The Dramatic Function of Alfieri in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge

The Dramatic Function of Alfieri in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge

The play "A View from the Bridge" was written by Arthur Miller in

1955. He was born in New York and graduated in English in 1938, to

become a playwright. The play is set in Red Hook, in the slums of

Brooklyn. It is about immigrant workers who are struggling to find

work

and provide for their families and survive at the same time. In "A

View from the Bridge" Alfieri is a character who has been created to

explain and comment on the themes and issues that arise in the play,

to the audience.

Alfieri plays a vital role in the play. He engages with both the

characters and the audience, which makes him an engaged narrator.

Arthur Miller created Alfieri's role because after he wrote "The

Crucible" he felt that not one of his reviewers had captured the inner

themes in the play. So he created the character of Alfieri to act as a

chorus who warns the audience that tragic events are about to happen

as for example when he says "…watched it run its bloody course". The

use of the term "Bloody" gives us the impression that something bad is

going to happen and when he says "…meet a Lawyer or a Priest on the

street is unlucky" this also gives us the impression that something

bad like murder or arguments or accidents are going to happen and

makes us think that the play is going to end in a tragic way which

raises the tension of the audience. He warns the audience of the

tragic events that are going to happen before they happen which

increases the tension of the audience. This is shown in the opening

speech when Alfieri says "This ones name was Eddie Carbone" by

referring to Eddie in the past tense, Alfieri leaves the audience with

doubts and questions in their mind about what happens to Eddie and

gives a slight hint that something bad has happened or will happen to

Eddie in the play.