How does Miller portray Eddie Carbone as a tragic hero?A tragic hero is a protagonist who has a tragic flaw (culminating in their ultimate downfall). Their downfall often brings theaudience to feel pity or fear. Often, the actions of a tragic hero affects the whole community. Eddies downfall is due to his hubris and his love for Catherine. In Greek tragedies, tragic heroes have a sense of nobility. Millers A View from the Bridgeis regarded as a tragedy by some critics but others regard it as a melodrama.Eddie does not fit the role of a tragic hero as he is a normal longshoreman, which is fairly ordinary in the town of Red Hook. Eddie, worked on the piers when there was work,he brought home his pay, and he lived. He does not have a high status position and in Greek tragedies tragic heroes have a sense of nobility. However, he can still be considered as a tragic hero because he has a tragic flawand an inevitable downfall. Inthe start of the play, he is also respected, just like a tragic hero.In the 1940s Miller spent two years working with Italians in the shipyards of Brooklyn and was thus able to study the social background of the lives of the longshoremen in that area. Itwas during this time that the playwright heard the story of a longshoreman who had betrayed two of his relatives to the Immigration authorities because he was not happy about the relationship between one of the immigrants and his niece. Also, in his autobiography Time Bends he described how a friend told him about a dream he had about an attraction he felt for his cousin. When Miller interpreted the dream as an indication that the man might have wanted an incestuous relationship with his ward he was horrified (like Eddie) and refused to accept that there might be any truth in what Miller was saying.Eddies tragic flaw is his love for Catherine. His fate is unavoidable due to the tragic flaw in his personality. His unnatural love for Catherine made him jealous of Rodolpho. This also is a device used in Greek tragedy, and can be described as a weakness of the tragic hero. This is a feature that all tragic heroes have. At the start, the tragic hero will be a well-liked and good person. In the play, Miller portrayed Eddie in the beginning of the play as a loving and caring man. He loves Catherine a lot; he said, I want you to be in a nice office. This shows that he cares a lot for Catherine and her future. At this stage, the audience views Eddie as a respectable man.Eddie is unable to recognise his feeling for Catherine as he has fabricated a fictional world where he can suppress his impulses. This suppression is what caused Eddies demise. The fact he has no orifice for his emotions; he transfers his vigourinto an abhorrence of Marco and Rodolpho, which causes him to act senselessly. Eddie's necessity to reclaim his name from Marco depicts Eddie's failure to protect Catherine from Marco. By reclaiming his name from Marco, Eddie believes he will redeem himself in the community. Eddie's tragic flaw is the bubble, the fabricated world in which he exists, but is incapable of escaping or recognising it.Honour adds to Carbones demise, despite the fact Carbone is shown to have a strong sense of honour at the beginning of the play. Eddie tells the tale of Vinny Bolzano at the start of the play to set the tone. "The family had an uncle that they were hidin' in the house, and hesnitched to the Immigration."Clearly, in the eyes of Eddie and Beatrice, Vinny had committed an outrageous crime and was justly punished. Eddie is clear that Vinny will never be seen in the neighbourhood again out of shame: "a guy do a thing like that? How's he gonna show his face?" Family is shown to be of the highest importance. To betrayone's family is a crime and should be punished - Vinny does not deserve sympathy despite the injuries inflicted upon him: it was seen that he got what he deserved. It is ironic that Eddie does just the same thing as Vinny - 'snitch to Immigration' - to Marco and Rodolpho at the end of the play.Honour is shown to be very important, especially to the male characters. It means far more to them than the law, as honour means respect. Thus Marco and Eddie are so keen to protect their names and get a 'just' conclusion. Codes of honour bind families and the whole neighbourhood with a sense of community. Everyone should look out for one another, to betray someone is the most dishonourable action imaginable.The notion of fate sets up the idea that Carbone is a tragic idea, through the use of the chorus. Alfieri is the chorus in the play. A tragedy should have a narrator The Chorus which introduces us to the characters and situations in the play; the chorus often foreshadows events in the play. The Chorus movesthe story on by filling in any gaps or by telling us that time has passed. The Chorus usually ends the play by giving us some final thoughts on what we have seen.Alfieri breaks the fourth wall which id direct address; he is speaking directly to the audience. This is portrayed in the line Sat there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course which shows that he is the passive narrator and that the play would end in violence. Although he does play some part in the action, it is clear thathe was powerlessand that nothing he could have done would have altered the bloody course. He tells us right from the start what is going to happen: dramatic interest is maintained because we want to find out how.He reminds us at various intervals during the play that the ending is inevitable, such as near the end of Act 1:"I could see every step coming, step after step, like a dark figure walking down a hall towards a certain door."In conclusion, Miller portrays Eddie Carbone as a tragic hero (even though he is not noble) as he has a tragic flaw and was respected at the beginning. Also, the ideas of honour and hubris are shown to add to Carbones demise as well as the idea of fate