A View from the Bridge
an original first edition cover
Written by	Arthur Miller
Date premiered	29 September 1955
Place premiered	Coronet Theatre New York City
Original language	Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
Genre	Tragedy
Setting	the apartment and environment of Eddie Carbone

A View from the Bridge is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller first staged on 29 September 1955 as a one-act verse drama with A Memory of Two Mondays at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway.

Miller's interest in writing about the world of the New York docks originated with an unproduced screenplay that he developed with Elia Kazan in the early 1950s, entitled The Hook, dealing with corruption on the Brooklyn docks. Miller has been quoted as saying that he heard the basic account that developed into the plot of A View from the Bridge from a longshoreman, who related it to him as a true story. Although the 1955 one-act production was not successful, it was revised in 1956 to become a more traditional prose play in two acts, and it is through this version that audiences are most familiar with the work today.

Eddie Carbone

The hardworking, blue collar lead of the play. Eddie is an overweight Italian-American longshoreman (dockyard worker) who provides food on the table for his family, a roof over their heads, and an education for his orphaned niece, Catherine, that he and his wife have raised. But underneath Eddie's average guy personality is a conflicted man, whose love for his niece may be deeper than just paternal, implying a possible incestuous desire. He calls the Immigration Bureau to inform on Rodolpho and Marco, which produces dire consequences. Killed by his own knife at Marco's hands when trying to attack him, he dies in Beatrice's arms at the end of the play.

Catherine Carbone

The sweet, naive young girl and female lead of the play. Catherine is a stenographer fresh out of high school and relatively new to the world. She develops an attraction to her aunt's cousin, Rodolpho, which is the complication that sets in action the story of the play. Her late mother, Nancy, was the sister of Beatrice.

Beatrice Carbone

Eddie's spouse and aunt of Catherine. Beatrice's character throughout remains a strong and constant figure, loyal to her husband right to the end, despite also being a caring substitute mother to Catherine. She is subtly wise and tactful, softly guiding Catherine through the play and supporting her, despite being aware her husband is in love with her. She is perhaps modern for her times, bold, as she is not afraid to confront Eddie about their dysfunctional sexual relationship.

Rodolpho

Beatrice's cousin from Italy. He appears to fall in love with Catherine. He tries unsuccessfully to prevent the fight between Eddie and Marco by making a truce. Rodolpho is seen by Eddie as having too many 'effeminate' talents, and seeking to marry Catherine only for the purpose of gaining US citizenship. Eddie's outrage that Catherine could love and want to marry somebody like Rodolpho drives on the play from the second Act.

Marco

Rodolpho's older brother and a man of few words. Like Rodolpho, he came to America illegally, but not to be a citizen. His plan was to make money to support his family back home in Italy, which was still suffering post-war Europe's crippled economy. He is very grateful to be given a chance to prosper in America. Following his betrayal by Eddie, he kills Eddie (arguably in self defense) in a fight over the breaking of an unspoken law about always being loyal to one's family.

Alfieri

The narrator of the play and a family friend of the Carbones. Alfieri is the wise attorney who dispenses legal advice to Eddie. Essentially, Alfieri is the proxy, the representative of the Red Hook neighborhood, completely familiar with its turf and its inhabitants. He tries to warn Eddie about turning on his family. His function in the play can be compared to that of the Chorus in Greek theatre.

Louis and Mike

Co-workers and friends of Eddie. They can't resist mocking Eddie for taking in his cousins, "He's a.. always making remarks ya' know!?" who seem to overshadow Eddie. During the final moments of the play, they try to prevent Eddie from attacking Marco with a knife.

Immigration Officer 1

A stern Manhattan immigration officer who takes Rodolpho and Marco away, after Eddie's anonymous phone call.

Immigration Officer 2

The second officer working with the first officer, who helps him round up the illegal immigrants.

Mr. Lipari

A neighbour and local butcher hiding an illegal immigrant family member away.

Mrs. Lipari

Mr. Lipari's wife and relative of the illegal immigrant they are assisting in safe passage from Italy.

Mr. Jonny Waugh

Has a small role in the play as 'Alessandro' the small confused Italian transvestite.

Mrs. Karen Waugh

Jonny's mother who also has a small role in the play, in an explicit scene where she repeatedly beats her son.

Mr. Jed Stubing

An illegal immigrant who comes from Cyprus , he has no frends in the play.

Mr. Chris De Souza

Appears frequently throughout the play as the lost Kenyan, famous for having a really bad haircut.

Mr. Shaun Fraser

A cocky Glaswegian originally from Killearn, enjoys spending his free time with his cousin Gregg 'Cousey' Fraser.

Mr Taylor Copeland

A thin boy in the play who is often referred to as malnourished, his nick name in the play is "stork"

Mrs. Gillian Fergusson

The grand maternal figure to all the young boys in the play. A school teacher in the play teaching English to a very high standard to all the young boys and girls. She contreversially is very protective and commonly seen overdosing on Basque Rescue Remedy everyday before school.

Mr. Murray 'Muppy' Cubie

Murray, obese until the age of 12 until he went on a violent and strict regime to overcome his 'disorder'. Brother of the beautiful Rebekah Cubie.

Mr Euan Bell

A thin tall man who is freakishly good at kicking , unfortunately he is plagued by a disease call Erinitis which makes his tongue swollen.

