BY: Aisha Rauf, Christian Neumann, Eman Siraj & Muna Gasim
The Prevailing Themes
The pursuit of the American Dream
Morality
Loyalty
Betrayal
Poverty
Beatrice
Introduction into her background:
Beatrice
o She is a middle-aged wife married to
Eddie Carbone in 1955 New York. Beatrice
eludes the personality traits of an observant,
intuitive care-giver, she is strong minded and
loyal. Although thrust in the middle of
Eddie’s obsessive infatuation with Catherine,
she still manages to hold her ground and
stick to her sense of morality. That in itself
speaks immensely about her character,
however at times she displays a (Freudian
slip) of jealousy.
The Pursuit of the American Dream
“When am I going to be a wife again Eddie?” (Pg. 36)
Beatrice's version of the American Dream is stability in her
marriage. Tension in the marriage has built up as Eddie’s over
protectiveness of Catherine has pushed her away.
 “You think I'm jealous of you honey?”(Pg.44)
The arrival of Beatrice’s cousins from Sicily in pursuit of the
American Dream further increases the competition between
Beatrice and Catherine for Eddie’s love.
This is because Eddie becomes further obsessive about Catherine
and jealous of her relationship with Rodolpho. HINT-refer to
Arthurs Millers interest in the subconscious and Freudian slips.
“You want somethin’ else. Eddie, and you can never have
her!”(Pg.83)
This quote confronts Eddie’s true feelings for Catherine. The arrival
of Beatrice’s cousins, Marco and Rudolpho in pursuit of the
American Dream, push Eddie to his limit and exposes his true
feelings towards Catherine. Beatrice is intuitive and notices this.
She is brave enough to confront Eddie about this. Her desperation,
to get Eddie away from Catherine is evident as she stops being a
passive watcher by.
“I was going to wash the walls.”(Pg. 15)
This shows Beatrice's domestic side. She is a typical housewife
living in 1955, New York, where women were responsible of taking
care of house duties. While Eddie her husband was a typical Alfamale.
Betrayal
“ The family had an uncle that they were hiding in the
house, and he snitched to the immigration.” (Pg.23)
This quote forebodes the situation in which Eddie, ironically who is
also Catherine's uncle, snitches to the immigration police about
Marco and Rodolpho being illegal immigrants.
“My God what the hell did you do?”(Pg. 74)
This quote indicates the extent of the magnitude of betrayal. The
sudden realization in Beatrice of the havoc Eddie has created.
Loyalty and family are important to her and she is disgusted with
Eddie’s actions.
“The truth is not as bad as blood” (Pg.83)
Beatrice confronts Eddie on his sexual feelings of incest toward
Catherine. Her gut feelings and intuition are clear to her as she is
positive that Eddie is attracted to her niece. This simile is evidence
of how important the Sicilian American community takes loyalty
and trust. Eddie has undermined this unspoken rule and betrayed
not only his community but Beatrice, as Marco and Rodolpho are
her cousins.
“Only blood is good? He kissed your hand!” (Pg.82)
Beatrice has stopped being submissive. She is confronting Eddie on
his aggressive nature. Looking deeper into sub-text, this discloses
that she may be hinting to Eddie that only Catherine who is part of
the family or “blood” may be good enough for him.
Poverty
“You got to push a taxi?”(Pg.28)
Beatrice is inquisitive, she is a hospitable host who is friendly towards Marco and Rodolpho. This
quote is evidence of the poor conditions in Italy which force immigrants to move to America.
“ I didn’t even buy a new tablecloth.” (Pg.15)
The hard life of a migrant worker and the poor conditions of the house display that Beatrice has to buy
a new tablecloth every time she has visitors, looking deeper this shows she may be insecure and cares a
lot about her appearance.
“ I just hope they get work here.” (Pg.15)
This shows how desperate conditions are in Italy. Workers flee to America in order to seek a better
quality of life. They depend on work as a source of livelihood. The Great Depression in America and
the rise of dictators such as Mussolini in Europe forced people to leave Italy. Jobs were scarce and
necessary for survival.
“They’re starvin’ over there” (Pg. 75)
Beatrice is defending her cousin, this statement is evidence of how bad conditions were in Sicily at the
time forcing people to do anything in order to achieve their version of the American dream. In this case
Marco’s has been shattered.
Loyalty
“…Eddie listen to me… I love you I'm talking to you, I love you..” (Pg. 82)
Throughout the entire play up until the very end even though Eddie has
betrayed his community and abandoned the marriage between them. The
loyalty, love and desire to care is still there as she “holds” onto his hand until
his death.
“There’ll be nobody there from her family. For my sister let me
go.”(Pg.80)
Beatrice is loyal towards her sister. Although Catherine is the catalyst between
her and Eddies failed relationship, Beatrice still feels the need to support
Catherine and thereby keep her promise to her sister. This is evidence of
Beatrice’s loving and caring nature.
“Eddie don’t go, wait a minute. {she embraces Eddie’s arm with
warmth}(Pg.71)
Although Eddie has ignored Beatrice's advice and given up on their marriage,
she is still adamant on making him move on and make up with Catherine. This
displays that Beatrice is a loving wife who considers family very important. She
cares about Eddie and Catherine and wants them to still be close. Even though
Catherine has been the source of her marital problems.
“Who’s mad? I’m not mad.”(Pg.25)
Beatrice is tying to hide the fact that she is upset with Eddie in order to please
him. This is foreboding of the greater problems to come in their marriage. She
is concerned with putting up a good front, almost trying to be the perfect
housewife. This perfectionism could be the reason behind her loyalty to Eddie
throughout the play.
Morality
“You can’t act the way you act”( Pg.43)
Beatrice understand limits and boundaries. She is observant and
knows the difference between right and wrong.
“I’m goin’ for my sister” (Pg.80)
This quote portrays her loyalty towards her sister, and the fact that
despite Catherine being the problem between her and Eddies
married life, she accompanies her sisters daughter on her big day.
Beatrice stands by her family no matter what.
“I don’t want you to be here when he comes” (Pg.81)
Beatrice understands Eddie and the fact that he cannot control
himself around Catherine. She doesn’t want Catherine around him
anymore because she knows his feelings are wrong. Beatrice’s
protective nature is evident as she doesn’t want Catherine to fall
victim to Eddie. She is also desperate to save her marriage.
“You still walk around in front of him in your slip-”(Pg.43)
Beatrice understands the boundaries between right and wrong. She is
gently trying to tell Catherine that she needs to grow up and act like a
mature woman who's in the house with a “grown man”. Her
intelligence is apparent, she pieces together the logic of Catherine's
attractiveness and Eddie's attraction towards her.
USEFUL TIPS:
Memorize all the quotes in relation to their
context in the play.
Try to look into the sub-text and relate your
answer to social, historical and cultural
background of the text.
Refer to the question in your answer.
Make sure you embed your quotes in order to
make your essay more fluid.
Always stick to answering the question.
Support your evidence with detailed
explanations.
Use a personal response in the conclusion.
SAMPLE INTRODUCTION:
•Arthur Miller’s “ A View from the Bridge” portrays Beatrice as
an observant,intuitive,caring and loyal housewife. Living in a
typical household in 1955 New York, Beatrice is a necessary
submissive character who acts as a calm mediator in the play.
The juxtaposition of loyalty and betrayal in the poem are
evident as Beatrice pursues her American Dream and tries to
achieve the lost stability in her marriage and pull her family
together.