Q) What does Miller’s portrayal of Marco add to the dramatic impact of the play?
A) Arthur Miller’s “A View From The Bridge” is a broadway play that encapsulates the events that transpire in a household following the arrival of the family’s relatives, Marco and Rodolpho. The writer augments the impact of drama in the play by manifesting Marco’s character to be affiliated with boldness and valiance, which eventually brings about pivotal scenes in the play, adding excitement and intensity in the plot.
Marco is depicted to be diligent and devoted towards earning a living for his family. Not only is this proven by the fact that they illegally immigrated to Brooklyn to acquire a stable job with adequate income, but is also proved when Eddie asks him what he did back in Italy and he replies “whatever there is, anything”. His sheer determination to work is accentuated when Eddie points out that he is “a regular bull” to which Louis agrees, saying “he’s a regular slave”. These traits are significant in reflecting the hardships that Marco is confronted by due to poverty. Moreover, these characteristics are crucial later in the play when Eddie reports Marco to the police officers, which makes the readers sympathise with Marco as he loses a vital source of income; his family is now subjected to “eating the sunshine” and their spark of hope is doused, heightening the drama that pervades in the play.
Miller ensures that Marco’s character is a dynamic one, for the readers witness his transformation from a respectful man to someone who boldly stands up against Eddie’s impudent behaviour towards the cousins. Marco’s presence acts a catalyst towards Eddie’s anagnorisis wherein every character in the play begins to perceive Eddie’s vacuous intentions. Marco very bravely asks Eddie to lift a chair, and when he cannot, Marco lifts the chair “like a weapon over Eddie’s head – and he transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph”. Here, drama is significantly intensified as Marco not only takes it upon himself to be the first person to openly display disapprobation towards Eddie, but he also threatens Eddie’s masculinity, ironically letting Eddie have a taste of his own medicine.
Marco’s insurgence greatly adds impact to the drama in the play as it infuriates Eddie, for he has lost his dominance, leading to an intense series of events. When he is reported by Eddie for being an illegal immigrant, Marco spits on Eddie’s face as vengeance, causing an uproar where a progression of threatening and dramatic comments being hurled from both sides. Along with intensifying the salient Essence of the drama, this argument successfully endorses a sense of suspense for Marco is eager for retribution.
To conclusively use the portrayal of Marco to reinforce drama in “A View From The Bridge”, Arthur Miller juxtaposes the characters of Marco and Eddie, wherein Marco disregards the law to attain justice by saying “all the law is not in the book” while Eddie persistently uses Alfieri and the law to find ways to gratify his intentions. Eventually, neither side wins, since Marco’s future is ravaged whereas Eddie dies by the hands of Marco. Consequently, the dramatic essence of the play is culminated through diverse aspects of Marco’s personality.
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