A study of theme depicted through the major characters and plot as seen in Arthur Miller`s A View from The Bridge - USD Repository

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

A STUDY OF THEME DEPICTED THROUGH THE MAJOR
CHARACTERS AND PLOT AS SEEN IN ARTHUR MILLER’S
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
ADITYA CAHYO NUGROHO
Student Number: 06 4214 016

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

A STUDY OF THEME DEPICTED THROUGH THE MAJOR
CHARACTERS AND PLOT AS SEEN IN ARTHUR MILLER’S
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By
ADITYA CAHYO NUGROHO
Student Number: 06 4214 016

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013

i

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI

TERPUJI

ii

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

iii

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

iv

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

v

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

Do. Or do not. There is no try.
(Star Wars: Episode V – Empire

Strikes Back)

Yesterday is History,
Tommorow is a Mistery,
but Today is a Gift.
That‘s why it is Called a ―Present‖
(Kung Fu Panda)

vi

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

My undergraduate thesis is
devoted to my beloved
family

vii

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I want to give my greatest thank to my Lord, Jesus Christ for his
revelation so that I can do and finish my thesis. Thank you for Your blessing and
enlightenment during my thesis working as there is no God but Him. In Him I
believe, through Him everything is possible. You are my savior and my eternal
advisor. I believe in You now and forever.
Second, I give my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dra. Sri Mulyani, M.A.,
Ph.D. for her guidance and believe in my work. Then, I greatly thank my coadvisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. for his correction and suggestion on
my thesis writing. I thank them for their time to read, correct and critized my
thesis.

I also sincerely expressed my gratitude to all lecturers in Sanata Dharma
University especially to English Letters lecturers, for their patience in guiding me
through this study.
My biggest thank goes to my beloved parents, B. Budi Sardjono, B.
Widiyanti and my brothers Anton Harmoko and Andi Haryanto, M.Sn. for their
support, patience and care. Thank you mom, ―you‘re my sun, my moon, my
guiding star, you are my everything‖ (Barry White).
Thanks to all my friends in English Letters Department 06, to all my After
20 teammate, Dhika, Acong, Atom, Hasan, Gentur, Handoko, Helfi. I also give
thanks to my KKN friends: Cemara, Firma, Monica, Paul, Tirza, and Willy thank
you for all the lovely days in my life. I also thank all my friends whose names
cannot be mentioned one by one for their supports and motivation.
viii

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ..........................................................................................................i
APPROVAL PAGE .............................................................................................. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................................ iii
LEMBAR PENGESAHAN PUBLIKASI ILMIAH ..............................................iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN ................................................................. v
MOTTO PAGE .....................................................................................................vi
DEDICATION PAGE ........................................................................................ vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................. viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................................ix
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ x
ABSTRAK...............................................................................................................xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1
A. Background of the Study.............................................................................. 1
B. Problem Formulation.................................................................................... 6
C. Objective of the Study .................................................................................. 6
D. Definition of Terms ...................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ........................................................ 9

A. Review of Related Studies ........................................................................... 9
B. Review of Related Theories ....................................................................... 11
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ............................................. 11
2. Theory of Plot ........................................................................................ 14
3. Theory of Theme.................................................................................... 16
C. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................... 16
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 18
A. Object of the Study ..................................................................................... 18
B. Approach of the Study................................................................................. 19
C. Method of the Study .................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ................................................................................ 23
A. Description of the Major Characters in A View from the Bridge ................ 23
1. Eddie Carbone ......................................................................................... 25
2. Marco ...................................................................................................... 31
3. Alfieri ...................................................................................................... 34
B. Description of Plot of A View from the Bridge ........................................... 38
1. Exposition or Introduction ...................................................................... 38
2. Raveling or Complication ....................................................................... 46
3. Climax ..................................................................................................... 50
4. Denouement or Unraveling ..................................................................... 56

C. The Contribution of Major Characters‘ Characterization and Plot
in Determining the Theme .......................................................................... 58
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ........................................................................... 66
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ 69
APPENDIX ........................................................................................................... 71
ix

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

ABSTRACT
ADITYA CAHYO NUGROHO. A Study of Theme Depicted through the
Major Characters and Plot as Seen in Arthur Miller’s A View from the
Bridge. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata
Dharma University, 2013.
This research deals with one of Arthur Miller‘s works A View from the

