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A View from the Bridge (Penguin Modern Classics) by Arthur Miller
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First published November 1, 1955
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About the author
Arthur Miller
539 books3,158 followersWorks of American playwright Arthur Asher Miller include
Death of a Salesman
(1949), for which he won a Pulitzer Prize, and
The Crucible
(1953).
This essayist, a prominent figure in literature and cinema for over 61 years, composed a wide variety, such as celebrated A View from the Bridge and All My Sons , still studied and performed worldwide. Miller often in the public eye most famously refused to give evidence to the un-American activities committee of the House of Representatives, received award for drama, and married Marilyn Monroe. People at the time considered the greatest Miller.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...
This essayist, a prominent figure in literature and cinema for over 61 years, composed a wide variety, such as celebrated A View from the Bridge and All My Sons , still studied and performed worldwide. Miller often in the public eye most famously refused to give evidence to the un-American activities committee of the House of Representatives, received award for drama, and married Marilyn Monroe. People at the time considered the greatest Miller.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
March 30, 2025
2 shockingly amazing plays about the complexity of human relationships. Written around 1950, these plays are classical Greek tragedies too. The content is related to the actuality of the 50s, but it could have happened and happens now.
The main theme in both plays is probably taking responsibility for unbearable things which one have done, driven by fear. Sometimes we do our best to avoid things getting worse, but the effect of our behaviour is exactly the opposite of what we wanted. The impossibility of the human nature.
Read these plays in case you think we’ve learnt something of the past, because we didn’t.
2 plays which are so good that when you finish reading them you need some time to recover. Or at least this is what happened to me.
The main theme in both plays is probably taking responsibility for unbearable things which one have done, driven by fear. Sometimes we do our best to avoid things getting worse, but the effect of our behaviour is exactly the opposite of what we wanted. The impossibility of the human nature.
Read these plays in case you think we’ve learnt something of the past, because we didn’t.
2 plays which are so good that when you finish reading them you need some time to recover. Or at least this is what happened to me.
February 20, 2020
A View From the Bridge, the first play of the book, is a fine example of American Tragedy. It recounts the tragic events placed in a poor Italian immigrant neighbourhood. The play questions masculinity and human nature. The exposition is quite simple. Eddie loves his niece but he is too stubborn to admit that. I like the parts where Marco is pissed off. I love the way the lawyer Alfiere narrates the story and also is included in the action.
All My Sons, published in 1947, tells us about Keller family and its destruction because of what Dad had done in the past. It takes from the post-war US hysteria. Memory and past, justice and judgment are the obvious components of the play. LOVE THE ENDING!!!
All My Sons, published in 1947, tells us about Keller family and its destruction because of what Dad had done in the past. It takes from the post-war US hysteria. Memory and past, justice and judgment are the obvious components of the play. LOVE THE ENDING!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2025
A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller, author of the classic Death Of A Salesman http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/05/d...
