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A view from the bridge as a tragic play
A view from the bridge as a greek tragedy
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A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller as a Tragedy
A view from the Bridge was written by Arthur Miller in 1955 and set in
the 1950's Brooklyn, New York. Most of this area was inhabited by
immigrants that arrived from countries such as Italy and Sicily,
before the restriction of immigrant's law was passed. Although the law
denies people to migrate to the country. Illegal immigrants will often
be smuggled in from countries like Sicily. The main area is based in
Red Hook. Illegal immigrants come into the country and work on the
dockyards and Sicily at the time was in great poverty and hardship.
The people in this area of red hook are Italian American civilian
citizens that have travelled the Island of Sicily because of the hard
times that they have had. Such things like no cars, no food, no
school, no clean water and no jobs for the poor.
Two such characters are in the play called Rodolfo and Marco, who are
brothers. That has come from such areas of Sicily. Eddie is married to
Beatrice but has sexual feelings for his niece, Catherine and because
of his pride he cannot admit that he is in the wrong. This makes it
difficult for him to take good advice when given. Eventually Eddie
cannot take the thought of losing Catherine to Rodolfo, he phones the
immigration bureau and tells them about Rodolfo and Marco. When the
immigration officers come and take Rodolfo and Marco. Marco realises
that Eddie was the one who told the immigration officers about them
being illegal immigrants. Marco is furious because he knows that he
has no chance of staying in America and provide money for his family
in Sicily. Whereas if Rodolfo marries Catherine he would become an
American citizen. Finally when the day of Catherine?s an...
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...still relevant today because it still goes on in today?s
world. For example Natural law uses emotions to kill people and the
government uses constitutional law to stop people by using the police.
I think that ?A View from the Bridge? has been a very good tragedy and
has a good structure so people can learn the moral of the
play.
I would class ?A View from the Bridge? as an excellent classic tragedy
because it has all the Aristotelian elements for a classic tragedy.
One of the main ways of being a classic tragedy is that it has to be
didactic and ?A View from the Bridge? is very didactic with a chorus
which keeps you informed and explained what is going on so that the
audience are always one step ahead of the play. Also a classic tragedy
is ?Universal truth? so it can relate to anyone, people can watch the
play a century later and still learn from it.
Context: This part of the text is included at the beginning of the drama, telling the audience about Salem and its people. The author explains how a theocracy would lead to a tragedy like the Salem witch-hunts. This is the initial setting and is based on the principle that some people should be included and some excluded from society, according to their religious beliefs and their actions. This is basically the idea that religious passion, taken to extremes, results in tragedy. Miller is saying that even today extremes end up bad- communism, like strict puritans, was restrictive and extreme. It only made people suffer.
Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, takes place during 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The setting is important because it takes place during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The play begins with the town’s girls, led by Abigail Williams, gathering in the forest and starting to dance around a fire, chanting. Reverend Parris catches them dancing, sending the girls into a panic and causing two of the girls to go into a coma-like state. The townspeople spread rumors that there are witches lurking throughout the the town that have put the girls under their spells. This causes Reverend Parris to send for Reverend Hale, an expert in witchcraft and the devil's work, who hopes to rid the town of all witchcraft. John Proctor, a local farmer, asks Abigail to stop accusing innocent people and start telling the truth about what happened in the forest. Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife, excused Abigail from their house because she found out about an affair between Abigail and John. She lies to the court when she is asked about John’s affair to save him from any punishment. In doing so, they were both sent to jail for witchcraft because they knew she had lied. Abigail and the girls continued to lie about people in the town being witches, causing many innocent people to be killed, including John Proctor. Miller shows the dangers of scapegoating when lies that are regarded as the truth, and can kill innocent characters.
Arthur Miller states in his essay, "Tragedy and the Common Man," " . . . we are often held to be below tragedy--or tragedy below us . . . (tragedy is) fit only for the highly placed . . . and where this admission is not made in so many words it is most often implied." However, Miller believes " . . . the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (1021). It is this belief that causes Miller to use a common man, Willie Loman, as the subject of his tragedy, Death of a Salesman. Miller redefines the tragic hero to fit a more modern age, and the product of this redefinition is Willie.
Exploring the Themes of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge East of Staten Island is Brooklyn, the second largest borough and the
Although a strict society composed of high morality and disciplinary laws may be necessary for safety, it causes internal conflicts within the individuals. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller a theocracy in Salem rules and guides the citizens into doing what is “right”, but eventually backfires due to issues of reputation and jealousy. Society has a lot of influence on the citizens, and with a bad reputation, it is nearly impossible to live in a Puritan society. Salem’s strict Puritanical social structure causes personal struggles for the individuals involved in the events of The Crucible, and then eventually these personal struggles affect the society overall.
down, and tries to make out that she is the innocent victim in all the
Persecution has been a round for sometime and can be traced historically from the time of Jesus to the present time. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith in the hands of the Jews. Many Christians have been persecuted in history for their allegiance to Christ and forced to denounce Christ and others have been persecuted for failing to follow the laws of the land. The act of persecution is on the basis of religion, gender, race, differing beliefs and sex orientation. Persecution is a cruel and inhumane act that should not be supported since people are tortured to death. In the crucible, people were persecuted because of alleged witchcraft.
What is a classical tragedy? The hero struggles against an overwhelming fate. The protagonist's death was unfortunate, but they would win a moral victory over the forces that destroyed them. The nature of a man or woman's destiny was tested. Audiences would flood the stages of theaters to savor these artistic moments, with feelings of sympathy and dismay. These classical tragedies began in Ancient Greek theater, and left an impression even on today's visual art forms. Greek playwrights depicted tragic events with works such as Oedipus the King and Antigone. As we can see through today's television and featured films, the concepts of a classical Greek tragedy are important to some elements found in contemporary drama.
Writers may use literature as a vehicle of social criticism. In which ways does Arthur Miller criticize society?
The Crucible by Arthur Miller has been considered a modern classic for some time now. Millions of theaters have performed the show, and it has now become a staple in educational theater. The Playmakers Repertory Company decided to take on The Crucible for this year 's season, and director Desdemona Chiang took the modern classic and reinvented it to be something fresh and interesting.
feel a bit too strongly for her and it is this love which is in fact
on him, but the boys aren't willing to help Willy out when he needs them.
He opens the play with a very exposing account of what life used to be
According to Aristotle, the importance of tragedy as a genre is to represent action. Thus unity of action purportedly has the strongest implications for the effectiveness of the work itself. Aristotle posits “a story, since it is the representation of action, should concern an action that is single and entire, with its several incidents so structured that the displacement or removal of any one of them would disturb and dislocate the whole.” (Aristotle 27) and deems this claim imperative. A good plot, and thereby an effective tragedy, does not include events, which are not connected to each other or specifically the main plot. In theory, these unconnected events are distracting from the main action and dissipate the tragic effect. With Aristotle’s definition, no sub-plot should exist in tragedy. For all events to be “necessary or [have] probable connection with each other.” (Aristotle 27) none should exist not directly related to the main action. Again, unity allows for the tragic effect to be concentrated, intending to allow for increased feelings of pity and
In 350 B.C.E., a great philosopher wrote out what he thought was the definition of a tragedy. As translated by S.H. Butcher, Aristotle wrote; “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Characters, Thought, Diction, Spectacle, Melody. (http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics.html)” Later in history, William Shakespeare wrote tragedies that epitomized Aristotle’s outline of a tragedy. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one such tragedy.