A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE Revision Guide

1. A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGERevision Guide BY: Aisha Rauf, Christian Neumann, Eman Siraj & Muna Gasim

2. The Prevailing Themes • The pursuit of the American Dream • Morality • Loyalty • Betrayal • Poverty

3. Beatrice • Introduction into her background: • Beatrice • She is a middle-aged wife married to Eddie Carbone in 1955 New York. Beatrice eludes the personality traits of an observant, intuitive care-giver, she is strong minded and loyal. Although thrust in the middle of Eddie’s obsessive infatuation with Catherine, she still manages to hold her ground and stick to her sense of morality. That in itself speaks immensely about her character, however at times she displays a (Freudian slip) of jealousy.

4. The Pursuit of the American Dream • “When am I going to be a wife again Eddie?” (Pg. 36) • Beatrice's version of the American Dream is stability in her marriage. Tension in the marriage has built up as Eddie’s over protectiveness of Catherine has pushed her away. • “You think I'm jealous of you honey?”(Pg.44) • The arrival of Beatrice’s cousins from Sicily in pursuit of the American Dream further increases the competition between Beatrice and Catherine for Eddie’s love. This is because Eddie becomes further obsessive about Catherine and jealous of her relationship with Rodolpho. HINT-refer to Arthurs Millers interest in the subconscious and Freudian slips. • “You want somethin’ else. Eddie, and you can never have her!”(Pg.83) • This quote confronts Eddie’s true feelings for Catherine. The arrival of Beatrice’s cousins, Marco and Rudolpho in pursuit of the American Dream, push Eddie to his limit and exposes his true feelings towards Catherine. Beatrice is intuitive and notices this. She is brave enough to confront Eddie about this. Her desperation, to get Eddie away from Catherine is evident as she stops being a passive watcher by. • “I was going to wash the walls.”(Pg. 15) • This shows Beatrice's domestic side. She is a typical housewife living in 1955, New York, where women were responsible of taking care of house duties. While Eddie her husband was a typical Alfa-male.

5. Betrayal • “ The family had an uncle that they were hiding in the house, and he snitched to the immigration.” (Pg.23) • This quote forebodes the situation in which Eddie, ironically who is also Catherine's uncle, snitches to the immigration police about Marco and Rodolpho being illegal immigrants. • “My God what the hell did you do?”(Pg. 74) • This quote indicates the extent of the magnitude of betrayal. The sudden realization in Beatrice of the havoc Eddie has created. Loyalty and family are important to her and she is disgusted with Eddie’s actions. • “The truth is not as bad as blood” (Pg.83) • Beatrice confronts Eddie on his sexual feelings of incest toward Catherine. Her gut feelings and intuition are clear to her as she is positive that Eddie is attracted to her niece. This simile is evidence of how important the Sicilian American community takes loyalty and trust. Eddie has undermined this unspoken rule and betrayed not only his community but Beatrice, as Marco and Rodolpho are her cousins. • “Only blood is good? He kissed your hand!” (Pg.82) • Beatrice has stopped being submissive. She is confronting Eddie on his aggressive nature. Looking deeper into sub-text, this discloses that she may be hinting to Eddie that only Catherine who is part of the family or “blood” may be good enough for him.

6. Poverty • “You got to push a taxi?”(Pg.28) • Beatrice is inquisitive, she is a hospitable host who is friendly towards Marco and Rodolpho. This quote is evidence of the poor conditions in Italy which force immigrants to move to America. • “ I didn’t even buy a new tablecloth.” (Pg.15)The hard life of a migrant worker and the poor conditions of the house display that Beatrice has to buy a new tablecloth every time she has visitors, looking deeper this shows she may be insecure and cares a lot about her appearance. • “ I just hope they get work here.” (Pg.15) • This shows how desperate conditions are in Italy. Workers flee to America in order to seek a better quality of life. They depend on work as a source of livelihood. The Great Depression in America and the rise of dictators such as Mussolini in Europe forced people to leave Italy. Jobs were scarce and necessary for survival. • “They’re starvin’ over there” (Pg. 75) • Beatrice is defending her cousin, this statement is evidence of how bad conditions were in Sicily at the time forcing people to do anything in order to achieve their version of the American dream. In this case Marco’s has been shattered.

7. Loyalty • “…Eddie listen to me… I love you I'm talking to you, I love you..” (Pg. 82) • Throughout the entire play up until the very end even though Eddie has betrayed his community and abandoned the marriage between them. The loyalty, love and desire to care is still there as she “holds” onto his hand until his death. • “There’ll be nobody there from her family. For my sister let me go.”(Pg.80) • Beatrice is loyal towards her sister. Although Catherine is the catalyst between her and Eddies failed relationship, Beatrice still feels the need to support Catherine and thereby keep her promise to her sister. This is evidence of Beatrice’s loving and caring nature. • “Eddie don’t go, wait a minute. {she embraces Eddie’s arm with warmth}(Pg.71) • Although Eddie has ignored Beatrice's advice and given up on their marriage, she is still adamant on making him move on and make up with Catherine. This displays that Beatrice is a loving wife who considers family very important. She cares about Eddie and Catherine and wants them to still be close. Even though Catherine has been the source of her marital problems. • “Who’s mad? I’m not mad.”(Pg.25) • Beatrice is tying to hide the fact that she is upset with Eddie in order to please him. This is foreboding of the greater problems to come in their marriage. She is concerned with putting up a good front, almost trying to be the perfect housewife. This perfectionism could be the reason behind her loyalty to Eddie throughout the play.

8. Morality • “You can’t act the way you act”( Pg.43) • Beatrice understand limits and boundaries. She is observant and knows the difference between right and wrong. • “I’m goin’ for my sister” (Pg.80) • This quote portrays her loyalty towards her sister, and the fact that despite Catherine being the problem between her and Eddies married life, she accompanies her sisters daughter on her big day. Beatrice stands by her family no matter what. • “I don’t want you to be here when he comes” (Pg.81) • Beatrice understands Eddie and the fact that he cannot control himself around Catherine. She doesn’t want Catherine around him anymore because she knows his feelings are wrong. Beatrice’s protective nature is evident as she doesn’t want Catherine to fall victim to Eddie. She is also desperate to save her marriage. • “You still walk around in front of him in your slip-”(Pg.43) • Beatrice understands the boundaries between right and wrong. She is gently trying to tell Catherine that she needs to grow up and act like a mature woman who's in the house with a “grown man”. Her intelligence is apparent, she pieces together the logic of Catherine's attractiveness and Eddie's attraction towards her.

9. USEFUL TIPS: • Memorize all the quotes in relation to their context in the play. • Try to look into the sub-text and relate your answer to social, historical and cultural background of the text. • Refer to the question in your answer. • Make sure you embed your quotes in order to make your essay more fluid. • Always stick to answering the question. • Support your evidence with detailed explanations. • Use a personal response in the conclusion.

10. SAMPLE INTRODUCTION: • Arthur Miller’s “ A View from the Bridge” portrays Beatrice as an observant,intuitive,caring and loyal housewife. Living in a typical household in 1955 New York, Beatrice is a necessary submissive character who acts as a calm mediator in the play. The juxtaposition of loyalty and betrayal in the poem are evident as Beatrice pursues her American Dream and tries to achieve the lost stability in her marriage and pull her family together.