Nine out of 10
This reader has been exultant when reading, in fact listening or watching the adaptations one television of the plays of Arthur Miller, in the case of Death of a Salesman, there have been a few versions, the latest with Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich in the leading roles – the former is not a favorite of mine, not since I have read in the quintessential Adventures in the Screen Trade by glorious William Goldman http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/05/d... about repugnant shenanigans…Dustin Hoffman would take pains to appear macho, by refusing to have a flashlight near his bed, in a scene in Marathon Man, keeping his partner waiting for his self-indulgence to subside, then mistreating the very ill, divine Laurence Olivier on the same set…
A View From The Bridge starts with the narrator explaining that everything we will hear has taken place in Red Hook, where the windows face the sea – the voice is that of the sublime George Constantin, an actor with the talent of Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, only born in a less favorable circumstance…I have just learned a few days ago that he may have died of a broken heart, at least in part, because the house he lived in had been listed to be passed to someone else, so he had been not only unable to get compensation for his immense contributions, but on the contrary, he ended in something like neglect…not that of theater loving people, or cinephiles, but the authorities did nothing in his homage…
This New York, Brooklyn, and the story teller had been twenty five when he had arrived in America, at the time when Al Capone was king on the streets…the narrator is a lawyer and has had to deal with accidents, family problems and people would sometimes come to the counselor as to a confessor – strange if we think of the bad reputation that lawyers have now, however, their profession is the one with the biggest number of divorces, the highest depression rates and the associated highest suicide rates…let us mention a joke on the métier, since we have said all that, what do you call one hundred lawyers at the bottom of the ocean, a good start…
Eddie Carbone is the next character we hear about, introduced by the narrator – and played in our local adaptation by another luminary, the giant Victor Rebengiuc, one who is not only a Magister Ludi in the theater and film, but he will always be remembered for his appearance during the Romanian Revolution, when he came to the state television with a…roll of toilet paper, for the sycophants that had been all over the screen during the days of Ceausescu, who had to wipe their mouths for all the shit they had been eating (he had not used those words) just like those apparatchiks now do in Russia, where they spread the propaganda of their new czar…there have been news that there is a backlash against those who oppose the war, called scum by the short despot, troubled by his Napoleon complex…
Eddie used to be a kind, nice man, working hard on the Waterfront, unloading the ships and he agrees to host cousins arriving from Sicily, where jobs are hard, or impossible to find, they are illegal immigrants, and that is one important issue in A View From the Bridge and makes us think of what is going on in Europe now, when the UN says that ten million people have been displaced by the war in Ukraine, three million or more have travelled to other countries – a few hundred thousand may be in our lands, did I hear half a million – sent in to exile by the indiscriminate, if not the targeting of civilians, which is a known Russian atrocity, they have used in Chechnya, Aleppo in Syria and they have no mercy…
The cousins hope for money in America, where some will exploit them, giving them some positions, but only until they pay the debt, bribes back, and they have to send home whatever they can spare…back in Sicily, ‘the only hope is the train, but what does the train bring, nothing, it is just that when there are travelers, they can hope to carry something for them, pushing the coach up hill, for the horses are weaker than the goats…
The cousins are Marco and Rodolpho, the former is married and intends to spend perhaps five years in America, while the latter is single and wants to settle in the US, proud of his talent as a baritone, he has gained 1,000 lire when the singer at the hotel was absent and Rodolpho has replaced him, he can also cook
Eddie Carbone is married to Beatrice, but he is in love with the much younger Catherine, Beatrice’s orphaned niece, and when a bond is created between the girl and Rodolpho, the older man resents the rapprochement, becomes hateful, jealous and vengeful, insulting the cousin, calling him a bum, a man who is not worth anything…
Eddie insinuates, maybe he is convinced that Rodolpho is only looking to get a passport and then Catherine will only see him at the wedding and next for the divorce…things are not black and white only, as is surely the case, especially when we have an interesting play like this one – though it had no success in the first format – and the cousin is rather superficial, perhaps too volatile, bent on carpe diem – which is not a bad thing, on the contrary, there is the notion that the ‘present is the only one we have’, or to quote Tolstoy, the most important is now, and the person you have in front of you’
Eventually, Eddie Carbone enters an open conflict with Rodolfo, kicked him in pretended boxing lesson attacks the fact that he sings, he is a ‘tailor’, he is a clandestine, the law would take him, he is not ‘normal’, in an age when homosexuality was seen as perverse, illegal, the character that had been nice, become vile… kisses Rudolph on the mouth, to show he is no good, he is not as ‘he should be’ and then his wife, Beatrice, tells him that his behavior his appalling, abject and the whole thing becomes dramatic, explosive
Carbone calls Immigration to tell them of illegal immigrants and gives the address where they can be found and…Catherine is marrying and in a hurry, because the police could grab Rodolpho and Eddie tries to push her to stop this…Marco spits on the one that called the police on them and wants to kill him while the lawyer and the others try to deter him and explain he must not touch the one he had spit on…come to the wedding, let us meet at the church
http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/t...