Bridge. In this study, the writer focuses on the theme finding. To support this
research the writer uses two intrinsic elements, character and plot. Those two
elements are used to answer the three objectives of this research. These three
objectives are the description of the major characters‘ characterization, the
description of plot and the contribution of major characters‘ characterization and
plot in determining the theme of A View from the Bridge.
This research is based on the library research and intrinsic elements. The
formalistic approach is used to analyze the internal element based on the other
internal elements of the literary works. It also supports the main subject of this
research, A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller. Some studies related to this
research and the main subject A View from the Bridge, are also used. In order to
answer the three objectives, the writer also uses some theories. They are theory of
character and characterization, theory of plot and theory of theme.
By studying major characters‘ characterization, the writer reveals the
characteristics of Eddie Carbone, Marco and Alfieri. Eddie is a complex character
in A View from the Bridge. He is considered as a round character. First, he is a
caring person but changes into overpotective, then becomes possesive in
conjunction with the arrival of Beatrice‘s cousins. Subsequently he changes into a
jealous person because he does not like the relationship between Catherine; her
niece and Rodolpho; one of Beatrice‘s cousins. Marco‘s characteristics are
affected with Eddie‘s characterization. At first, he is respectful to Eddie but in the
end he loses his respect and become disrespectful related to Eddie‘s jealousy to
Catherine and Rodolpho relationship. The last major character is Alfieri, he is a
well-educated and reliable person.
The plot is divided into four parts, introduction, complication, climax and
denouement. From the plot the structure of the play can be seen. Based on the
plot, Eddie‘s jealousy to Rodolpho made Marco suffer because he reports Marco
and Rodolpho to the Immigration Bureau. Marco lost his job so he cannot beatify
his family. Eddie wants his justice as Marco accuses him as a betrayer and Marco
wants his justice as what Eddie does to him. On one hand, Eddie reports them
because they break the Immigration laws. On the other hand, Marco wants to
revenge Eddie because he breaks the community law. Both of them break the law
and both of them seek for justice. Alfieri can not do anything. As an ItalianAmerican lawyer he is attached to both laws. Based on the analysis of the major
characters‘ characterization and plot that tell the relationship and conflict between
Eddie and Marco within the scope of laws and justice, then the writer finds the
theme of the play is ―laws do not always provide justice‖.
x

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

ABSTRAK
ADITYA CAHYO NUGROHO. A Study of Theme Depicted through the
Major Characters and Plot as Seen in Arthur Miller’s A View from the
Bridge. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata
Dharma University, 2013.
Penelitian ini berkaitan dengan salah satu karya dari Arthur Miller A View
from the Bridge. Karya ini merupakan salah satu drama yang menarik karena
banyak berkenaan dengan aspek kehidupan manusia yaitu cinta, benci, dan harga
diri yang tertuang di dalam ceritanya.
Dalam penelitian ini penulis fokus pada pencarian tema. Untuk mendukung
penelitian ini penulis menggunakan dua dari intrinsik elemen yang ada dalam
drama ini yaitu tokoh dan plot. Keduanya akan digunakan untuk menjawab ketiga
objek dalam penelitian ini yakni pendeskripsian karakterisasi para karakter utama,
pendeskripsian plot dan kontribusi karakterisasi para karakter utama dan plot
dalam pencarian tema di A View from the Bridge.
Karena penelitian ini berdasar pada penelitian pustaka dan intrinsik elemen
yang terkandung di dalamnya. Maka, pendekatan formalistik digunakan untuk
menganalisa salah satu intrinsik elemen dengan menggunakan intrinsik elemen
yang lain. Hal ini juga didukung dengan beberapa studi yang berkenaan dengan
penelitian ini dengan subjek utama penelitian yaitu A View from the Bridge.
Selain daripada itu penulis juga menggunakan beberapa teori untuk mendukung
penelitian ini. Teori yang digunakan antara lain teori tokoh dan penokohan, teori
plot dan teori tema.
Pendeskripsian sifat-sifat karakter utama yaitu Eddie Carbone, Marco dan
Alfieri telah penulis temukan. Pertama, Eddie Carbone, dia merupakan karakter
yang kompleks, karakternya bersifat dinamis. Pada awal cerita dia seorang yang
peduli, namun berubah menjadi overprotektif lalu berubah menjadi possesif
bersamaan dengan setibanya sepupu Beatrice dan akhirnya menjadi pencemburu
karena dia tidak suka dengan hubungan Catherine dan Rodolpho. Penokohan
Marco dipengaruhi oleh sifat-sifat penokohan dari Eddie. Pada awalnya dia sangat
menghormati Eddie tapi pada akhirnya dia tidak hormat lagi dengan Eddie. Yang
terakhir, Alfieri, dia seorang pengacara yang terpelajar dan dapat dipercaya.
Di dalam lakon ini, plot dibagi menjadi empat bagian yaitu perkenalan,
kerumitan masalah, klimaks, dan penyelesaian. Dari plot ini dapat dilihat bahwa
kecemburuan Eddie telah membuat Marco sengsara, pelaporan Eddie kepada biro
imigrasi telah membuatnya kehilangan pekerjaan dan kesempatan untuk
membahagiakan keluarganya. Eddie menginginkan keadilan atas tuduhan Marco
bahwa dia seorang pengkhianat, di lain pihak Marco ingin keadilan atas apa yang
dilakukan Eddie terhadapnya. Eddie melaporkan mereka karena mereka
melanggar hukum keimigrasian sedangkan Marco ingin membalas dendam karena
Eddie melanggar hukum komunitasnya. Keduanya melanggar hukum dan
keduanya mencari keadilan. Alfieri sebagai pengacara Italia-Amerika tidak dapat
berbuat banyak karena terikat oleh kedua hukum itu. Tema yang didapat dari
penelitian tentang tokoh dan plot adalah ―hukum tidak selalu menghasilkan
keadilan‖.
xi

