A View From the Bridge: Themes

“A View From the Bridge: Themes”

Immigration and the American Dream

• The play centres around Beatrice’s cousins, Marco and Rodolpho, who have immigrated illegally from Italy hoping to find work and fulfil the American Dream.
• Their illegal status provides a constant threat that influences the action of the play and underpins the tension.

Masculinity and Pride

• Eddie Carbone’s view of masculinity influences his opinion of Rodolpho, whom he sees as effeminate and therefore a less suitable match for Catherine.
• Eddie’s extreme pride in his masculine image leads him to confront Marco publicly, which eventually culminates in his own tragic demise.

Love and Obsession

• Eddie’s unhealthy obsession with his niece-cum-adopted daughter Catherine forms the central plot. It’s an incestuous love and his difficulty in acknowledging and tackling this obsession leads to a tragic end.
• It’s implied that Eddie’s inability to accept his feelings for Catherine result in him betraying his own community values and codes.

Justice and Law

• The two concepts of justice in Alfieri’s monologues represent the conflict between Italian-American community justice and American law.
• Eddie’s idea of justice leads him to betray Marco and Rodolpho to the immigration authorities.

Community and Identity

• Community plays a crucial role in the narrative, with the Italian-American community having its own honour codes which Eddie breaches, thereby isolating himself.
• This theme emphasises on the contrasts between community-based loyalties and individual desires, personified in Eddie’s struggle with his own identity and role in the society.

Tragedies

• “A view from the Bridge” is a modern tragedy, following Eddie’s tragic fall from grace.
• Central to this theme are pride, fate and the inescapability of destiny, with Eddie’s flaws culminating in his downfall much like classic Greek tragedies.