The Way Eddie Is Presented in a View from the Bridge

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Timed Literature Essay Q: From your reading thus far, what do you think of Eddie and the way he is presented? Miller is extremely intelligent when it comes to crafting characters for the play. In the beginning, Eddie appears over-protective and is labelled as a good man by Alfieri. Eddie seems unable to let Catherine live her own life, and it appears that Eddie might have more than the normal feelings of care for his niece. He shows his concern through his statement: “Listen, you been givin’ me the willies the way you walk down the street, I mean it.” There is an interesting use of word choice here, Eddie has to mention “I mean it” to reinforce how strongly he feels. He also says “givin’ me”, and “me” in particular shows that Eddie has an opinion about Catherine and it creates his speech to become more personal, as it only applies to him and no one else. At this moment we can infer that Eddie resumes the role of a protective father wanting to shield his daughter from the prying eyes of strangers, or his concern could be something much more. Furthermore, Eddie has a negative aspect as he tries to control her life and doesn’t want her to grow up or move on. This puts stress on his relationships with both Catherine and Beatrice. Beatrice notices Eddie acting quite strangely as to not letting Catherine work, even though she is of age and the wage is well. She says: “What’re you gonna stand over her till she’s forty? Eddie, I want you to cut it out now, you hear me?” It is a rare moment where the woman asserts herself against her husband, as the 1950’s (the era in which the play was written) proved to be a time when men were the dominant gender. Beatrice tells Eddie to “cut it out now”, almost as if she is referring to something else, as if Eddie being stubborn with Catherine isn’t the only thing bothering her. That idea is explored later on In the play when Eddie
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