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
Literary work can be viewed as a portrait of human life. Both fiction and
non-fiction will capture some aspects of human life. The story of human life
basically can be found in some literary works; like poetry, play, drama, playscript, and novel. Some stories contain human feelings such as sadness,
happiness, anger, gloom, and many more.
Moody in Literary Appreciation: A Practical Guide to the Understanding
and Enjoyment of Literature in English, states that literature brings us back to the
realities of human situations, problems, feelings, and relationships. (1968:3)
Related with Moody‘s perspective that literature serves the reality based on
human life, William J. Grace in Response to Literature, also states that
Literature gives us a special knowledge of life that is not identical with that
of real experience but provide a provitable supplement in terms of
intellectual and critical values. It is actually possible for a well-read person
to make a mature evaluation of life without having had a great deal of direct
experience. (1965:7)
The quotation above means that literature is the mirror of life. Since literary work
is a reflection of human life, it may bring the readers to the reality of the human
situation without having its experience. In other words, the readers could
understand

life

through

literature

1

on

the

first

hand.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

2

Another theorist, like Hudson in An Introduction to the Study of Literature
also states that literature is a representation of human life, with its own problems
and solutions.
Literature is a vital record of what men have seen in life, what they have
experienced of it, what they have thought and felt about those aspects of it
which have the most immediate and enduring interest for all of us. It is thus
fundamentally an expression of life through the medium of language. It is
important to understand; to begin with, that literature lives by virtue of the life
which it embodies (1958: 10).

According to Rohrberger and Woods, there are four modern literary genres.
They are the short story, the poetry, the novel and the play or drama. Each genre
has its own form (1971: 19). The play or drama is a literary work, which is
written to be played on the stage. In other words, drama is not only the
representative object of human life by its story but also gives pleasure and
mentality amusement by its performance. As Reaske states, a drama is a work of
literature or a composition which delineates life and human activity by means of
presenting various actions of a group of characters. (1988:5) Drama has some
elements in its story; there are characters, plot, setting, and stage direction.
Characters are the most important element in drama; when people see a play; their
attention will focus on the character.
In Drama and Performance: An Anthology, Gary Vena and Andrea Nouryeh
say that drama requires imagination to understand the content more than in most
other forms of literature. In drama, we can see what is explicitly said and done.
Therefore, the explication of the implied and the unspoken are understandable.
Dramatically fiercely extends the characters‘ action and conflict through time and
space, either active or passive with its completed of what has happened. In

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

3

understanding drama, we have to understand how dramatic scripts work in setting
the stage, developing the characters, and advancing the story. It is also described
that ―most plays move forward through the resolution of conflicts that develop
between characters. These conflicts create tension and become the catalysts for
further physical or psychological action‖ (Vena and Nouryeh, 1996: viii-ix).
Drama is a special and unique form of writing in the world of literature. It is
different from other literary works like poetry, novel, or fiction. Drama has
different processes in telling the story by using stage directions and dialogue to
describe the environment or the characters in the story. Drama is meant to be
more than language on a page. It needs not only to be read but also to be
performed. Through its performance, the audiences will be helped to understand
more about the story (Vena and Nouryeh, 1996: viii).
Drama is a type of literary work that is usually created for a play
performance. The advantage given by a technical performance, however, requires
the limitations of the material it can present. A play must be able to hold the
attention of a group audience. A higher demand than in prose fiction is placed for
a well-defined plot, swift exposition, strong conflicts, and dramatic confrontation.
Unless the play is very brief, it must usually be divided into parts separated by an
intermission or intermissions, and each part must work up to its own climax or
point of suspense. It must be written in such a way that its central meanings may
be grasped in a single hearing (Perrine, 1969:9Il-2).