Nine out of 10
This reader has been exultant when reading, in fact listening or watching the adaptations one television of the plays of Arthur Miller, in the case of Death of a Salesman, there have been a few versions, the latest with Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich in the leading roles – the former is not a favorite of mine, not since I have read in the quintessential Adventures in the Screen Trade by glorious William Goldman http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/05/d... about repugnant shenanigans…Dustin Hoffman would take pains to appear macho, by refusing to have a flashlight near his bed, in a scene in Marathon Man, keeping his partner waiting for his self-indulgence to subside, then mistreating the very ill, divine Laurence Olivier on the same set…
A View From The Bridge starts with the narrator explaining that everything we will hear has taken place in Red Hook, where the windows face the sea – the voice is that of the sublime George Constantin, an actor with the talent of Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, only born in a less favorable circumstance…I have just learned a few days ago that he may have died of a broken heart, at least in part, because the house he lived in had been listed to be passed to someone else, so he had been not only unable to get compensation for his immense contributions, but on the contrary, he ended in something like neglect…not that of theater loving people, or cinephiles, but the authorities did nothing in his homage…
This New York, Brooklyn, and the story teller had been twenty five when he had arrived in America, at the time when Al Capone was king on the streets…the narrator is a lawyer and has had to deal with accidents, family problems and people would sometimes come to the counselor as to a confessor – strange if we think of the bad reputation that lawyers have now, however, their profession is the one with the biggest number of divorces, the highest depression rates and the associated highest suicide rates…let us mention a joke on the métier, since we have said all that, what do you call one hundred lawyers at the bottom of the ocean, a good start…
Eddie Carbone is the next character we hear about, introduced by the narrator – and played in our local adaptation by another luminary, the giant Victor Rebengiuc, one who is not only a Magister Ludi in the theater and film, but he will always be remembered for his appearance during the Romanian Revolution, when he came to the state television with a…roll of toilet paper, for the sycophants that had been all over the screen during the days of Ceausescu, who had to wipe their mouths for all the shit they had been eating (he had not used those words) just like those apparatchiks now do in Russia, where they spread the propaganda of their new czar…there have been news that there is a backlash against those who oppose the war, called scum by the short despot, troubled by his Napoleon complex…
Eddie used to be a kind, nice man, working hard on the Waterfront, unloading the ships and he agrees to host cousins arriving from Sicily, where jobs are hard, or impossible to find, they are illegal immigrants, and that is one important issue in A View From the Bridge and makes us think of what is going on in Europe now, when the UN says that ten million people have been displaced by the war in Ukraine, three million or more have travelled to other countries – a few hundred thousand may be in our lands, did I hear half a million – sent in to exile by the indiscriminate, if not the targeting of civilians, which is a known Russian atrocity, they have used in Chechnya, Aleppo in Syria and they have no mercy…
The cousins hope for money in America, where some will exploit them, giving them some positions, but only until they pay the debt, bribes back, and they have to send home whatever they can spare…back in Sicily, ‘the only hope is the train, but what does the train bring, nothing, it is just that when there are travelers, they can hope to carry something for them, pushing the coach up hill, for the horses are weaker than the goats…
The cousins are Marco and Rodolpho, the former is married and intends to spend perhaps five years in America, while the latter is single and wants to settle in the US, proud of his talent as a baritone, he has gained 1,000 lire when the singer at the hotel was absent and Rodolpho has replaced him, he can also cook
Eddie Carbone is married to Beatrice, but he is in love with the much younger Catherine, Beatrice’s orphaned niece, and when a bond is created between the girl and Rodolpho, the older man resents the rapprochement, becomes hateful, jealous and vengeful, insulting the cousin, calling him a bum, a man who is not worth anything…
Eddie insinuates, maybe he is convinced that Rodolpho is only looking to get a passport and then Catherine will only see him at the wedding and next for the divorce…things are not black and white only, as is surely the case, especially when we have an interesting play like this one – though it had no success in the first format – and the cousin is rather superficial, perhaps too volatile, bent on carpe diem – which is not a bad thing, on the contrary, there is the notion that the ‘present is the only one we have’, or to quote Tolstoy, the most important is now, and the person you have in front of you’
Eventually, Eddie Carbone enters an open conflict with Rodolfo, kicked him in pretended boxing lesson attacks the fact that he sings, he is a ‘tailor’, he is a clandestine, the law would take him, he is not ‘normal’, in an age when homosexuality was seen as perverse, illegal, the character that had been nice, become vile… kisses Rudolph on the mouth, to show he is no good, he is not as ‘he should be’ and then his wife, Beatrice, tells him that his behavior his appalling, abject and the whole thing becomes dramatic, explosive
Carbone calls Immigration to tell them of illegal immigrants and gives the address where they can be found and…Catherine is marrying and in a hurry, because the police could grab Rodolpho and Eddie tries to push her to stop this…Marco spits on the one that called the police on them and wants to kill him while the lawyer and the others try to deter him and explain he must not touch the one he had spit on…come to the wedding, let us meet at the church
http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/t...
