A View from the Bridge

A View from the Bridge fallows the structure and tropes of ancient Greek tragedy in several key respects. First, as in Greek tragedy, there is a prologue that sets up the context for the events of the drama delivered by a figure who observes and comments on the events as they unfold but is not involved in them. While in ancient Greek tragedy, that role would be filled by the chorus, in A View from the Bridge, it is filled by just one character, the lawyer Alfieri. Furthermore, the protagonist, Eddie, conforms to the figure of the tragic hero. Like Oedipus or Medea, Eddie is an essentially good or noble character who is destroyed by a fatal flaw. Oedipus’s fatal flaw is his unswerving commitment to the truth and Medea’s is her desire to preserve her dignity; Eddie’s fatal flaw is his love for Catherine. Following the structure of a Greek tragedy, Eddie’s fatal flaw destroys him.

The specific misdeeds Eddie commits that lead to his downfall also echo key tropes from famous Greek tragedies. His passion for his wife’s niece Catherine is semi-incestuous, invoking Oedipus’s incestuous relationship with his mother in the Oedipus cycle.