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

4

In drama characters are the implementation of human being in real life with
their emotions and behaviors or it can be said that drama is the imitation of life.
Barranger writes in Understanding Plays that
Drama's characters are images of active human beings. To be credible, their
manner and dress must fit their period, place, and social class. Their speech
must suit their age, sex, personality, class and circumstances. Their actions
must be rooted in situation. The playwright's success depends on skill in
developing characters and events together in believable and convincing
patterns of choice and behavior (1994:339).
The above quotation also means that drama cannot be separated from human
life. In drama the author tries to comprehend the character‘s life with the human
life in some aspects.
In Understanding Plays, drama is described as the reflection of ourselves; it
leads us to discoveries and reflections about our personalities, circumstances,
desires, anxieties, hopes, and dreams. It is able to show the ways in satisfying our
willingness in relationships or confronting despair in death. The characters in the
play have struggled to show love and affection to one another. ―Great plays
confront us with life‘s varieties, conveying the hope, courage, despair,
compassion, violence, love hate, exploitation, and generosity experienced by all
humankinds ‖(Barranger, 1994:7).
Barranger also states that drama is unique among the representational arts in
that it represents 'reality' by using real human beings -actors- as characters- to
create its fictional universe (1994:338). It means that drama is a reality‘s
manifesto. According to Reinert in Drama: An Introductory Anthology, ―Drama is
distinguished from the other forms of literature not just by performability but also
by the objectivity and externality that performability implies‖. The above

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

5

quotation means that drama is diverse in how it‘s performed, how to characterize
the characters, and how the message of the play infiltrates the audiences.
In the analysis, the writer wants to find the theme. The focus of the analysis
is to find the identical relationship between characters and plot in ways to find the
theme of the story. Theme is the interesting element in which it can show what the
story is about and it gives the reader the deep understanding and taught about
human‘s life. According to Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction, at finding the
theme, the readers must go deeper to the characters‘ characteristics and the plot.
(1965:21)
As the subject of the study, the writer analyzes the major characters and the
plot through Arthur Miller‘s A View from the Bridge. A View from the Bridge is
one of Arthur Miller‘s masterpieces and Arthur Miller was an excellent
playwright.
He produces some great plays and biography such as The Man Who Had All
the Luck, opened in 1944 and his next play, All My Sons, received the Drama
Critics' Circle Award. His 1949 Death of a Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize.
Among his works are A View from the Bridge, The Misfits, After the Fall, Incident
at Vichy, The Price, The American Clock, Broken Glass, Mr. Peters' Connections,
and Timebends, his autobiography. Miller's writing has earned him a lifetime of
honors, including the Pulitzer Prize, seven Tony Awards, two Drama Critics
Circle Awards, an Obie, an Olivier, the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement
Award, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish prize. He holds honorary doctorate

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

degrees

from

Oxford

University

and

Harvard

6

University.

(http://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/arthur-miller-biography)
The writer is interested in reading this play, because of the dramatic figure
of the story. The major characters of the play, Eddie Carbone, Marco and Alfieri
are the main attention to the story. How their relationship is the main object of
analysis. Therefore, the writer wants to analyze the theme of the play based on the
major characters‘ life. Moreover, by analyzing this play in ways to find the theme
through the major characters‘ characteristics and the plot, hopefully the readers
noticed the message that can be learned in this thesis.
B. Problem Formulation
Referring to the background of the study above, there are three main
questions formulated that will be discussed in this study. The questions are:
1. How are the major characters portrayed in Arthur Miller's A View from the
Bridge?
2. How is the plot described in Arthur Miller‘s A View from the Bridge?
3. How do the major characters and the plot in Arthur Miller‘s A View from the
Bridge convey the theme?
C. Objectives of the Study
Based on problem formulation above, the purpose of this study is to convey
the theme depicted through the major characters‘ characteristics and the plot of
the play. The objective can be found by answering the three questions in the
problem formulation.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

