Creating Tension and Presenting the Themes in A View from the Bridge Es

Creating Tension and Presenting the Themes in A View from the Bridge Miller uses the climax of act 1 to create tension for the audience through the acting and the situation the characters are in, and to present the key themes of the play to the audience. Firstly, he uses dramatic irony to give the audience an insight into how the story is going to end, which creates frustration and tension for them, as although they can see how the story is developing, the characters can’t, this ties in with the theme of a Greek tragedy where there is a predestined conclusion. He uses the fact that in the 1950’s and especially in dockside and urban households, masculinity and being the ‘man of the house’ was a huge part of family life. He combines this with Eddies desire to control and obsession with authority, to put the audience on a knife-edge, as to when one of the characters will lose control and lash out. Miller also expands on the situation of relationships in the play, both within the family, and outside. This ties in with Eddie’s apparently incestuous feelings for Catherine, and this creates suspense and tension throughout the audience, as they don’t know what is going to happen about it. Stage Directions, play a large part of ‘A View From The Bridge’, as they give it the final touches which create tension for both the characters and the audience, they help show what a character is feeling, which allows the audience to empathize with the character, making it all the more believable and therefore creating more tension as they want to know what will happen. Alfieri’s monologue is also a main contributing factor to the tension, which slowly builds throughout the entire scene. The audience share Alfieri’s perspectiv... ...the play, just over there to send money home, but now it seems like he is taking an active part, and defending Rodolfo against Eddies slanderous onslaught. In conclusion, I feel that Arthur Miller creates tension in the climax to Act 1 in â€Å"A View From The Bridge,† in many different ways. These include the exploration and presentation of many of the key themes that Miller has sewn throughout the play, comprising mainly of: masculinity, incest, Greek tragedy, jealousy, pride and obsession. He uses surprise, and a ‘factor of the unknown’ to keep the audience in suspense as to when Eddie will lose control, but never in doubt to the fact that he will. All in all Miller uses a variety of techniques and themes to create tension for the audience and keep them in suspense for the whole play, and successfully draws on this to build huge climaxes at many points.