January 1, 2023
"Oh no, he'll come back. We all come back. These private little revolutions always die. The compromise is always made. In a peculiar way, Frank is right – every man does have a star. The star of one's honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it's out it never lights again. I don't think he went very far. He probably just wanted to be alone to watch his star go out."
The book consists of two different plays – "A View from the Bridge", and "All My Sons". Both, revolve around the feeling of Pride, and the person you desire to present yourself as. There's this intricate sort of connection between the two, which is made rather clear when it's presented as one book. I'm not sure if it's clear enough for people to have acknowledged when the plays were actually performed – considering there was a decade-long gap between the two.
I'm not much of a play-reader, so it was a fresh experience for me, and while I enjoyed the conversationalist nature of the book, I didn't think its particularly interesting in the modern era. Quality-wise, there really isn't much negative to be said about it, though. Just a bit meh as an experience.
It's an easy read though – so not much to lose. I liked All My Sons quite a lot, and it has a lot of questions raised which you're expected to find an answer to yourself, and I quite like that personally.
2.5/5
The book consists of two different plays – "A View from the Bridge", and "All My Sons". Both, revolve around the feeling of Pride, and the person you desire to present yourself as. There's this intricate sort of connection between the two, which is made rather clear when it's presented as one book. I'm not sure if it's clear enough for people to have acknowledged when the plays were actually performed – considering there was a decade-long gap between the two.
I'm not much of a play-reader, so it was a fresh experience for me, and while I enjoyed the conversationalist nature of the book, I didn't think its particularly interesting in the modern era. Quality-wise, there really isn't much negative to be said about it, though. Just a bit meh as an experience.
It's an easy read though – so not much to lose. I liked All My Sons quite a lot, and it has a lot of questions raised which you're expected to find an answer to yourself, and I quite like that personally.
2.5/5
March 12, 2024
The five stars are for A View from the Bridge in the penguin modern classics 1986 edition I have. While putting some space between reading these two plays before starting All My Sons, I found a Bloomsbury edition of All My Sons with added analysis of the play; a chronology, a summary of the plot, an Introduction to the context of the play, commentary on themes, characters, language and style, a review of the play in performance, notes on individual words and phrases in the text, and a list of suggested further reading.
March 25, 2020
I very much enjoyed the time period and setting of the book and I felt that it was worked in very well to the play. Eddie is seen as the tragic character in the play as he lets his jealousy take the best of him and force him to turn in his wife’s cousins. He does this out of jealousy of his daughter and one of the cousins getting married. This later leads to a fight in which a knife is drawn and Marco stabs Eddie out of self defense. I enjoyed this play and thought it was definitely worth reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2023
(reaction to all my sons)
WHAT IS IT WITH ARTHUR AND ALWAYS THE SAME OLD ENDING?!
I LOVED ALL MY SONS! probably the best play i read by him. it’s so hard to explain why i love the way he writes.
his characters are so real, you make a connection with them despite not wanting to. the endings always get me. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. he is an actual genius and when i finish his scripts I feel so empty (in the best way possible).
WHAT IS IT WITH ARTHUR AND ALWAYS THE SAME OLD ENDING?!
I LOVED ALL MY SONS! probably the best play i read by him. it’s so hard to explain why i love the way he writes.
his characters are so real, you make a connection with them despite not wanting to. the endings always get me. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. he is an actual genius and when i finish his scripts I feel so empty (in the best way possible).
