What is the purpose/function of Eddie within the play?

1. What is the purpose/function of Eddie within the play? By Frazer Keene, Tin Nguyen, Lucy Austin and Amy Butler

2. Eddie is the protagonist of the play – the tragic hero faced with a moral dilemma. • He drives the action and the story of the play. • This is the basic function of Eddie.

3. Eddie symbolises society • Eddie symbolises the society of the time. • His internal conflicts transfer onto many situations of 1590’s Red Hook. • Some of the conflicts; old and new, America and Italy, the American law and the Red Hook brotherhood with its codes of honour. • Eddie shows tensions in stage directions • Eddie “has bent the rolled paper and it suddenly turns in two” • When a force is applied, tension increases and to relive pressure -> breaks in two.

4. Eddie represents everybody • Each one of us has the ability to bring our own self-destruction. • In Act 1 Eddie says “You can quicker get back million dollars that was stole than a word you gave away”. • “you” underpins the idea of self-destruction. • The impulses can only be acknowledged and recognised by somebody else. • In Eddie’s case, it is Alfieri, who gives this description of Eddie “but soon I saw it was only a passion that had moved into his body, like a stranger”. • The simile of “stranger” suggests that the desires are more subliminal and that they are unwelcomed. • The noun “passion” shows that in a human being, once a desire has rooted itself we become totally consumed and transfixed upon reaching the goal.

5. Greek Influences Plato’s tripartite theory of the soul • The soul consists of three parts: • The appetitive • Spirit • and Rational. • Individual justice consists of maintaining these three parts in perfect balance where rational (aided by spirit) rules and appetite obeys. Plato

6. “Katie” “giving me the willies” Lusts for Catherine “cigar” Eddie is a longshoreman Desires Eddie wants Catherine to remain innocent but longs for her in her womanhood Represents labourers in society Desires can conflict Appetite Plato’s tripartite theory of the soul Enforcer of the law Alfieri Spirit Thinking portion Loves honour and victory “Marco’s got my name” Rational Eddie Judges what is right and wrong “I want my respect” Represents the philosopher kings Hubris

7. Arthur Miller: “It is time, I think, that we who are without kings took up this bright thread of our history and followed it to the only place it can possibly lead in our time – the heart and spirit of the average man”.

8. Despite being the protagonist, in the context of the play, Eddie is just an average guy. • The kings that Miller talked about could be representative of the philosopher kings in Plato’s theory in the rational. • Without this ability to judge right from wrong, Eddie is left with his appetitive and spirit to control his actions and the results were disastrous. • This shows that if you do not acknowledge your history, you are condemned to a downfall.

9. Purpose/ function of Eddie • To be the protagonist • Acharacter to make the play more exciting or appealing to the audience • He encapsulates the idea of human desires but more specifically Miller’s thesis of the human race • Provides the audience with an evocative, self-reflective and thought- provoking play