Status
Available
Genres
Publication
New York, Viking Press [1960]
Description
Winner of the 2016 Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play and Best Direction of a Play: Ivo van Hove Set in the 1950s on the gritty Brooklyn waterfront, A View from the Bridge follows the cataclysmic downfall of Eddie Carbone, who spends his days as a hardworking longshoreman and his nights at home with his wife, Beatrice, and orphan niece, Catherine. But the routine of his life is interrupted when Beatrice's cousins, undocumented immigrants from Italy, arrive in New York. As one of them embarks on a romance with Catherine, Eddie's envy and delusion plays out with devastating consequences. This edition includes a foreword by Philip Seymour Hoffman and an introduction by Arthur Miller. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member cinesnail88
This is the play we'll be doing for competition. I'm very excited, it was an excellent piece of work. The script intricacies were phenomenal, and I cannot wait to see us put on this production. It should be a lot of fun. This may even be my favorite play of Arthur Miller's, which is saying a lot.
LibraryThing member deep220
I forgot to mention this fantastic play by Arthur Miller. It was a recommendation from another Librarythinger. I had never heard of All My Sons (which I thoroughly enjoyed) or A View from the bridge. I am still rather confused why these plays did not make it to higher notoriety. I was not at all
Its hard for me to say to much towards the content of the play. It's such a short play, I feel like I would be giving the entire story away.
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impressed with The Death of a Salesman, yet it's required reading throughout out school system over gems like these. It boggles my mind. Anyone out there that has read All My Sons but not A View from the Bridge (or vice versa), I would highly recommend it. Its hard for me to say to much towards the content of the play. It's such a short play, I feel like I would be giving the entire story away.
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LibraryThing member StephenBarkley
Plays are like poetry in their economy of words. By necessity, plays pack a tremendous amount of character development and tension into a mere couple hours of dialogue. This is certainly true with Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge.
Miller first heard the story of Eddie and his family from a
This story is full of tension. Imagine the low cello note in the backdrop of a suspense movie. That note builds throughout the play and doesn't relent until the climax. Miller gives us characters and relationships of psychological depth.
This play is a study in desire gone wrong. This is human nature left to play out its vices.
Miller first heard the story of Eddie and his family from a
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water-front worker and decided to write it as a play. He first wrote it as a "mood experiment" (vii). He "wanted the audience to feel toward it as I had on hearing it for the first time—not so much with heart-wringing sympathy as with wonder" (vii). After a dismal debut which led to a major rewrite, Miller achieved his goal.This story is full of tension. Imagine the low cello note in the backdrop of a suspense movie. That note builds throughout the play and doesn't relent until the climax. Miller gives us characters and relationships of psychological depth.
This play is a study in desire gone wrong. This is human nature left to play out its vices.
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LibraryThing member davadog13
Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams are two playwrights whose work I really want to read more. This one was solid and I'm more excited for the upcoming auditions now
LibraryThing member Devil_llama
While not the best of Miller's works, this piece has merit. It concerns a dock worker and his guests - family members brought in illegally from the old country. When the niece he raised from childhood falls for one of the guests, his anger causes him to violate one of the cardinal rules he himself
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laid down. This leads to disaster. The plot is well laid out, the narrative is easy to follow, and the characters are well developed. It lacks the punch of some of his better known works, but it is still a worthwhile work. Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
Yet another brilliant play from Miller. The protagonist's unnatural love for his niece by marriage acts as a "fatal flaw" and makes this otherwise kind and unremarkable man into a Shakespearean figure. Truly a brilliant play.
LibraryThing member bibleblaster
I would love to see this one performed, it had a hard-driving, (Greek) tragic edge to it, and insight into social realities (e.g. the immigrant experience) that felt surprisingly (or not) contemporary. It reminded me of how good Miller was...glad to see this back on stage. (Wish I could see it on
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stage). Show Less
LibraryThing member varwenea
When I was watching this play, I remember gasping at the kiss scene. I thought it didn’t feel right that he ‘went there’; I knew then I had missed the escalation of feelings. Sure enough, upon reading the play, the electricity is sparkling in the words.
Set in the 1950’s, Eddie, his wife
Fundamentally, the premise of this play is basic but it packs a punch. I was drawn to the tightness of the writing style as well as its various themes. Love, even if rooted innocently, can lead to unintended consequences. Overprotectiveness of a child may lead to rash decisions of the child once he/she is grown. The ease to which a man is assumed to be homosexual simply because he sings, cooks, and sews. A tight-knitted neighborhood will readily raise up against one of its own when a fundamental rule is broken. The U.S. is built by the masses who arrived in search of jobs and opportunity. From Roldopho, “What would you eat? You can’t cook the view!” A man demands respect in his home and from his wife; sadly, the wife is controlled, as if owned, by the husband. (Argh!)
Curiously, both Eddie and Marco wanted laws to work in their favor – the former seeking a law to prevent a relationship where “the guy ain’t right”, while the latter seeking a law to revenge dishonor. The use of Mr. Alfieri as the narrator of the play is highly effective. He provided the neutral stance amongst the warring factions and explained the charm of this Brooklyn neighborhood: "…this is Red Hook, not Sicily. This is the slum that faces the bay on the seaward side of Brooklyn Bridge. This is the gullet of New York swallowing the tonnage of the world. And now we are quite civilized, quite American. Now we settle for half, and I like it better. I no longer keep a pistol in my filing cabinet.”
Set in the 1950’s, Eddie, his wife
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Beatrice, and orphaned niece Catherine shared modest accommodations in a Brooklyn that was predominately inhabited by newly immigrated Italians, including illegals called “submarines”. Eddie is incessantly protective of Catherine. An undertone of this protectiveness reveals itself early, recognized by all but Eddie himself. Enter Beatrice’s 2 cousins, brothers Marco and Roldopho, who arrive as submarines and sleeping on their floor. Catherine and Roldopho start dating and soon speak of marriage. Eddie is unimpressed with Roldopho, particularly since he exhibits traits typically viewed as effeminate, believing Roldopho’s intentions is only to gain citizenship. Eddie’s increasing paranoia leads to visits to the neighborhood lawyer, Mr. Alfieri, and eventually leads to tragedy for himself and those around him.Fundamentally, the premise of this play is basic but it packs a punch. I was drawn to the tightness of the writing style as well as its various themes. Love, even if rooted innocently, can lead to unintended consequences. Overprotectiveness of a child may lead to rash decisions of the child once he/she is grown. The ease to which a man is assumed to be homosexual simply because he sings, cooks, and sews. A tight-knitted neighborhood will readily raise up against one of its own when a fundamental rule is broken. The U.S. is built by the masses who arrived in search of jobs and opportunity. From Roldopho, “What would you eat? You can’t cook the view!” A man demands respect in his home and from his wife; sadly, the wife is controlled, as if owned, by the husband. (Argh!)
Curiously, both Eddie and Marco wanted laws to work in their favor – the former seeking a law to prevent a relationship where “the guy ain’t right”, while the latter seeking a law to revenge dishonor. The use of Mr. Alfieri as the narrator of the play is highly effective. He provided the neutral stance amongst the warring factions and explained the charm of this Brooklyn neighborhood: "…this is Red Hook, not Sicily. This is the slum that faces the bay on the seaward side of Brooklyn Bridge. This is the gullet of New York swallowing the tonnage of the world. And now we are quite civilized, quite American. Now we settle for half, and I like it better. I no longer keep a pistol in my filing cabinet.”
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