Desperation to help Catherine Essay Example for Free

Desperation to help Catherine Essay Manliness is a belief that you are a man, and for any one else to be a man too, they should be somewhat like you. Hostility is open hatred and enmity. These two are linked when a man believes that he is a true man, and he sees another man as not being a true man, and so he openly hates him as he is not a right person. This happens in the play as Eddie feels he is a man; however he doesnt think Rodolpho is a true man as he does not have the right priorities, and gets involved in feminine tasks. In this way, manliness and hostility are connected. This hostility can lead to aggression as aggression is hostile behaviour or actions. This hostility can lead to aggress as hostility is hatred, and if someone hates any other person, but this person does not react back with hatred, the person begins to get frustrated and angry; and his aggression builds up. This is shown in the play when Eddie continually tries to deprive and show Rodolpho down, yet Rodolpho never reacts back with hostility. We see there is only one time in the play, where Rodolpho tries to help Eddie to stop embarrassing himself; and tries to make Eddie stop insulting his going-to-be wife. He flings an attack onto Eddie through his desperation to help Catherine. This shows us that even Rodolpho has some aggression within him, and also shows us that when you are faced with hostility, you can also have a build of aggression within you. These two are connected in the ways shown. Manliness and aggression are linked by several strings. Manliness, as Eddie believes is power, and the only way for him to express his power is by using aggression. Due to his lack of emotions, he finds it hard to express what he wants to say, and so it is a natural instinct for him to use aggression to get his message across. Manliness is the belief that you are the dominant member, in any circumstance. However when we have more than one person fighting for this right, aggression becomes involved as it is the only way to show which is stronger and thus which one deserves that role. This is shown throughout Act Two, as Eddies power declines due to Marcos manliness. In each Eddie, Marco and Rodolpho, Miller gifts them with unique qualities which the audience can admire. In Eddie it is clear that Miller has given him the gift of self belief. Eddie did what he believed was right throughout the play, even though this led to his death. Miller uses Alfieris speech at the end to indicate this; but himself purely, for he allowed himself to be wholly known Eddie also cared very much about his family, especially his niece. He loved her so much, that due to his manliness, he could not resist his sexual desire for her; however he tried his hardest to do so, and he was successful, until Rodolpho arrived. The jealously within Eddie had reached such a high level along with his aggression shown by the stage directions, He looks at [Catherine] like a lost boy as he realised that all his life, he has loved someone very much, taken complete care of her. He even worked extra time to buy her stenography, because he wanted her to move up a class; but now a man who aint right has just stolen her from him. This quality, the quality of devotion to your family, and caring of everyone who is in it, even if they are not your own children, is one than should also be admired in Eddie. This quality is also significant in Marcos character. Marco loves his family very much and has sacrificed his home to risk his life to migrate to America in order to earn some money so that he can send back to them; who can live a happier life than before. This is shown when Marco says, what can I do? The older one is sick in the chest. My wife she feeds them from her own mouth they will never grow up they eat the sunshine. He also is protective of Rodolpho as he knows he is weaker than him, and as he is his brother, it is his duty to help him. When this scene took place, it was a key moment as Eddie understood that if he should pick on someone his own size. Another quality which would have been much admired would be Marcos politeness, as well as his straightforwardness and simplicity. This is shown, as mentioned before, when he says to Eddie, when you say we go, we go. This shows us that he has respect for them as they are letting his and his brother stay in their house, but as soon as they feel they need to have their house back he and Rodolpho will leave. It is also a symbol of politeness, and indicated his straightforwardness. Rodolpho has the quality of being unique. He was very different, appearance, character and belief wise compared to most men in the Sicilian era. A quality which should be admired is his persistent politeness even when other people mainly Eddie are rude to him. He always tries to uplift a dull conversation and he is the kind of person who always wants happiness. He does not change his uniqueness to be just like everyone else as like Eddie, he also things that what he believes in is right. As this is a play, I will discuss that several, very effective dramatic techniques used by Miller. He has created this play which in many aspects would have shocked a number of the audience members at the time it will performed. Certain stage directions would have indicated sexually attraction or desire at that time, however when read now; it may not strike any significance. For example when Catherine lights a cigar for him Eddie or when we hear of how she sits on the bath as he shaves and