How AlfieriS Opening Speech Prepares The Audience For Future Events.

794 Words4 Pages
How Alfieri’s opening speech prepares the audience for future events. Aristotle set down criteria for tragedy in classical Greek times and Miller was an admirer of Greek tragedy. Miller adapted Aristotle’s idea and made his own play, a Modern Greek tragedy which conformed in some ways with Aristotle’s criteria but he made some lay changes. Miller believed that anyone could be the main character and this included a Sicilian immigrant. Miller was inspired to write this story by his own experiences because his parents were Sicilian immigrants who moved to America. He was also inspired by a man called Peter Panto who was a missing long shore man therefore the story is based on real life. Numerous amounts of people were immigrating to America because there weren’t jobs in their own country. Miller used Alfieri smartly because people wanted to see modern day people in plays and with the story of Peter Panto, Miller attracted large audiences for ‘A View from the Bridge’. Alfieri immediately draws the audience into the play. Alfieri speaks to the audience directly, through his role as the chorus. They see him as someone they can believe, because he is part of them. He is also on the outside looking in. Through Alfieri’s appearance and informal language he manages to draw the audience in by running his fingers through his hair and grinning “You wouldn’t have known it, but something amusing has happened”. He speaks to the audience, as if they were his friends and this confirms his role as the chorus. The audience now have the point of view of Alfieri and see things through his eyes. Miller uses Alfieri in two ways, One of Alfieri’s roles is a commentator; he helps structure the play by dividing the play into scenic units. Alfieri’s exits and entrances signal a scene change. This helps the audience to understand each scene by the appearance
Open Document