A View from the Bridge

Friday 26th February 2021

During Directed Reading read up to the end of the play…

Learning Purposes

• To revise the plot of the play

• To explore the representation of key characters

• To analyse the representation of a key character

Future Learning

We are going to continue to study a modern play.

We are going to continue using this study to practice our language analysis.

Previous Learning

• Quiz to follow

Quiz

1. What is a prologue?

2. Who is Marco?

3. What is the significance of the play’s setting?

4. What type of background do the main characters come from?

5. Write down two characteristics of Rodolpho.

6. What is omerta?

7. How is it relevant to the play?

8. How does Marco challenge Eddie?

9. What is Alfieri’s profession?

10.Why is this significant?

Plot of the PlayComplete the plot of the play, filling in the blanks.

A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller is a two-act drama set by the docks of Red Hook, a working-class part of Brooklyn, New York. It is narrated by a lawyer, Alfieri and revolves around the Carbone family – Eddie, his wife Beatrice and their niece Catherine. The family are first seen awaiting the arrival from Sicily of Beatrice’s cousins Marco and Rodolpho.

The cousins arrive late one night, and the Carbone family welcome them. Catherine and Rodolpho are attracted to each other, which annoys Eddie a lot. He finds more and more things to dislike about Rodolpho as the young couple grow closer over the following weeks. When they decide to get married, Eddie does a terrible thing – he reports the cousins as illegal immigrants.

This makes his family and all the neighbours hate Eddie. Marco comes to get revenge on him, but Eddie produces a knife during the fight which Marco uses to stab him. He dies in Beatrice’s arms.

Key characters - Eddie

Write down the following complex vocabulary and identify key quotes or facts which show these characteristics in Eddie:

Protective: defensive of or aiming to protect his family

Suspicious: concerned, distrustful or worried by another’s actions

Possessive: selfish and guarded over possessions or others

Key characters - Catherine

Write down the following complex vocabulary and identify key quotes or facts which show these characteristics in Catherine:

naive: young and inexperienced, unawareindependent: free from family or other

similar groups or pressuresliberated: free or open to opportunity

Key characters - Rodolpho

Write down the following complex vocabulary and identify key quotes or facts which show these characteristics in Rodolpho:

Unusual: not expected or out the ordinaryExpressive: sensitive and communicative

to othersAdventurous: brave and willing to

experience new things, places or settings

Key characters - Alfieri

Write down the following complex vocabulary and identify key quotes or facts which show these characteristics in Alfieri:

Professional: from an educated background, and usually detached from a situation

Pessimistic: looking forward with negative feelings or expectations

omniscient: having knowledge or awareness of the whole situation

Character analysis

Using the notes, key vocabulary and quotations complete the following analysis of characters:

In the play Eddie is presented as…..

His niece Catherine, meanwhile is shown to be……

Catherine falls in love with Rodolpho a character portrayed as….

Meanwhile, the story is narrated by Alfieri, a…… who is characterised by Miller as…..