walks around in her slip, we are being told about their relationship. These actions tell us that even without being lovers; they have the kind of intimacy only lovers should have. This would have been an explicit piece of evidence that there was some sort of sexual relationship between the uncle and the niece, however depending on interpretation by the actors, this moment many have more or less sexual undertones. However, this is not of much importance, but the symbolism of other parts of the play is. If we look carefully at the ending of the play, we say a lot of minute dramatic effects which have a lot of importance. Earlier in the play, we see that Eddie pays a lot of attention to the story of Vinnie Bolzano. Miller uses this technique so that the audience are certain of how much Eddie hates betrayal, and also to show us his belief in loyalty to family and community. However Eddie does exactly the opposite of what he was preaching, and this enables the audience to see how much his manliness, hostility and aggression changed him and his beliefs. When the Officers arrive, and take all four immigrants away, including two other submarines who stayed with the Laiparis, on the apartment above Eddies , Miller shows us in his stage directions that Louise barely turns then walks off and exits down right with Mike, only Beatrice is left on the stoop. This symbolises that Eddie is now alone. Lipari and his wife, Louis and Mike, the stage representatives of the wider community, one by one leave Eddie alone, symbolizing his isolation. We then see another very important dramatic technique used by Miller. Miller makes Eddie remove the knife, and this is so that now Marco can justify whatever actions follow. This makes some people feel that Miller was slightly more partial towards Marco. When Eddie lunges the knife, Marco grabs Eddies arm and turns the blade inward. However this action has more depth that what it seems to have at first. It tells us that Eddie literally dies by his own hand as his hand holds the knife, and thus he is killed by his own weapon, however it can metaphorically stand for the gradual deterioration of himself throughout the play itself. We then read that Eddie falls to his knees before Marco. This technique shows the audience that the better man won, and also shows us Marcos manliness, hostility and aggression. It symbolises the downfall of Eddies authority and power, and the rise of Marcos. In certain cases, what Miller has written and instructed can be interpreted differently depending of different factors. This is mentioned above, where Catherine light the cigar for Eddie. Another thing the Miller puts in the play is the definite variation in the way each character speaks. I will briefly go through the syntax of each character. Eddie speaks in the syntax of Red Hook, generally like most men in Brooklyn a low class neighbourhood. It is clear that he is not very well educated as he uses a lot of slang words and his the way he says words is shown by Miller, for example he says, bowin, goin, slidin, stayin and so on; instead of the full words which proves the point. Beatrice and Catherine speak almost the same syntax, but the feminine type, which in some cases is very much similar. For example Catherine says to Eddie, we wasnt goin and Beatrice uses wanna several times. This indicates the similarity to Eddies syntax. Marco speaks relatively little throughout Act One and through most of Act Two. Miller tries to show the audience that Marco finds it hard to understand and speak English as fluently as Rodolpho. He may be insinuating the difference in intelligence between the two brothers one who is very similar to Eddie. Marco speaks very simply, but says what he wants to say straightforwardly this represents his general character as throughout the play we do not see he speak a lot but we understand his character just as well as the others. His English language is very basic but understandable which backs up the point that Marco is thoughtful, and that he is a man of action, rather than words. Rodolpho on the other hand speaks unnatural exactness. He uses a variety of words and all his words are English but the phrases are not always idiomatic. This is shown to the audience when he first recalls vivid details of his life in Sicily. He describes them with accurate words which give us the impression that he is well-educated. In some cases he also gives poetic comparisons, sown when he compares Catherine to a little bird that has not been allowed to fly. Alfieri is the only character in the play that we see speaks in formal American-English. This is probably as Miller has included him in the play as he said that he wanted to make this play a modern equivalent of classical Greek tragedy. If we look at ancient plays, an essential part or it was that of the chorus. These were a group of figures who would watch the action, comment on it, and address the audience directly. This is basically what Alfieri does. He introduces the action as a retelling of events already in the recent past. By giving details of place, date or time, he enables the action to move swiftly from one episode to another, without the characters having to give this information. This makes the play run much ore smoothly, and more effectively and if for some reason the audience did not understand what had just happened, Alfieri gives a summary at the end of each act. This is how Miller uses Alfieris American-English to help in the play, and it also shows us what role he had, apart from being a Lawyer.