WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT THE WORLD IN WHICH THIS PLAY IS SET FROM AFLIERI’S OPENING SPEECH?
We can learn a lot about the area where the play is set just by Alfieri’s opening speech. He comments on the look, the people and most of all the vibe. He expresses what the people are like and who they are.
The first thing I would like to comment on is what he portrays the place to look like. From his speech I get would think Red Hook is a dirty and muggy place, “The slum that faces the bay on the seaward side of Brooklyn Bridge.” Comparing the area to a slum is extremely strong; slums are where the poorest of the poor live in deprived areas. He also states that, “This is the gullet of New York swallowing the tonnage of the world”. This to me says that this is a place forgotten about, a place where everything is just dumped and left there and no one really cares. I also think this is a slight reference to the illegal immigrants coming into this area.
Secondly he comments on the people who live there. I get the impression that this is an area of poor people, “petty troubles of the poor”. We also know that this is an Italian-American neighbourhood, where their family will come over and stay. But with a poor neighbourhood like this will come misfortune. He describes the sort of things that happen to them, “compensation cases, eviction, family squabbles.” The lawyer is thought of as a reminder of disasters and the poor’s misfortune, “ behind that suspicious little nod of theirs lie three thousand years of distrust”. The people are not thankful of the law, they clearly believe it has mistreated them every time it has come into place, “the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks we beaten.”
Lastly he describes the community vibe and feelings of the community. He states that justice is an important community value yet, “Oh, there were many here were justly shot by unjust men. Justice is very important here.” This to me suggests that the people who were in charge of the justice system are just as bad as the victims of the system. Then after he paints the picture of Red Hook he states that the people are now quite civilised. “And now we are quite civilised, quite American,” He says that for such a poor place we are fairly civilised, he then goes on to say, “Now we settle for half and I like it better. I no longer keep a pistol in my filing cabinet.” This tells me that this was once a violent and troubled place but has now calmed down and has had a moment of realisation.
In conclusion I have shown that the opening speech has given us a large insight into the community and people of Red Hook. I think that having an opening like this already gives us inkling on what might happen in the play and I believe that this sets up the story very well. And draws us in making us want to read on.
A view from a bridge 