View from the Bridge
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YR 12 ENGLISH LITERATURE
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
In the play A View from the Bridge, Arthur Miller's representation of inner struggles is dependent upon certain underlined, silenced or assumed ideologies. The representation of Eddie Carbone's inner struggles displays this clearly as the dilemmas he grapples with can only be accepted or understood by an audience who accepts the underlying values that create the basis of his inner struggles. Hence if the underlying values of Eddie's inner struggles; that is incest, male roles and behaviour, Italian cultural assumptions and his need to conform to ideas about respect and name are not accepted, then the representation that Miller has presented will be rejected by the audience. This is more likely to occur in audiences of the reception context (2004) as they hold different ideologies from those of the production context (1955).
The representation of Eddie's inner struggles with his incestuous feelings for his niece Catherine is constructed negatively in the text as it is assumed by social ideologies that the audience will respond negatively to the idea of incest. This representation relies on social values and attitudes that challenge the concept of incest otherwise Eddie's dilemma, and actions as a consequence of this dilemma, would not be accepted. Miller takes advantage of this by utilizing this representation based on ideas about social norms to its extremum in the dramatic scene where Eddie kisses Catherine. Here there is a strong reliance on negative social constructs towards incest to turn the audience completely from Eddie by creating a feeling of utter disgust and repulsion. As the negative ideologies concerning incest in the production context does not differ from the reception context, the response from the audience would be similar, demonstrating that Eddie's inner struggle with incest relies heavily on the audience's acceptance of cultural assumptions in order to be effective.
The representation of Eddie struggling with Rodolpho's unmanly behaviour relies on patriarchal values for the audience to accept Eddie's narrow perspective on male roles...