A view from the bridge †Arthur Miller :: English Literature

A view from the bridge – How does Arthur Miller A view from the bridge – How does Arthur Miller prepare the audience for the dramatic events at the end of the play? Arthur Miller was born in New York City on the 17th of October 1915. The son of a small businessman, Miller worked in a warehouse after graduating from high school. When he saved enough money he attended the University of Michigan. During the Second World War Miller moved to New York where he began writing plays. A View from the bridge was written in 1955, it was partly based on the idea that his parents were both immigrants into the United States. When writing the play Miller was trying to create a real life story, concerning a tragedy of ordinary people. In the late 1940’s Miller became interested in the workers of New York’s Brooklyn Harbour, which was where he had previously worked. Writing this play allowed him to express his feelings towards poorly paid workers; most of whom were immigrants. The first character introduced in the play is Alfieri; he is a ‘big time lawyer’, who speaks a recognizable standard American English, unlike everybody else featured in the play. Alfieri is a very mysterious character; he is constantly appearing and disappearing into the shadows, or the ‘black of the night,’ which leaves an impact on the audience as they are curious to whom this person is and what his role is in the play. He basically recites the prologue and epilogue to the play and comments on the main action. The audience are constantly kept on their feet guessing as to what will happen to the relationship between Eddie Carbone and Catherine. Instantly they realize that throughout the play there will be a lot of conflict between these two characters. However they are not sure what all the arguments will result in. The most anticipating moment of the play is the final scene; Miller has prepared the audience for this ending throughout the play. Miller creates plenty of tension during this scene, because there are a number of endings that can be used, the audience is eager to find out which one will take place. Miller had prepared a number of endings but thought that the chosen ending would have the most effect. Another possible option to end the play was Eddie committing suicide, although this is very dramatic, it did not suit Eddie’s character. Miller describes Eddie as a strong-minded man, who is always willing to fight for what he wants. Therefore the chosen ending was much more effective as Eddie didn’t