7

The first one, the writer analyzes the characteristics of Eddie Carbone,
Marco and Alfieri as the major characters in this play. Then, the writer moves to
the next objective. The second objective, the writer tries to know how the plot is
described. The third or last objective, the writer tries to know the contribution of
the major characters‘ characteristics and the plot in Arthur Miller‘s A View from
the Bridge conveys the theme of the play.
D. Definition of Terms
In this part, the writer tries to give some definitions in order to help and to
answer some formulated problems above, so the readers can understand the
explanation within this analysis. Therefore there are some key terms that are used
in the next parts to avoid ambiguities and misunderstanding in meaning.
1. Character
In A Glossary Literary Terms, Abrams states that a character is a person
presented in a dramatic or narrative work, which is interpreted by the reader as
being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what
he says, the dialogue, and what he does, the action (1981: 20). In understanding
the characters, the readers should pay attention to the behavior of the characters.
2. Plot
In The Anatomy of Drama, Marjorie Boulton states, ―A plot has a beginning,
which leads, through middle to an end; it makes some kind of pattern; the
probability must appear not only in events, but also in their sequence; a plot
contains motives, sequences, and relationships‖. (1968:45) In other words, plot is
the narrative figure of a story.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

8

3. Theme
In A Handbook to Literature, theme is a central or dominating idea of a
work. Holman and Harmon also added information that a theme is the abstract
concept that is made concrete through its representation in person, action and
image in the work. (1986:502)
According to Barnhart (1956:2173), the word ―theme‖ means a topic or a
subject. In Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, Perrine defines the theme of a
piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the unifying
generalization about life or implied in the story. He said that to derive a theme of
a story we must ask what its central purpose is, what the view of life it supports or
what insight into life it reveals (Perrine, 1969: 137).

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies
The deeper understanding of a play arouses people to be more sensitive
toward the reality. As each of the experience of a play, make people more aware
or careless with the real situation. A View from the Bridge is one of the famous
Arthur Miller‘s works. As explained in A Guide to A View from the Bridge.
After graduating from university he worked as a journalist and began
writing plays but he also worked in the Brooklyn shipyards for two years
and met many Italian workers and their families. Miller learnt a lot about the
struggles of Italian immigrants when he worked in the shipyards. It was this
experience that gave him the idea of writing A View from the Bridge told by
a longshoreman. (Sean Sheehan and Tony Buzan, 1999: 1)
The quotation above means that A View from the Bridge is a play that shows
a real situation in which Arthur Miller faces. The story of the play is the story of
Italian immigrants‘ life.
Related to Nila Krisnawati‘s thesis entitled Eddie’s Personality Changes as
the Effect of His Incestuous Love as seen in Arthur Miller’s A View from the
Bridge, she said ―Arthur Miller can prove himself as a talented social playwright
through his work in A View from the Bridge ―(2006: 22). It is a proved that A
View from the Bridge has given a great influence in his work, or it can be said that
Arthur Miller is not only great novelist but also great in the playwright.
Arthur Miller‘s A View from the Bridge is a kind of classic dramaturgy that
has an adequate pattern of tragic hero (Greek tragedy). In this drama, Arthur
Miller portrays the life of Italian longshoreman named Eddie, as the main
9

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

10

character of this play he has a responsibility in controlling and monitoring his
society. Hogins in Literature said that ―A View from the Bridge was originally a
one act-play written in the genre of naturalism‖ (1975: 882). It can be said that the
characters in this play are more realistic. Miller related the relationships of the
neighborhood characters to a rigid code of ethics that influence each of the
characters‘ actions and reactions.
Arthur Miller states in An Introduction to Literature by Sylvan Barnet,
Morton Berman, and William Burto that:
If I is true to say that in essence the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his
whole due as a personality, and if this struggle must be total and without
reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man
to achieve his humanity….It is curious, although edifying, that the plays we
revere, century after century, are the tragedies. In them and in them alone,
lies the belief – optimistic, if you will – in the perfectibility of man.
(1993:652)
The quotation above reveals that most of the audience often senses triumph
rather than despair in tragedies. The tragedy in the play occasionally related to the
death of the main character or the protagonist ones.
Drama from Ibsen to Brecht, said that ―A View from the Bridge emphasizes
one personal being broken and destroyed by guilt‖ (Williams, 1971:274). The
crisis is related to the relationship of a party illegal Italian group-Brooklyn
waterfront. Eddie Carbone‘s breakdown and guilt relate to the relationship with
his community in Redhook. The breakdown leads to a sin against his community,
when he reports the two brothers that lived in his apartment to the Immigration
Bureau. As a part of the community he betrays his own group because he cannot
keeps and takes care of his community.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

