A View from the Bridge - Themes test questions - WJEC

What is omertà?

Which two gangsters are mentioned by Alfieri?

Read the extract and answer the following question:

Beatrice: (There are tears in her eyes; she turns to Catherine) You see what he is? (She turns and grabs Eddie’s face in her hands.) Mmm! You’re an angel! God’ll bless you. (He is gratefully smiling.) You’ll see, you’ll get a blessing for this!

Eddie: (laughing) I’ll settle for my own bed.

Beatrice: Go, Baby, set the table.

Catherine: We didn’t tell him about me yet.

Beatrice: Let him eat first, then we’ll tell him. Bring everything in. (She hurries Catherine out.)

What theme does this extract highlight?

Which two characters are stuck in the old-fashioned way of thinking?

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

Catherine: He’s bringin’ them ten o’clock, Tony?

Eddie: Around, yeah. (He eats.)

Catherine: Eddie, suppose somebody asks if they’re livin’ here. (He looks at her as though already she had divulged something publicly. Defensively) I mean if they ask.

Eddie: Now look, Baby, I can see we’re gettin’ mixed up again here.

Catherine: No, I just mean... people’ll see them goin’ in and out.

Eddie: I don’t care who sees them goin’ in and out as long as you don’t see them goin’ in and out.

What theme does this extract highlight?

How does Eddie react in this extract?

Who are Dominick and Charlie?

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

Alfieri: Eddie, look – I have my own children. I understand you. But the law is very specific. The law does not...

Eddie: (with a fuller flow of indignation) You mean to tell me that there’s no law that a guy which he ain’t right can go to work and marry a girl and - ?

Alfieri: You have no recourse in the law, Eddie.

Eddie: Yeah, but if he ain’t right, Mr Alfieri, you mean to tell me –

Alfieri: There is nothing you can do, Eddie, believe me.

Eddie: Nothin’.

Alfieri: Nothing at all. There’s only one legal question here.

Eddie: What?

Alfieri: The manner in which they entered the country. But I don’t think you want to do anything about that, do you?

What theme does this extract highlight?

How does this extract show the difference between Alfieri’s view of the law and Eddie’s view?

What does Alfieri mean when he says that Eddie has no recourse in the law?