December 2, 2023
read this in english class and i love feeling like a silly little academic weapon
March 19, 2020
In my opinion, this play can teach us a lot about feminism and gender roles back in the '50s. In the play, Eddie Carbone is a longshoreman who is married to Beatrice. Their relationship can teach a lot about the morals of feminism and how women were being treated back in 1950. Eddie Carbone, as seen through his actions, and every other man believes they should be in charge of their wives and families and should be the ones working. Carbone says, "I don't like it! The way you talk to me and the way you look at me. This is my house" (62). Men are thought of to be superior to women and women should have respect for them no matter what. Women, on the other hand, are expected to sit at home and help out around the house as well as follow orders from their husbands. This play is a perfect representation of gender roles throughout the 20th century.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2023
1.5 stars for A View from the Bridge, 4.25 for All My Sons, idk why they chose to put them in a collection together.
A View: this was utterly horrific. Like really, really bad. I can barely remember what happened (I finished this one about a week ago so maybe it's my memory but I do remember being distinctly disappointed so make of that what you will). Eddie was just a diet version of John Proctor except somehow even more unlikeable, down to the 'yOu wIlL nOt TaKe mY nAmE' speech, and the plot was so convoluted and unnecessary like there was absolutely no need for the sheer amount of incestiness going on there. I hated the narration style also - it was giving our year three production of Alice in Wonderland in the worst way possible. I suspect the harsh rating is partly to do with me expecting better, but an extra half star for there being some objective merit? Supposedly?
All My Sons: maybe the reason they put these two in a collection together was because this redeems the mess that is AVFTB. It's essentially a much better version of Death of a Salesman, and I absolutely loved the ways that Miller explored the personal v the public, and to what extent we are a product of our society. Minus points for it ending the exact same way all of the big four end, but it was a beautiful play which I would love to see performed live and is definitely one of my new favourites.
A View: this was utterly horrific. Like really, really bad. I can barely remember what happened (I finished this one about a week ago so maybe it's my memory but I do remember being distinctly disappointed so make of that what you will). Eddie was just a diet version of John Proctor except somehow even more unlikeable, down to the 'yOu wIlL nOt TaKe mY nAmE' speech, and the plot was so convoluted and unnecessary like there was absolutely no need for the sheer amount of incestiness going on there. I hated the narration style also - it was giving our year three production of Alice in Wonderland in the worst way possible. I suspect the harsh rating is partly to do with me expecting better, but an extra half star for there being some objective merit? Supposedly?
All My Sons: maybe the reason they put these two in a collection together was because this redeems the mess that is AVFTB. It's essentially a much better version of Death of a Salesman, and I absolutely loved the ways that Miller explored the personal v the public, and to what extent we are a product of our society. Minus points for it ending the exact same way all of the big four end, but it was a beautiful play which I would love to see performed live and is definitely one of my new favourites.
November 26, 2024
These two plays dive into the changing roles of dads in families. It’s rooted in the language of mid 20th century America, themes still resonate.
A View from the Bridge is the first play. Very tightly written, about a small family of immigrants housing a couple of relatives who have illegally migrated. It’s a boy meets girl, dad doesn’t approve of boy story. What elevates it is the ambiguity in the relationship between the uncle, Eddie, who is like a dad to his niece Catherine. That ambiguity is disturbing, and makes you feel discomforted when Eddie disapproves of her budding romance. He wants the best for Catherine, but also doesn’t want her to go out and see the world. Yes it’s sexist and ‘of its time’, but attitudes towards a “them” who are coming to work jobs better than “us” and marry “our women” continue today.
All My Sons is not as tightly written. It’s combining what’s happened in the past, during the war, with the present. It’s a clash between an older generation, focused on providing for their family, versus a younger generation who want justice, equality and to be free of a smothering small town.
Read these quickly. Would like to see them acted sometime.
