How does Miller present Catherine growing up in A View From the Bridge Essay

Over the course of the play, Miller presents Catherines development sense of independence in the Carbone household. At the saltation of the play Catherine is portrayed as reliant on Eddie, adopting a domestic role, as well as naive and emotionally immature. after(prenominal)wards Marco and Rodolphos arrival, she rapidly starts to become aware of her sexuality and starts to trust her independence and perplexs going against what Eddie says. By the end of Act 1 Catherine is able to talk back to Eddie and defies his orders and starts to canvass him as negative turn in her life. Miller uses Catherine to indicate how stereotypes of female behaviour are being challenged in Red Hook.When the audience is first introduced to, Miller presents her as the stereotypical woman of the house, as shown through the stage directions entering from the kitchen. The reference to the kitchen suggests that Catherines role is confined to that of a housewife in addition her looking for Eddie implies she eagerly waits for his return, much like a partner would. Her domestic role is throw out reinforced when Miller has her get Eddie a beer an action intended for a wife rather than a daughter. Catherines devotion to please Eddie is moreover demonstrated when Miller has her turn for him. This shows not only her eagerness but also her naivety, as without questioning his orders she willingly puts her body on display forhim. Her naivety is further explored when she lights Eddies cigar for him. Lighting a mans cigar is seen as a romantic gesture, done among husband and wife, so the fact that Catherine fails to recognise the significance behind her actions goes to demonstrate her ignorance towards adult situations, further cementing in the audiences mind that she acts like a nestling. Miller uses Catherines interactions with Beatrice to show how childlike she is disrespect her age. A notable example of this is when Beatrice says to her go mess up, set the table. In this line the word baby could be seen as a term of affection that Beatrice has for Catherine a likely assumption as she is Catherines mother figure. However it could be seen as having a hidden meaning it could to show how Beatrice unk right awayingly views Catherine, as a baby. This is evidenced by the fact that Beatrice is commanding Catherine by corpulent her to set the table.After Marco and Rodolpho arrive Miller begins to show the first signs of Catherines increasing independence. Through her relationship with Eddie we start to see her break away from his control and start to gain some license. This is shown when she tells Rodolpho to go ahead and sing it. This is a significant moment as it is the first instance in the play where Catherine motors a role of authority and commands someone else. Additionally slightly further on she tells Eddie to leave him finish. This goes directly against what Eddie was estimable telling Rodolpho and is the first instance in which Catherine challenges Edd ies authority.This goes along with the first quote go to show just how much she has changed from when we first met her she has gone from completely dependent on Eddie and has begun to start to challenge him. Catherines interactions with Beatrice begin to show how she has started to drift away from whats expected of her as a stereotypical woman. Miller develops this base through the fact that throughout the scene Catherine has been ignoring the duty given to her by Eddie, to get the guests coffee, and has forced Beatrice to take the job and get the coffee herself. This moment signifies the point where Catherine starts to no longer act as a wife towards Eddie, and allows Beatrice to take that role once again. Miller uses Catherines and Rodolphos relationship to show how she is maturing sexually. From the start Miller makes it very clear from the start that Catherine is interested in Rodolpho when he describes her as wondrously ask him about his complexion.Catherines intentions are g iven away here, as wonder is a strong whole step to have for someone she has just met. This is further emphasized when she exclaims once again about his appearance, saying Hes a real blonde showing that she is so captivated with his appearance that she cannot believe what she is seeing. another(prenominal) point that reinforced this idea is when she describes his singing by saying hes alarming, its terrific. This switch from he to it could imply that Catherine might be so infatuated with Rodolpho she can not benefactor complimenting him and must correct herself in order to hide the fact that she does feel love attraction towards him. at long last she later goes onto ask Rodolpho if he likes sugar this is a sexual comment veiled as a question and goes to show Catherines growing sense of sexual maturity.By the end of Act 1 Miller has shown Catherine to become more independent, this is first demonstrated through how her relationship with Eddie has changed. Firstly, Miller portrays Catherine to be distant more forward with Eddie as shown when Catherine is described as talking to Eddie with an edge of anger. Her now being angered is a bear-sized change from how the audience originally viewed Catherines thoughts on Eddie- a childlike figure who relied heavily him. Furthermore, the change in her behaviour is emphasized by the fact that she can now assert some form of dominance over Eddie, as shown by the fact the he retreats before the terror of her anger. Secondly Eddie himself starts to see that Catherine is maturing and growing up as shown when he says, youre a big girl.However the use of the words big girl suggest while he may acknowledge that she is growing up he still does not view her as an adult as many others are starting to do. Beatrice is one of those who recognises that Catherine is maturing, and helps her in doing so. She tells Catherine throughout their conversation that shes not a baby anymore. Baby was the term of affection originally used by Beatrice to refer to Catherine, so her telling Catherine that she is no longer a baby, implies that Beatrice no longer sees her as a child and that she is trying to convince Catherine that she is growing up to be a woman.Finally, Miller uses her relationship with Rodolpho to show how she has now gained independence and is able to defy Eddie. The most notable example of this is when she asks Rodolpho if he wanna dance. This comes right after when Eddie starts questioning Rodolpho on the way he behaves while he is out. Catherine asking Rodolpho to dance serves to act as a gesture of rebellion whose purpose is to show to Eddie that Catherine is now able to think for herself and goes to demonstrate that she no longer needs his approval on what she can and cannot do.Miller uses Catherine to explore the developing theme of womanhood and the struggle for female independence and by doing so he also uses her to challenge the traditional stereotypes that females in Red Hook, and by extension s the world, face.