Examine Alfieri?s Role Within The Play. What Functions Does He Perform? Essay, Research Paper
Many hundreds of years ago, the ancient Greeks produced the
first theatre. This theatre, at first, had no actors, and the numerous chorus
figures told the whole story, which was usually a tragedy. Later, in the 6th
century B.C., Thespis introduced the actor. The chorus figure was still in
plays ? he now commented on the action, divided it into scenes and linked these
scenes together by covering any action that the audience didn?t see during a
time gap. He represents sanity, reason and compassion in modern plays. The
choric figure usually talks more standard English, and this is true in this
play, where Alfieri is much more articulate than most of the characters. Arthur Miller has used this characteristic in Alfieri to
divide each act into unofficial scenes, and inform the audience on any missed
action. As David Thacker, a Director said, Alfieri is the ?mechanism by which
the play unfolds.? A View From The Bridge involves the audience and their
emotions. Arthur Miller has used various methods to keep these emotions
controlled. He has used calm scenes between those of high tension and emotion,
but the main method is the chorus figure. The audience listen to Alfieri, for
many reasons. They respect his opinion because he is a Lawyer, but they also
like his character and can connect with his position in the play. I believe that the chorus character in this play has the
?View From A Bridge,? and is looking over the play. I think he has so much
pressure from being told all the other characters? secrets that he needs to
talk to someone. I think this is why he talks to the audience. He comments on the action in a previous scene and gives
hints as to the action in the next, ?He worked on the piers when there was
work?, ?After they had eaten, the cousins came.?? In doing this, he exercises a key role of the chorus character ?
they can comment but not intervene,? ?I
could have finished the whole story that afternoon.? This also gives the audience the feeling that Alfieri is
simply re-telling the story, because he speaks in the past tense, except when
he?s talking to another actor in the play. Alfirei?s character is as a Lawyer.
The community in the play respect Alfieri, and view him as the authoritative
figure in the play. As Alfieri reminds us in his introductory speech, Lawyers
are only thought of in connection with disasters. I think that Arthur Miller
meant for the play to be a Greek tragedy. The ancient theme is brought up in
the introductory scene, ?In some Caesar?s year, in Calabria perhaps or on the
cliff at Syracuse?? I find this interesting because it is linking to a theme
that has been used throughout time. Another theme that Arthur Miller uses Alfieri to portray, it
that of repetition. In the introductory scene, Alfieri refers to the repetition
of events throughout history when he says, ?Another lawyer, quite differently
dressed, heard the same complaint.? Alfieri also repeats himself throughout the
play, reinforcing this theme. In both his main scenes as a Lawyer he says how,
?His eyes were like tunnels,? referring to Eddie. In most of Alfieri?s scenes he develops the action, moving
time forwards and setting the new time, place and situation, as he does in both
of the next two scenes. In the first of the two scenes, the audience feel again
like they know what is going to happen, especially when Alfieri says, ?He was
as good a man as he had to be.? This also starts another repetition, as it is
said again in the concluding scene. In the second of these two scenes, Alfieri hints at what is
to come in an abstract way. The cousins have arrived and the story of Vinnie
Bolzano has been told, when Alfieri starts his next soliloquy with, ?Who can
ever know what will be discovered?? He ends it with, ?There was a trouble that
would not go away.? This is reinforcing the idea that the chorus character can
comment but not intervene with the action. I think Arthur Miller put Alfieri
into the play as a Lawyer because as a Lawyer he can talk to the characters and
give them advice. Without Alfieri in the play, the audience wouldn?t be able to
find out what th
who is not very articulate, ?But I?m telling? you, you?re walkin?wavy.?? Whilst in the Lawyers office, Alfieri
reveals what Eddie is thinking to the audience. After a Lawyer scene, the
audience knows why Eddie believes he is doing what he is, and they may even
sympathize with him. The only time Eddie shows his feelings is when he?s inside
Alfieri?s office. It is during the first scene in Alfieri?s office where the
main themes of the play come to light.?
Love, and morality, and the way they combine. As a chorus character he knows what is going to happen, but
even so he tries to stop it, ?She can?t marry you, can she?? He also sees
Eddie?s feelings, and tries to relate them to the audience, ?There is too much
love for the niece? The scene after this is where Eddie challenges the
masculinity of Rodolpho. Without the Lawyer scene the audience wouldn?t have
known why exactly Eddie was challenging Rodolpho. After watching the Lawyer
scene, the subtext becomes much clearer to the audience. At the start of act 2, Alfieri has a short speech setting
the time, place and situation. It is nearly Christmas, and the theme of
Christmas is strongly linked with the events of the play ? after the next
lawyer scene, B is taking down the Christmas decorations. I think this
represents the removal of everything Christmassy ? the festive spirit where
everyone is happy. The audience are now certain that Alfieri is re-telling the
story, when he says ?Catherine told me later.? He also says that Eddie was
drunk during the next scene, ?A case of Scotch whisky slipped from a net while
being unloaded,? Which may explain his actions. The next scene is the last scene where Alfieri is seen in
his office with Eddie. It is just after the 3 kisses scene, and helps to calm
the tension. Again, the audience can see what Eddie is feeling with the help of
Alfieri, but this time Alfieri stresses that there is more than the law written
on paper, ?When the law is wrong, it?s because it?s unnatural, but in this case
it is natural.? He tries to dissuade Eddie from what he knows will happen.
Alfieri knows about both moral law and of that in the book. He controls which
one he uses. He does this again in a later scene, where he is trying to tell
Marco that the only law is that in a book, and that he would be breaking that
law if he harmed Eddie. I think the phone box on stage is interesting. It is there
from the start of the play, but it is only lit after the 2nd lawyer
scene. Alfieri realises that Eddie is a desperate man. So desperate, he?ll do
anything. In the 1st lawyer scene Alfieri told Eddie that the only
recourse in the law he had was the way in which the cousins entered the
country. It is at this point that Eddie realises it is the only way he can stop
the marriage. Alfieri knows that Eddie loves Catherine in a way he shouldn?t,
but Eddie won?t admit it. He thinks that Rodolpho must be in the wrong, because
all the other alternatives are too painful for him. It is at this point in the
play that the phone box starts to glow. In the past, the phone box has
represented the outside world. It is introduced slowly, with Alfieri trying to
dissuade Eddie between each stage direction to make it brighter. The rate at
which it is shown to the audience give them time to think about what it could
mean. By the time they?ve worked it out, Eddie is walking out of the office for
the last time, and the phone box is the only lit item on stage. In the penultimate scene, Alfieri is in the police cell
after Eddie has gone to the police. Alfieri tells Marco not to harm Eddie. I
think this is because Alfieri likes Eddie, as he says in the conclusion, ?I
think I will love him more than all my sensible clients.? After Eddie?s death, Alfieri is lit up so that the audience
focus on him, and gives a final soliloquy, which calms the audience down after
another scene of high tension. This is like a eulogy, as it looks back over
Eddie?s life. A eulogy is usually a series of memories from a persons life,
rather like the play is a series of flashbacks. In the end, the conclusion is
inevitable, and ends in tragedy.
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