A View from the Bridge

A View from the Bridge

Explore 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.

(more content follows the advertisement below)
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

�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 this play also to strongly criticize the McCarthyism and those who named the names of innocent artists.

Miller spent two years in the shipyards of Brooklyn and was thus able to study the social background of the lives of the dockworkers in that area. Many of the immigrants were of illegal legacy and were being exploited by the people who helped bring them to America and so consequently he further advanced his knowledge of the community spirit in the slum areas of New York and the beliefs and values of the Sicilian individuals.

During this time period, Miller had close associations with the families of the dockworkers and to him, this was �a dangerous and mysterious world at the water�s edge that drama and literature had never touched.