The play is set in New York, in the Red Hook neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn. Red Hook is a homogeneous community of Italian immigrants. Most of the people in Red Hook originate from Sicily and the Sicilian code of honour is a running motif in the play. Italy represents homeland, origin and culture to the citizens of Red Hook. But Italy represents different things to the main characters in the play. For example, Catherine associates Italy with mystery, romance and beauty. Rodolfo, on the other hand, is actually from Italy, and thinks it is a place with little opportunity, that he feels justified in escaping from. All of the characters appreciate the benefits of living in the U.S., but still strongly hold to Italian traditions. Italy is the basis of the cultural traditions in Red Hook, and it serves as a touchstone to unite the community, with their own laws and customs.

The set of the play is simple, merely a skeleton of Eddies living room in his apartment. There is also a desk to represent Alfieris office, and a telephone booth.

The main character in the story is Eddie Carbone, an Italian American longshoreman, who lives with his wife Beatrice and orphaned niece Catherine. His feelings for Catherine, however, develop from protective and paternal into something more than filial as the play develops. These feelings are brought into perspective by the arrival from Italy of Beatrice's two cousins, Marco and Rodolpho. They have entered the country illegally, hoping to leave behind hunger and unemployment for a better life in America, and to help build a better life for those they've left behind. Rodolpho is young, good-looking, blond, and single -- he sings, dances and is charming; Catherine instantly falls for him.

Predictably Eddie sets about pointing out all of Rodolpho's flaws and persistently complains that Rodolpho is "not right". He uses Rodolpho's effeminate qualities, such as dress-making, cooking and singing, to back up his argument.

When Catherine decides to marry Rodolpho, Eddie is driven to inform the Immigration Bureau of the presence of the two illegal immigrants. He takes this action regardless of his earlier assertion that "It's an honour" to give the men refuge. His betrayal of the two men causes Eddie to lose the respect of his neighbours, his friends and his family.

In the final scene of the play the sense of crisis climaxes with a fight between Eddie and Marco. Eddie brandishes a knife and attacks Marco, but the stronger Marco turns the blade onto Eddie, killing him. This could be seen symbolically as a projection of Eddie's self-destructive tendencies, as his sense of self-worth and his honourable character finally reach the bottom of their downward spiral.

In the final pages of the play, Miller uses stage directions more often to convey the sense of crisis and drama. Miller uses stage directions when it would be difficult to interpret what emotions should be shown.^{[citation needed]} An example of this is when Eddie concedes to let Catherine work. The stage directions indicate that he relents with "a sense of her childhood, her babyhood and the years". Miller also uses his stage directions as a means of making clear to the production company his intended symbolism.

• A View from the Bridge opened on Broadway as a one-act play 29 September 1955, at the Coronet Theatre (now named the Eugene O'Neill Theatre) and ran for 149 performances. Directed by Martin Ritt, the cast included Van Heflin (Eddie) and Eileen Heckart (Beatrice).

• Dustin Hoffman acted as assistant director and stage manager for a successful 1965 production of the play at the Sheridan Square Playhouse in Boston. The play's director, Ulu Grosbard, suggested to Arthur Miller that Hoffman would one day make a great Willie Loman. Miller was not impressed, and later wrote that "My estimate of Grosbard all but collapsed as, observing Dustin Hoffman’s awkwardness and his big nose that never seemed to get unstuffy, I wondered how the poor fellow imagined himself a candidate for any kind of acting career".^[1]

• The play was first performed at the Comedy Theatre, London, on 11 October 1956.

• February 3, 1983 at the Ambassador Theatre, with Tony Lo Bianco as Eddie and directed by Arvin Brown, the production ran for 149 performances.

• December 14, 1997 at the Criterion Center Stage Right and transferring to the Neil Simon Theatre, the production ran for 239 performances. Directed by Michael Mayer, the cast included Anthony LaPaglia and Allison Janney. The production won the Tony Award for: Best Revival of a Play; Best Actor in a Play (LaPaglia); and the Drama Desk Award for: Outstanding Revival of a Play; Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Janney); Outstanding Direction of a Play (Mayer).

• 2009 at the Duke of Yorks Theatre, London. With Ken Stott as Eddie, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Beatrice, Hayley Atwell as Catherine and Harry Lloyd as Rodolpho.

In 1999, an opera of A View from the Bridge with music by William Bolcom and a libretto by Arthur Miller premiered at Lyric Opera of Chicago. The work was performed subsequently at the Metropolitan Opera in 2002 and again at the Washington National Opera in 2007.

Italian film director Luchino Visconti directed a stage version of the play in Italy in 1958. The plot of his film Rocco and his brothers (Rocco e i suoi fratelli), made in 1960, has many affinities with A View from the Bridge^[2]

A film based on A View from the Bridge titled "Vu du pont" was released in February 1961. Directed by Sidney Lumet, it starred Raf Vallone and Maureen Stapleton as Eddie and Beatrice, with Carol Lawrence as Catherine.

In 2006, a new film version of A View From the Bridge was announced. It may be directed by Barry Levinson, with Anthony LaPaglia as Eddie, Scarlett Johansson as Catherine, and Frances McDormand as Beatrice.^[3]

Awards

• 1998 Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Play
• 1998 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play

Nominations

• 1983 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play

• Miller, Arthur (1955). A View from the Bridge: Two One-Act Plays (First edition ed.). New York: Viking Press. OCLC 26621266. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

• ​A View from the Bridge​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• ​A View from the Bridge​ at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Vu du pont at IMDb

• Educator's guide to teaching the play
• Sparknotes on the play
• BBC GCSE Study guide to the play
• Understanding A View From The Bridge