During the 1950s in America, conformity and traditional gender roles were emphasized. Men were expected to be breadwinners while women stayed home. This was the setting for Arthur Miller's play A View from the Bridge. The play examines an Italian immigrant community in New York City during this time period. It focuses on Eddie Carbone, an ordinary longshoreman who represents the working class. Like the protagonists in Greek tragedies, Eddie has a flaw that causes him to act wrongly and face destruction as a consequence, restoring the moral order.

1. A View from the Bridge
Arthur Miller

2. Aims
 Appreciate the social and historical
context of the play
 Examine the stage setting of the play

3. Activity
 Brainstorm anything you know about
1950s America – think about films you
have watched or articles that you have
read (anything at all)

4. Read the passage below and make a list of
the main points.
During the 1950s and 60s, a sense of uniformity pervaded American
society. Conformity was common, as young and old alike followed
group norms rather than striking out on their own. Though men and
women had been forced into new employment patterns during
World War II, once the war was over, traditional roles were
reaffirmed. Men expected to be the breadwinners; women, even
when they worked, assumed their proper place was at home.
America was seen as the land of opportunity for many and there
was a great influx of illegal immigrants from countries such as Italy.
They came to America in the hope that they would get work, money
and fulfil their dreams – in many cases they left behind great
poverty and families who they hoped they would return to.

5. What do you know of Italian (Sicilian culture) – think of any
mafia movies you might have watched. (make a list):
 Sicilian code of conduct etc…

6. Setting
 Read through the stage directions and put
together a detailed picture of how you
think the stage would look
 Draw and label this on a fresh page in
your book
 Now look at the following pictures of the
play – how do they fit what you have done

10. Activity
 Swap pictures with your partner and
evaluate

11. Refer back to aims
 What do you expect from the play?

12. Aims
 To appreciate the historical context of the
plays
 To understand the significance of Greek
tragedy to the play

13. Activity
 Read through the first article on the sheets

14.  Western drama originates in the Greek tragedies of
Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides, all of whom wrote in
Athens in the 5th century B.C. Drama, theatre, actor and
tragedy are all Greek words. In these plays the tragic hero
or protagonist (=first or most important actor) commits an
offence, often unknowingly. He must then learn his fault,
suffer and perhaps die. In this way, the gods are
vindicated and the moral order of the universe restored.
(This is a gross simplification of an enormous subject.)
 These plays, and those of Shakespeare two thousand
years later, are about kings, dukes or great generals.
Why? Because in their day, these individuals were
thought to embody or represent the whole people.
Nowadays, we do not see even kings in this way. When
writers want to show a person who represents a nation or
class, they typically invent a fictitious "ordinary" person,
the Man in the Street or Joe Public.

15.  How can we relate these descriptions to
Eddie Carbone?

16. In Eddie Carbone, Miller creates just such a
representative type. He is a very ordinary man,
decent, hard-working and charitable, a man no-one
could dislike. But, like the protagonist of the ancient
drama, he has a flaw or weakness. This, in turn,
causes him to act wrongly. The consequences, social
and psychological, of his wrong action destroy him.
The chorus figure, Alfieri, then explains why it is better
to "be civilised" and "settle for half", thus restoring the
normal moral order of the universe.

17. Oedipus Rex
 Flawed King who ended up killing his
father and marrying his mother (Jocasta)
 This is Greek tragedy - doing things
unintentionally / unknowingly
 It is the genre that Miller was interested in
and to an extent tried to emulate in the
character of Eddie