A View from the Bridge is the first play. Very tightly written, about a small family of immigrants housing a couple of relatives who have illegally migrated. It’s a boy meets girl, dad doesn’t approve of boy story. What elevates it is the ambiguity in the relationship between the uncle, Eddie, who is like a dad to his niece Catherine. That ambiguity is disturbing, and makes you feel discomforted when Eddie disapproves of her budding romance. He wants the best for Catherine, but also doesn’t want her to go out and see the world. Yes it’s sexist and ‘of its time’, but attitudes towards a “them” who are coming to work jobs better than “us” and marry “our women” continue today.
All My Sons is not as tightly written. It’s combining what’s happened in the past, during the war, with the present. It’s a clash between an older generation, focused on providing for their family, versus a younger generation who want justice, equality and to be free of a smothering small town.
Read these quickly. Would like to see them acted sometime.
March 22, 2020
I really enjoyed this play and have a new outlook on the life of immigrants in the United States after reading it. In this play, one theory that is clearly portrayed is that of gender/queer with focus on masculinity and problems with sexuality. I think this theory truly allows the reader to understand Eddie’s character in that he has a desire to be the strongest among everyone showing his masculinity. Towards the end of the play, Marco and Eddie are in a conflict based around who is the stronger man and Eddie realizes that he is not actually stronger than Marco so he, “springs a knife into his hand” (pg 85). I really was moved by how much pride Eddie had in his masculinity and the fact that it was put into question would lead him to want to kill Marco. Another reason why Eddie questioned his own masculinity was due to his confusion of his sexuality. He is clearly in love with his Niece which is completely immoral and this leads him not to be a good husband and pleasing Beatrice which is why she says, “When am I gonna be a wife again, Eddie?” (pg 31). This idea of questioning masculinity makes this play very interesting to see how far a man would go for their pride and image.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2018
Read because Miranda had brought it home from school to do her homework and I couldn't resist it when she left it lying around. Read it straight though, including a glass of wine in the interval and super enjoyed it, was imagining it in the Quarry Theatre at the WYP :D I should read more plays, having all the stage directions is great.
January 6, 2025
im going to fully and unapologetically ignore a view from the bridge here and give this a rating as if i only read all my sons bc. what. god fucking damn WHAT.
October 29, 2024
Bamboozled and in awe.
January 14, 2024
Re-read from my gcse drama. Such a weird plot and I still find Eddie so creepy. There's hardly a redeeming character in this short story lol.
January 17, 2024
01/15/2024
Both plays were full of tragedy and tortured characters. I am in love with how Miller soaks the pages in heartbreak, loss, conviction, and tears. The second story, "All My Sons" is especially prone to making you gape in awe with its low stakes but high tension.
A view from the Bridge 3 Stars
All my Sons 5 Stars
Both plays were full of tragedy and tortured characters. I am in love with how Miller soaks the pages in heartbreak, loss, conviction, and tears. The second story, "All My Sons" is especially prone to making you gape in awe with its low stakes but high tension.
A view from the Bridge 3 Stars
All my Sons 5 Stars
March 24, 2015
As a class, we had to read 'A View From A Bridge' together, but when given the text, I decided to read the 'All my Sons' play too. I have been lucky enough to see both plays on the stage, but as usual with plays, I preferred watching it to reading it.
A view from the bridge was amazing, I loved the story-line and found the setting of illegal immigrants an exciting concept. I was interested in witnessing Eddie's growing affections for Catherine, even though she is his neice, and the scene with Marco lifting the chait to show dominance was brilliant! I just didn't like the romance between Rodolpho and Catherine, I knew there needed to be one to make the story work, but I couldn't believe that she would fall for a character like him.
All my sons was much more affective as a stage piece than on paper. I struggled with reading it and found the plot complicated, and it wasn't until seeing it that I understood it all. The story-line is very well developed, and though it was quite dark, I agreed with the engagement of Chris and Ann.
A view from the bridge was amazing, I loved the story-line and found the setting of illegal immigrants an exciting concept. I was interested in witnessing Eddie's growing affections for Catherine, even though she is his neice, and the scene with Marco lifting the chait to show dominance was brilliant! I just didn't like the romance between Rodolpho and Catherine, I knew there needed to be one to make the story work, but I couldn't believe that she would fall for a character like him.
