A View from the Bridge - Definition

A View from the Bridge is a play by Arthur Miller originally produced as a verse drama on Broadway in 1955. It was based upon an unproduced screenplay that Miller developed with Elia Kazan entitled The Hook, dealing with corruption on the docks of a port. (Though the movie was never made, Kazan's 1954 film On the Waterfront developed similar ideas.)

Though the 1955 production was not successful, it was revised in 1956 to become a more traditional prose play, and it is through this version that audiences are most familiar with the work today. (Interestingly, the play was adapted into an opera in 1999 by William Bolcom, thus bringing the story back into verse.)

The main character in the story is Eddie Carbone, and his relationships with his niece at the arrival of his wife's cousins.

External links

• Educator's guide to teaching the play (http://www.eriding.net/amoore/gcse/viewfromthebridge.htm)
• Sparknotes on the play (http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/viewbridge/context.html)