11

Another review says, ―Miller decided to make this play because he was
interested in the tale of someone who can be driven to make ‗a sacrifice of
himself for his conception, however misguided, of right, dignity and justice‘.‖
(Sheehan and Buzan, 1999: 2)
The above quotation remarks that A View from the Bridge was a play that
draws from a longshoreman‘s life that fell into his guilt, as his wrong decision. In
this play, Arthur Miller tries to explore further about the audiences‘ reaction
toward the play from the beginning to the end.
This research serves some elements of the study that differ with the previous
study. Most of the previous studies focus only on the extrinsic elements such as
the author, the societal and historical perception. This thesis tries to develop the
previous study that has been done before; and this research only focuses on the
major characters and plot as the intrinsic elements of the play in order to reveal
the theme of the play.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Characters and Characterization
In Drama: An Introductory Anthology character is aware of themselves only
as people in real life are aware of themselves and they are only constituent
moving parts in shape patterns of action, because of that what happens to them
can seem more meaningful than the random events that befall ourselves. (Reinert,
1964: xxvii) It can be said that the characters are the implementation of human
life.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

12

According to Perrine in Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense an author
describes his or her own characters based on his or her styles, there are two types
of presentations: direct and indirect.
An author may present his characters either directly or indirectly, in direct
presentation he tells us straight out by exposition or analysis or has someone
else in the story tells us what he is like. In indirect presentation the author
shows us the character in action, we infer what he is like from what he
thinks or says or do. (1974: 68)
Based on their psychological behavior, there are two kinds of characters
namely flat and round characters. The flat characters are the characters that
represent single characteristics, treat, idea or limited number of qualities. The flat
characters are static and do not develop as fully as round characters. Round
characters are complex in temperament and motivation. Round characters are
dynamic and often appear as the center of the story. They represent number
qualities or traits and complex multidimensional characters of significant
intellectual and emotional depth that have the capacity to grow and changes
(Forster, 1974: 73). Forster's theory is applied in this research because of the
characteristics changing on the major characters; there is no certainty in major
characters' characterization. Relevant to the two quotations above, characters are
the divine of the author itself, how she or he creates the characters through his or
her passion and the co-related to his or her personal emotion to the characters.
M.H Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms stated in the following.
Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are
interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and
emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say –the dialogue- and by
what they do –the action (Abrams, 1981:20)

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

13

The quotation above means that characters are built in some unique characteristics,
which are including the moral and emotional endeavor of the characters. As Abrams
says that the characters' characteristics can be seen through their dialogues or other
characters‘ response to the characters‘ behavior.
According to Baldick, character sketched briefly describing some recognizable
types of person (1991:33-34). It means that the reader will understand the other
person characters by observing the characters in the play, by observing the characters
in the play; the readers can define the other person types like good, bad, kind,
loveable or evil.

Richard Goldstone in Context of the Drama (1960: 6) gives some ways in
knowing about characterization in play. They are:
1. Dialogue spoken by the character
2. Dialogue spoke about the character
3. Action taken by the character
4. The personality and interpretation of the actor playing the role
The above quotation says that characterization can be seen through the dialogues in
the play, action and the behavior of the characters and the audience‘s interpretation
about the characters.
According to Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature (1986: 95),
there are three fundamental methods of characterization:
1. The explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition,
either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work,
illustrated by action.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

14

2. The presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by
the author, in the expectation that the reader can deduce the attribute of the actor
from the action.
3. The representation from within a character, without comment by the author, of
the impact of actions and emotions on the character‘s inner self.
The previous quotation means that characterization is the way how the author
explicitly explains about the characters itself; there are some ways for the author in
introducing the characters. First, the direct exposition of the characters reveals the
understanding of the readers. Second, the action of the characters in which the
audience or the reader recognizes it. Third, characters‘ inner attribute show their
personality.

2. Theory of Plot
The writer uses the theory on plot as a support information in writing this
thesis. According to Aristotle in Holman and Harmon‘s A Handbook to
Literature, plot is defined as ―the arrangement of the incidents‖ he also stated that
there are five basic concepts of plot in drama; exposition, rising action, climax or
turning point, falling action and denouement or a catastrophe. (1986: 379) It
means that each element in a plot cannot be separated, as it is the unity of actions‘
arrangement.
Related to Boulton in The Anatomy of Drama (1968: 45), ―A plot has a
beginning, which leads, through middle to an end; it makes some kind of pattern;
the probability must appear not only in events, but also in their sequence; a plot
contains motives, sequences, and relationships‖. The quotation means that a plot
is the structure of literary works.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

