A View from the Bridge York Notes

Eddie and Marco are two strong characters who fight for the upper hand through most of the play. Eddie is an unpleasant man who is always ready to fight characters. He says, ‘Animal! You go on your knees to me!’ Eddie is an unpleasant man who is always ready to fight characters. Marco is much calmer until the very end of the play when he has a go at Eddie.

We know that Eddie is dishonest because he tells the Immigration Authorities that Marco and Rodolfo are in the country illegally. Marco is totally honest and when he says, ‘he degraded my brother.

Marco is an unselfish man. We see this when he is told by Eddie that he will be earning more money than he expected. He thinks of sending more to his family back in Sicily. At the end of the play even though he knows he is going back to Sicily he is happy that Rodolfo can stay in America. ‘Well we did something.’ Eddie is completely selfish. He wants to get rid of Rodolfo because he is jealous of him. ‘Katie, he is only bowin’ to his passport’ meaning that Rodolfo is only going out with Catherine so he can get an American passport when he marries her. Eddie has no evidence this is true so he is making this up so that Catherine will reject Rodolfo.

The biggest difference in the two men is the way the other characters look at them at the end. They have sympathy for Marco even though they attempt to persuade him not to go near Eddie. There is no pity for Eddie because they know what he has done is a betrayal of things they believe in.