The Breakdown of the Carbone family in A View From The Bridge

Trace the Breakdown of the Carbone family in A View From The Bridge

New York in the 1940’s the United States welcomed immigrants from all

over Europe but especially Italy, the only problem with these

immigrants was, most where illegal. The Italians, starved from the

depression of World War One fled their homes and sometimes families

for a better life in America. This often worked because the areas

where you went to live often contained more people of the same race

and as they say ‘blood is thicker than water’ to these people so one

person wouldn’t tell on another for hiding or being an illegal

immigrant. One problem though, this being to get to America you had to

be smuggled in by the Mafia, this happened to cost an arm and a leg

which means your in debt to the Mafias, so when and if, you get to

America most of the money you earned went to the Mafias, so it was a

hard life but better than the one you had. This play is about two

Italians that decide to take this risk, but what will happen as a

cause of this…

Catherine Carbone is Eddie Carbone’ niece, she is a 17 year old girl

and is strikingly good looking. On the other hand Eddie is a 40,

husky, slightly overweight long shore man, one problem though he has a

thing for Catherine, but Eddie knows he can’t have her, so because he

can’t have here no one else can either, or you might say, Eddie

Carbone ‘ wont settle for half ’, but a good looking 17 year old isn’t

going to stay single for long, this creates a dilemma for Eddie.

Catherine has spent pretty much all her life with Eddie so she has

become very attached, for example, ‘you sit on the edge of the bathtub

talking to him when he’s shaving’ in his underwear’, she thinks she is

just talking to him, where as Eddie thinks that she is trying to say

something and it’s not. So from an early age she has been manipulated

by Eddie, making him seem the only one to trust and to believe every

word he says, for example, ‘I wish there was one guy you couldn’t tell

me things about!’ showing that if Eddie found a guy that Eddie didn’t

now bad things about he would be a good guy to go out with but, Eddie

isn’t going to find any won like.

Beatrice is petrified of Eddie and he uses this to his advantage.

Making Beatrice feel sorry for him when he’s being rude to her, ‘when