15

In addition Yelland, Jones and Easton in A Handbook of Literary Terms,
stated that plot is the framework of a story, or the conscious arrangement of its
events. In which its pattern consist of exposition, raveling or complication,
climax, and denouement or unraveling. This pattern is alternatively stated as
exposition, rising, action, falling action. (1953: 147-148) Therefore, plot is the
main concept in the story.
Related to the information above, these are the following pattern of plot
based on Yelland, Jones and Easton theory:
a. Exposition
Exposition is the beginning of the story where the characters are introduced,
the background sketched, and the problem stated. (Yelland, Jones, and Easton
1953: 148) The above statement means that exposition is the basic item in the
story.
b. Ravelling or Complication
Ravelling or complication is the arouse of the characters‘ interest coincide
with the introduction of the difficulties. (Yelland, Jones, and Easton, 1953: 148)
The other word, complication is the rising action of introducing conflict.
c. Climax
Climax is the accumulation of the great expectancy and preceding incidents.
(Yelland, Jones, and Easton, 1953: 148) In the other words, climax is the highest
point of conflict.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

16

d. Denouement or Unraveling
Denouement is the conclusion of the finally worked out. (Yelland, Jones,
and Easton, 1953: 148) Moreover, denouement is the resolution of the conflict or
the set of actions bringing the story to its conclusion.
3. Theory of Theme
In A Handbook to Literature, Holman and Harmon state that theme is the
abstract concept that made concrete through its representation in person, action,
and image in the work. (1986: 551) In other words, theme is the unity of the main
idea and its representative figure in the story.
Another theory is taken from Yelland, Jones and Easton in A Handbook to
Literary Terms, theme is the central thought in a literary work. (1953: 205) It
means that theme is the basic concept of the story or the concept why the story is
built.
Meanwhile, Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms stated that theme is
general concept or doctrine, whether implicit or asserted, which an imaginative
work is designed to involve and make persuasive to the reader. (1981: 205)
Therefore, theme is the main idea or focus of the discussion that implies in a story.
Through the theme, readers will understand the purpose of the author why he or she
creates the story or what the author wants to show through his or her play. The theme
can affect the readers because sometimes theme shows value of life.
C. Theoretical Framework
In this part, the writer summarizes the framework of the theory. As the aim of
this thesis is to reveal the theme in Arthur Miller‘s A View from the Bridge depicted
through the major characters‘ characteristics and plot so the writer tries to apply all

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

17

mentioning theories before. The theories applied in this thesis are the theory of
characters and characterization, theory of plot, theory of theme. These theories help
the writer in answering the problem formulation.
To answer the first question in problem formulation, the writer uses the theory
of characters and characterization. This theory used to analyze the major characters in
A View from the Bridge, how the major characters behave and react in some
circumstances is the main object in the first question. This theory is needed to clear
out about the major characters and their characteristics.
In answering the second question, the writer uses the theory of plot. This theory
serves the groove and the sequence of the story. Therefore, this theory gives the
reader deeper understanding about the plot of the play.
After knowing the major characters‘ characteristics and the plot of the play, the
writer uses the theory of theme to disassemble the theme of the story. Those theories
above are the guidance for the writer to answer the problem formulation.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methodology in this study. There are three
subtitles in this chapter: object of the study, in which the information on the novel
is presented, the approach of the study, discussion on the approaches in this study,
and method of the study, which tells about the procedure of gathering and
arranging the data used in writing this thesis.
A. Object of the study
In this part the writer wants to describe everything which is relevant to the
object of the study. The object of this study is a drama. This play is entitled A
View from the Bridge written by Arthur Miller. It was written in 1955 and
published by The Viking Press, Inc. This play received the Gold Medal Award for
Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1955.
The book that the writer used was published in 1960 by Bantam Books, Inc.
It was an extended version with the introduction of Arthur Miller. It is a play with
two acts. A View from the Bridge is the work that is going to be used as the object
of this study. This play was written by Arthur Miller in 1955 and was first staged
in 1956. Miller wrote this play based on his experience when he worked in
Brooklyn neighborhoods. The play focuses on a doom-ridden family and the
community in front of which that household all-too-publicly disintegrates. In this
case, the family is the working-class-Italian Carbone in the community of Red
Hook, Brooklyn, 1955. The issue is the emerging sexuality of the Carbone's niece,
18

