards to Eddie. Beatrice thinks Catherine needs to grow up and become a woman and to do this she needs to decide by herself whether she wants to marry Rodolfo. She needs to stop walking around the house in her slip in front of Eddie, and not sit on the edge of the tub while Eddie shaves his beard. The reader learns from this that being a woman means reserve and modesty in front of men, and independently making decisions. Women are also presented as to be physically weak because they did not do very energy consuming jobs, and instead they went to work in an office like Catherine. We learn from Eddie that it is important for a woman not to attract men's attention and we know this because Eddie tells Catherine that she is “beautiful” and “different from other girls”. He warns her that all the men’s heads would be ‘bobbing like windmills’ should they see her walk past, this also links to the idea that getting married was perceived as a basic function for the women at this time. To support this we know that during the talk between Beatrice and Catherine, Beatrice addresses Catherine by saying "You're a woman [...] and now the time came when you said goodbye." which suggests that once a woman sees herself as a women it is her duty to leave the house and settle down with a husband, but it could also mean that a girl only becomes a woman after leaving her father figure. This line is said by Beatrice which could mean that the reader can view it as a way of Beatrice saying that she thinks it is time for Catherine to leave in order for Beatrice to have her husband back as Beatrice may think that Catherine is stealing her chance of being
"You're getting to be a big girl now, you gotta keep yourself more, you can't be so friendly, kid."
This quotation is said earlier on in the play by Eddie but Beatrice later gives the same advice to Catherine but in regards to Eddie. Beatrice thinks Catherine needs to grow up and become a woman and to do this she needs to decide by herself whether she wants to marry Rodolfo. She needs to stop walking around the house in her slip in front of Eddie, and not sit on the edge of the tub while Eddie shaves his beard. The reader learns from this that being a woman means reserve and modesty in front of men, and independently making decisions. Women are also presented as to be physically weak because they did not do very energy consuming jobs, and instead they went to work in an office like Catherine. We learn from Eddie that it is important for a woman not to attract men's attention and we know this because Eddie tells Catherine that she is “beautiful” and “different from other girls”. He warns her that all the men’s heads would be ‘bobbing like windmills’ should they see her walk past, this also links to the idea that getting married was perceived as a basic function for the women at this time. To support this we know that during the talk between Beatrice and Catherine, Beatrice addresses Catherine by saying "You're a woman [...] and now the time came when you said goodbye." which suggests that once a woman sees herself as a women it is her duty to leave the house and settle down with a husband, but it could also mean that a girl only becomes a woman after leaving her father figure. This line is said by Beatrice which could mean that the reader can view it as a way of Beatrice saying that she thinks it is time for Catherine to leave in order for Beatrice to have her husband back as Beatrice may think that Catherine is stealing her chance of being