Alfieri Characters presentation

Introduction:

Despite the appearances, Alfieri has one of the most important roles in the play. Not so much for his role as a character, but most importantly for his choric function and his structuring function. Alfieri thus becomes a mouthpiece for Miller, giving the audience important insight into the action and allowing the playwright to move the action at the pace he wants.

Choric function

Remember what Miller said: He wanted this play to be a Modern Greek tragedy. The chorus was an important part of Greek tragedies. The chorus was a group of anonymous ‘citizens’ that introduced characters, gave information about what was happening off stage and informed the audience on what happened ‘inside‘ the characters’ mind.

It is easy to see how A fills in this function in the play. In the opening for example, or many of his interludes

As the chorus, Alfieri does much to set the inevitability of the tragedy. (opening speech, interludes, ‘His eyes were like tunnels’ ‘A passion had taken over his body like a stranger’)

Alfieri as a Bridge

Alfieri is a bridge in many different ways. First, he is a bridge between the word of Red Hook/Brooklyn and the audience.

However he can also be seen as a bridge between the old world and the new world (remember he has lived in Italy, but respects American law).

Alfieri is also a bridge between the different values of the community. From his windows he has a view of the great city (Manhattan) where the immigrants aspire to settle one day, and the bay, turned towards the sea and the Old World. The identities and values clash as do the ideas of law and justice.

A is the view from the bridge, opposed to those ‘on the waterfront’ who act on impulse, passionately.

Alfieri the character

A is sometimes presented as a character in the play, but he lacks important characteristics to be fully part of the play. When he does appear, Alfieri is usually powerless to influence any of