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

19

Catherine, who has begin to wear high heels and to walk "wavy." Guardian Uncle
Eddie's all-consuming adoration for his niece evolves into a lusty force stronger
than all the wise counsels, desperate pleas, and bad omens in the world.
(http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review).
―A View from the Bridge has an unusually complicated performance history.
Inspired now by the true story of a Brooklyn dockworker who informed on two
illegal immigrants, Miller reconceived The Hook as A View from the Bridge. The
play, a one-act verse drama, was a mild failure on Broadway in 1955; critics
found its austere style un-involving. Miller had wanted to create a play that would
simply tell the tale he himself has heard, with no attempt to gain audience
sympathy

for

Eddie's

-

or

anyone

else's

–

plight‖

(http://www.eriding.net/amoore/gcse/viewfromthebridge.htm#history).
Based on the quotation above, A View from the Bridge is a typed of Greek
tragedy with its tragic hero of Italian-American longshoreman Eddie Carbone,
whose intransigence proves his downfall. The mind of Eddie Carbone is not
comprehensible apart from its relation to his neighborhood, his fellow workers,
and his social situation. His self-esteem depends upon their estimate of him, and
his value is created largely by the fidelity to the code of his culture. His downfall
arises because of his own action as he reports his cousins to the Immigration
Bureau, due to his jealousy of the relationship between Catherine (his niece) and
Rodolpho (Beatrice‘s cousin).

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

20

B. Approach of the Study
In analyzing the works of literature, some critics have their own ways and
approaches. They may be different from one to another even though they may
analyze the same work of literature. They may have different views in learning and
understanding the literary works, and they also have many approaches to define their
study. Thus, as this study deals with intrinsic elements such as characters, plot and

theme. Then it will be in line to apply the formalistic approach as the focus of the
literary work, which is going to be analyzed.
In A Handbook of Critical Approach to Literature, Wilfred L.Guerin states
that formalistic approach is an approach that involves ―close reading‖ or
―intensive reading‖. Intensive reading is the way of the readers to have a sensivity
to the words of the text and all their denotative and connotative values and
implications and to look for structural relationships and patterns – not just in the
words and their relationships, but also in larger units. (Guerin, 2004: 93-94) The

correspondence of the statement is that the formalistic approach tries to answer
the relationship between text and structures with its meanings and implicatures.
Moreover, according to Rene Welleck and Austin Warren in Kennedy and
Giola‘s Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama Seventh Edition
(2012: 1932), ―The natural and sensible starting point for work in literary scholarship
is the interpretation and analysis of the works of literature themselves.‖ Thus, the
quotation shows that the formalistic approach only related to the intrinsic element of
a literary work. The quotation makes the reason to use formalistic approach in this
research becomes stronger.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

21

Formalistic approach helps the writer analyze the story by seeing and
understanding the behaviors of the major characters and the plot to find the theme
of the story. As Yelland, Jones and Easton in A Handbook to Literary Terms say
that theme is ―the central thought‖ of the story. It is necessary for the writer to use
the formalistic approach as Guerin says that formalistic approach is an approach
that insists on close reading and stating what is exposed in intrinsic elements.
C. Method of the study
Since literary work is the focus on the study, the writer uses library research
to answer the problem formulations. Library research has a meaning that books
are very important for doing a research where the data are collected. There are
two kinds of data used in this study. The primary source is A View from the
Bridge by Arthur Miller as an author. This novel was published by Bantam
Books, Inc in 1960.
The secondary data are some critics from theses and some books of theories.
Some of important sources which the writer used in this thesis are Nila
Krisnawati‘s thesis entitled Eddie’s Personality Changes as the Effect of His
Incestuous Love as seen in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, Elisabeth
Inatyas S.W‘s thesis entitled A Study of Character and Plot to Convey the Theme
as Seen in Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife.
There are some books on theories that the writer used to provide the theory
of character, plot and theme as well as moral-philosophical approach. The books
are Drama: An Introductory Anthology by Reinert, A Handbook to Literature by
Holman and Harmon, Context of the Drama by Richard Goldstone, A Handbook

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

22

of Literary Terms by Yelland, Jones and Easton, A Handbook of Critical
Approach to Literature by Wilfried L. Guerin. After collecting the references, the
next step was finding the theme of the play. The theme of the play was finding by
using the major characters and the plot. The theme of the play was made by relating
and uniting the significance of major characters and the plot in the play.

PLAGIAT
PLAGIATMERUPAKAN
MERUPAKANTINDAKAN
TINDAKANTIDAK
TIDAKTERPUJI
TERPUJI

CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS

There are three parts of discussion in this research analysis. The first part
analyzes the major characters, Eddie Carbone, Marco and Alfieri. In order to
show their way of thinking and manners, theories of character and
characterization is used to reveal the three major characters. The second part
analyzes the systematic plot of the play, in order to arrange the important events
happen in the play. The last part unveils the theme of the play based on the major
characters and the plot of the play.
A. Characterization of the Major Characters
In Richaracd Goldstone‘s Context of the Drama, there are some ways in
knowing about characterization in play. They are dialogue spoken by the
character; dialogue spokes about the character, action taken by the character, and
the personality and interpretation of th