All my sons was much more affective as a stage piece than on paper. I struggled with reading it and found the plot complicated, and it wasn't until seeing it that I understood it all. The story-line is very well developed, and though it was quite dark, I agreed with the engagement of Chris and Ann.
May 5, 2018
I don't normally give five stars to a book, but I studied this during my A-Levels five years ago and have loved it ever since. It is a wonderfully tragic tale of wanting what is best for your family and wanting to be happy yourself. I highly recommend Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, and I can guarantee there will not be a dry eye at the end of this play. I have recently re-read this and found more details than I originally noted down when I read it at aged seventeen. Arthur Miller has and always will be my favourite playwright.
January 5, 2020
I studied this book in GCSE English way back when and I fell in love with the play! Reading it now in my 30s I could see so much more than I did at 15 and I love it even more, great read, great characters and stage directions that bring the play to life beyond the pages.
September 26, 2024
It's was light but substantial read. His books were very meaningful and brought light to very urgent matters at that time, but are still relevant today. He had the skill of balancing humour, satire and drama. I liked 'All of my Sons' better than the other play, but I enjoyed reading both!
"A View from the Bridge"
Is set in 1950's Brooklyn. Italians migrated there looking for a brighter future. Eddie works as a dockworker, like lot of them. He has a niece called Catherine who wants to marry Rodolpho, but Eddie oposses to it because he thinks Rodolpho is only after a green card.
Some of the themes discussed are: immigration, prejudice, law and justice, possessiveness, the 'american dream', reputation, community, toxic masculinity and self-determination.
"All of my Sons"
21 american soldiers died due to faulty airplane parts. Steve was found guilty and was imprisoned for it. His son, George, starts investigating the matter because he thinks it's suspicious. Meanwhile his sister Annie is planning to get married with Steve's colleague's (Joe's) son Chris. Annie was formerly married to Chris' brother Larry, before he passed away. What will George's investigation possible have to do with Larry's tragic death?
Some of the themes discussed: guilt, greed, family, loss, morality, idealism, the 'american dream', dissappointment, responsibility and war.
"A View from the Bridge"
Is set in 1950's Brooklyn. Italians migrated there looking for a brighter future. Eddie works as a dockworker, like lot of them. He has a niece called Catherine who wants to marry Rodolpho, but Eddie oposses to it because he thinks Rodolpho is only after a green card.
Some of the themes discussed are: immigration, prejudice, law and justice, possessiveness, the 'american dream', reputation, community, toxic masculinity and self-determination.
"All of my Sons"
21 american soldiers died due to faulty airplane parts. Steve was found guilty and was imprisoned for it. His son, George, starts investigating the matter because he thinks it's suspicious. Meanwhile his sister Annie is planning to get married with Steve's colleague's (Joe's) son Chris. Annie was formerly married to Chris' brother Larry, before he passed away. What will George's investigation possible have to do with Larry's tragic death?
Some of the themes discussed: guilt, greed, family, loss, morality, idealism, the 'american dream', dissappointment, responsibility and war.
April 9, 2024
A critique of both the societal atmosphere and human nature. Although the central conflict of the play is on Eddie's desire for Catherine, the discussion of what the 'laws' are and what 'laws' should do elevates the status of this play. Eddie was torn between three laws: the household law of caring for immigrants and family members (and caring is not loving), the American law, and the Sicilian law. At the end, Marco betrays two of the three laws: 1) He is unable to return, hence cannot care for his family and betrays the household law; 2) he betrays the American law because he was an illegal immigrant. He did not betray the Sicilian law since he let Eddie pay for his action, and although his ending is tragic, he remains proud. For Eddie, technically speaking he only betrays the first law, but since family (or Catherine), is one thing that he cares the most, he has no choice but to be hopeless and die without any support from his family.
A view from the Bridge is a play about society, about human nature, about love, and also about balance. Eddie has "too much love" for Catherine; Catherine and Rudolpho have too much love for each other, and B has too much love for Eddie. Perhaps the tragic ending is nobody's fault, and tragedy is just an over-production of virtues.
