The Role of Alfieri in Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Arthur Miller is now regarded as one of the world’s greatest dramatists. In his plays he explores the struggles of the ordinary man against authority and insurmountable odds. It is his ability to dramatize the attempts to find the balance between the different conflicts of life that is Miller’s feature as a writer. “Many of his plays look at the position of the individual in relation to their responsibilities and position in society and may be seen, as a result, to be political.” (Tim Bezant.) While exploring human faults he also talks about the hidden emotions within people. This is significantly highlighted throughout his world-renowned theatrical production of ‘A View from the Bridge’, in which he conveys his true feelings through the themes and messages portrayed on the historical and cultural context of the period.
Miller completed the two-act version of the play in 1956, the same year in which it was performed at the Comedy Theatre in London. During this epoch he was called to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee to name the people of communist sympathizers, the height of the McCarthy Era. Miller refused to do so and so was admired by people for his strength and loyalty. In 1957, Miller was charged with contempt by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Miller's own struggle therefore with this issue is present in ‘A View from the Bridge’ as he, like the characters in his plays (Eddie Carbone), was faced with the problem of choosing to be American or not, specifically by naming names of people who were doing (what were considered then) unlawful acts. Miller chose to write about a community that accepted and protected unlawful people. Miller used thi...
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...anding and their enjoyment of the play, and to act as a dramatic device which are seen as his role within the ‘A View from the Bridge.‘ Arthur Miller has not drawn Alfieri as a ‘full’ character even though there are times when we sympathize for his predicament of being powerless to stop the events in the tragedy. Alfieri’s role is to oversee the action and remains objective throughout. The audience can see, at the end of the play, that Alfieri does have sympathy for Eddie and even soon admiration for him because “he has allowed himself to be wholly known.“ And there finally, we have Alfieri’s most important role. He offers the audience universal concepts to think about as they leave the theatre.
Bibliography:
‘Time Bends’ by Arthur Miller, Methuen, 1987
‘A View from the Bridge’ introduction, Tim Bezant, Heinemann, 1995
‘Penguin Dictionary‘, Penguin, 1995
In the article, Miller discusses the rise of McCarthyism, and how it affected the American people and him personally. Being that Miller lived in the time of McCarthyism and was interviewed by the committee in charge of “Un-American Activities”, Miller is a very credible source on the effects of mass hysteria and paranoia. The article “Are You Now or Were You Ever” can be used as a source when discussing McCarthyism and its effects, and other studies of the era. This article is a valuable resource for studies of The Crucible and studies of Arthur Miller
In this essay, I intend to analyse the historical context of The Crucible and its relevance in today’s society. I believe that Arthur Miller’s life and his experience of McCarthyism strongly influenced the writing of The Crucible.
Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play 'The Crucible';. This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that discusses many issues and spurs contemplation within the reader. While reading this play, because of the controversy of many issues detailed within, it is difficult for one not to take a look at one’s own morals and determine what one would do if placed in a similar situation. The key issues discussed within this play, the effects of hysteria, marital betrayal, and the murderous powers of lies, are portrayed intriguingly and effectively. The lessons that can be learned from The Crucible are still quite applicable today.
Throughout Arthur Miller's The Crucible the issues of the 'handing over' of conscience, the divesting of guilt, and the administration of justice are presented to create a masterful drama. The Crucible deals with issues crucial to all people of all time and is therefore a timeless and momentous play.
It is difficult to imagine a play which is completely successful in portraying drama as Bertolt Brecht envisioned it to be. For many years before and since Brecht proposed his theory of “Epic Theatre”, writers, directors and actors have been focused on the vitality of entertaining the audience, and creating characters with which the spectator can empathize. ‘Epic Theatre’ believes that the actor-spectator relationship should be one of distinct separation, and that the spectator should learn from the actor rather than relate to him. Two contemporary plays that have been written in the last thirty years which examine and work with Brechtian ideals are ‘Fanshen’ by David Hare, and ‘The Laramie Project’ by Moises Kaufman. The question to be examined is whether either of these two plays are entirely successful in achieving what was later called, ‘The Alienation Effect”.
The night of January 2, 1953 in the heart of New York many have traveled to see the first premiere of the crucible of who they have heard to be the over-slightly liberal Arthur Miller. The play is not reportage of any kind,” Miller said. “Nobody can write a tragedy and make it reportage. What I was doing was writing a fictional story about an important theme." Words such as these were the very ones that began to make people question the truth in his words. Considering the due date of this play “so happened” to be at the peak of the red scare, Miller further on was known, or rather accused, as a communist sympathizer. However, the more sympathetic of
Through the use of dialogue, stage directions which enable us to envisage the scene on stage and characterisation we can see how dramatic tension is created by Miller. These aspects are to be explored for each act.
matter how hard he tries to help the citizens of Red Hook. He is happy
is a play, which on the whole, is written in the style of an old Greek
"The Crucible" is considered by many Miller’s masterpiece, it both displays his dramatic and theatrical qualities in such a way as to make it disturbing and socially relevant. In it one can find his views on society as a whole and on current events such as Mccarthyism which similarily to the medieval Church and justice system searched for individuals who by their ideals and ideas they felt threatened the supremacy of their system. Miller made "The Crucible" the starting point for the audience to reflect on their own society and culture. But at the same time Miller polished his deep philosophical work with superb stage directions, likeable characters and nerve-racking suspense.
"A View From A Bridge" is a play by Arthur Miller. It is set in 1950s
Arthur Miller himself was charged with contempt by a U.S Court and was faced with the dilemma of choosing to abide by the law, or accept community justice and not "rat" on his friends and family. A View from the Bridge criticizes those during the McCarthy trials (ones Arthur Miller was involved) who had "ratted" out innocent people. Arthur Miller chose to write about a community that accepted and protected unlawful people because of their own beliefs in justice and fairness, which is, in essence, what the law attempts to be based on but ultimately cannot because "All the law is not in a book". When Marco is betrayed by Eddie, he cannot accept the laws stated in America and although Alfieri states "there is no other law" outside the "law", the community has set "justices" that tell them NOT to rat on immigrants. This shows how justice and law go against each other.
Costello, Donald P. “Arthur Miller’s Circles of Responsibility: A View From a Bridgeand Beyond.” Modern Drama. 36 (1993): 443-453.
A view from the bridge is a play set in the late 1940s and is based in