Arthur Miller Essay

Arthur Miller is a renowned play- writer who was born on October 17th 1915, in New York City. His parent’s originally had came from Italy but soon migrated to America perhaps searching for the American dream. His family lived in prosperity due to the success of his fathers clothing manufacturing business however, as a result of the Wall Street crash the business sadly collapsed therefore; Arthur Miller was forced to work as a warehouseman. The play AVFTB was set in the 20th century as this is when illegal immigration was probably at its most. He possibly got his inspiration for writing this astonishing, sensational and breathtaking play from his parents as they were immigrants searching for the American dream and Alfieri (a lawyer in the play) expresses the themes of immigration and the American dream. However, his main inspiration was almost certainly when his lawyer friend showed him a case which has a similar context to AVFTB. Despite writing the play AVFTB, Arthur Miller is also recognized for his several other plays, such as: The Crucible; The Man Who Had All the Luck; All My Sons and Death of a Salesman. Unfortunately, Arthur Miller died in 2005. Alfieri first introduces himself to the audience when he is telling us the prologue, which sets the mood and scene of the play, ‘This is Red Hook, not Sicily†¦ I’m a lawyer. ‘ In the play he introduces all the characters, ‘This one’s name was Eddie Carbone’ and gives the audience a brief description of the character introduced, ‘a longshoreman. ‘ However, the audience instantly get the impression that Eddie is going to be the tragic hero in the play as when Alfieri first introduces Eddie he says that he has to, ‘let it run it’s bloody course’ then immediately after that he says, ‘This one’s name was Eddie Carbone. ‘ Giving the audience the impression that Eddie is going to be the tragic hero in the play. Furthermore, the audience also immediately get the impression that Eddie is the tragic hero as he tells the story about Vinnie Bonzola and when the family hear the story they are all shocked that someone could betray one of their family members like that. Eddie is especially shocked about this particular scenario and this is very ironic as little does he know that as the play progresses he would be doing the same thing. This makes Eddie’s behaviour even more outrageous and appalling as firstly he is being a hypocrite and secondly, he was probably the most shocked out of his whole family. Therefore, Arthur Miller portrays Eddie’s action through the technique of dramatic irony throughout the play as the audience know that Eddie is going to be the tragic hero near the beginning of the play. Alfieri is also immediately established as being an omniscient narrator/ commentator in the prologue. We know this as he narrates the story in a flashback therefore, he already knows what is going to unravel, Eddie’s inevitable death, and we get reminded of this at various intervals. He tells us about the suspicious little nods the longshoremen give him. This shows the audience how the community perceive lawyers, ‘they’d rather not get too close. ‘ Suspicion and lack of trust is one of the main themes of the play and it shows the audience that the Italian immigrants still stick to the same old social codes of revenge and lack of trust. The Italian immigrants pour into Brooklyn looking for their share of the American dream, ‘gullet of New- York, swallowing the tonnage of the world’. The definition of the American dream is that anyone can come to America and get to the top as there are many opportunities. They may also come here to get away from poverty; lack of employment and mafia vendettas. However, Arthur Miller perhaps chose this setting, ‘the slum that faces the seaward side of the bay’ as Miller was aware that many immigrants came here when he was working in the army in World War 2 in particular longshoremen as they helped put immigrants on ships so they could arrive to America. He must have seen a lot of despicable, horrific and appaling things when he was there so that is why he probably describes Brooklyn like this. Therefore, he might have exaggerated the description to emphasise this point to the audience and also to give an image in the audiences mind. Therefore, Arthur Miller uses the linguistic devices known as hyperboles and imagery to emphasise the point that he is trying to make and also to make the story more entertaining for the audience, ‘His eyes were like tunnels’. Alfieri is a successful example of the American dream as he initially migrated from Italy to America. Alfieri is living the American dream and is now civilised but his practice is entirely unromantic. Alfieri has been a witness to the times when he used to keep a pistol in his filing cabinet however, now as he is civilised he no longer needs to keep a pistol in his filing cabinet. Therefore, Alfieri is following the American way of life and the American social codes. i. e. The law and not revenge. In addition, we know that Alfieri has changed his social code as he speaks differently compared to all the other characters in the play. His language is less rougher than everyone else’s and this is illustrated through the fact that he no longer carries the Sicilian code of conduct. He says that his practice is entirely unromantic as he gets similar cases over and over again, ‘the petty poor troubles of the poor’. Nevertheless, every once in a while there is case that always brings life to his job, ‘the dust in this air is blown away’. The cases perhaps bring life to his office as it reminds him of how he used to be and that is probably why he is so fond of Eddie as it reminds him of his former self. The cases perhaps excite him as they are a dramatic change and the cases are probably more interesting. Arthur Miller perhaps does this to maintain the audiences involvement and too show the audience that the story is going to be exciting so that they stay glued to their seats.