A view from the Bridge is a play about society, about human nature, about love, and also about balance. Eddie has "too much love" for Catherine; Catherine and Rudolpho have too much love for each other, and B has too much love for Eddie. Perhaps the tragic ending is nobody's fault, and tragedy is just an over-production of virtues.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2024
Notes from a view from the bridge- I appreciate this as a great work of art and the writing was truly beautiful most of the characters were beautiful. Also everyone referring to Catherine as a little girl is so weird to me. Can't let me down like this Mr. Miller please let none of your other plays have incest in them 😭 like do I wanna laugh about it a little? Yes but am I going too no. But the story without all of that was highly interesting and I think the point of it is to talk about infatuation and the dangers of it
I love that Mr Miller broaches on such difficult topics such as suicide, obsession, death grief and freedom throughout his plays
All of my sons HIT DIFFERENT like oh my goodness poor Chris an Ann my heart exploded for them it was madness but also something that's not talked enough because real events like this did happen and that's what's scary to reach such a serious topic and turn it into art so creatively to bring awareness if anyone knows how to do it it's Arthur Miller
I love that Mr Miller broaches on such difficult topics such as suicide, obsession, death grief and freedom throughout his plays
All of my sons HIT DIFFERENT like oh my goodness poor Chris an Ann my heart exploded for them it was madness but also something that's not talked enough because real events like this did happen and that's what's scary to reach such a serious topic and turn it into art so creatively to bring awareness if anyone knows how to do it it's Arthur Miller
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2018
didnt like this one as much as AMS :/ maybe its because im much more unfamiliar with the contextual elements this time around so its harder for me to appreciate, but it didnt hit me as hard which was where it was a letdown. if anything though my interest piqued with alfieri’s character and the role he played in the narrative.
im reading for leisure obviously but im also almost wondering if i could apply a greek tragic structure to this, or some kind of omniscient narrator-type thing to his character??? i cant remember the exact word for it but i know miller didnt use this structure for his other plays ie have a character ‘re-tell’ from the future so..interesting choice and also really the only thing i liked. this play was very strange.
im reading for leisure obviously but im also almost wondering if i could apply a greek tragic structure to this, or some kind of omniscient narrator-type thing to his character??? i cant remember the exact word for it but i know miller didnt use this structure for his other plays ie have a character ‘re-tell’ from the future so..interesting choice and also really the only thing i liked. this play was very strange.
April 27, 2020
It was interesting to read these two stageplays complete with direction notes and descriptions of the emotions/mood to be conveyed along with the words. It is the first time I have read in this format.
Both stories were pretty lacking in cheer or any sense of optimism or redemption by the time the curtain came down, but were well written and evocative of the quiet desperation of the human condition.
Both stories were pretty lacking in cheer or any sense of optimism or redemption by the time the curtain came down, but were well written and evocative of the quiet desperation of the human condition.
February 8, 2022
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭:
Plot: 100000/5
Characters: 5/5
Length: 5/5
𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥: 5/5
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠:
At first it took me a bit to get into, yet around 15 pages in I was hooked. I never knew I would love tragedy so much! Both stories were great and the endings (as expected) were sad enough to leave me in shock. Definitely recommend :)
Plot: 100000/5
Characters: 5/5
Length: 5/5
𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥: 5/5
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠:
At first it took me a bit to get into, yet around 15 pages in I was hooked. I never knew I would love tragedy so much! Both stories were great and the endings (as expected) were sad enough to leave me in shock. Definitely recommend :)
March 6, 2018
It was my first time reading Miller’s play, ‘A View from the Bridge’ in order to prepare to teach the play to my Year 9 students. It’s an honest, raw and simple play that says a lot in a brief period of time. I’m looking forward to teaching it.
May 6, 2024
Feels really ahead of its time for the tackling of homophobia, immigration and in particular the US military industrial complex only 2 years after WW2.
Now if only I could find somewhere that’s performing them.
Now if only I could find somewhere that’s performing them.
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