Character analysis on Marco

Who is Marco? Marco is an illegal immigrant who has arrived from Sicily. He is married with three young children. He is the older of the two brothers and feels responsible for Rodolfo. What does Marco do in the play? Marco has come to America because he needs to support his wife and family He has a strong sense of right and wrong and when Eddie hits Rodolfo he is ready to protect his younger brother When he discovers that Eddie has betrayed him he feels he has the right to take revenge When speaking to Alfieri he does not understand why the law is letting Eddie go free Marco kills Eddies by turning his own knife on him Marco does not show any regret over his actions

Relationships
With Beatrice: Marco is always very grateful to Beatrice as she is his cousin and therefore the reason he is in America. Considering Marco and Beatrice are cousins they do not have a very close relationship and this is reinforced by the fact that they had never met before. With Catherine: Marco is very weary of Catherine because of her relationship with Rodolfo, he quickly realises that Eddie is affected by it and doesnt want to cause any sort of trouble. With Eddie: Towards the beginning of the play Marco tries to be as cautious and considerate to Eddie as possible considering that he has opened up his house to them, however gradually the tension between Marco and Eddie rises as the taunts become to much for Marco. This is first seen when Marco lifts the chair but eventually Marco gives into his inner anguish for Eddie and kills him. With Rodolfo: Rodolfo and Marco are brothers and have both travelled from Sicily to Brooklyn so naturally their relationship is quite close. Marco appears to be a sort of father figure towards Rodolfo and this is shown through the protectiveness of Marco, for example when Eddie accuses Rodolfo of influencing Catherine Marco stepped in immediately in order to protect Rodolfo (page 38)

Sensible Capabl e

Humble, this is shown through the Quie thanks given to t Beatrice and Eddie for letting Marco and Rodolfo stay in their house. How the character sees themselves and how they are seen by others

Protective, this is seen especially with Rodolfo

Respect ed

Responsible, this is apparent to us because Marco is so focused in trying to get enough money to send his family back in Italy

Conflicts
An important conflict in the play is when Marco lifts the chair, he then asks Eddie if he can do it which he cant. This is showing Marcos strength over Eddies and is used as an unspoken warning. This scene happens after the boxing match between Eddie and Rodolfo and it could be interpreted as Marcos way of protecting Rodolfo in his own cautious manner. conflict is when Marco and Rodolfo loyal to Rodolfo. the Another It shows how Marco will always be get arrested by immigration bureau, this shows how Eddie has lost respect for those near to him. The most significant point is when Marco confronts Eddie he then goes on to spit in his face in public and this is how Marco manages to make Eddie lose all of his friends as his friends are watching the massive betrayal. This is important to the story line of the play because it initiates the main action of the play (Marco killing Eddie). This initiates this action because it pushes Marco to unleash how he really feels about The main conflict with Marco, and in the whole play, is when Marco stabs Eddie. Eddie. This could be quite surprising when first reading the play as Marco comes across as the least likely character to do this because throughout the duration of the play he has been patient, cautious and quiet.

Broad, muscled and strong. This is reinforced with the incident when Marco lifted the chair

Facial expressions: serious, stern, conservative.

Physical appearance

Masculine Italian (dark hair and skin tone, contrasting to Rodolfo)

Values Marco holds traditional values as he believes that the men should go out to work and the wife should to look after the children, this is what brings Marco to America Marco is seen as a family man as he is hard working and focused on getting money to send back to his family in Sicily. He holds family values as he never once looks at another girl which shows his loyalty to his wife and his family

Marco also holds values from his home town, Sicily, and this is shown when Marco is talking to Alfieri as he cannot understand the laws of America and why it is that Eddie should go free after telling the Development including key moments immigration Bureau The main development of Marco is how, gradually, his feelings towards

Eddie are pushed further forward. At first Marco puts up with Eddie and stays quiet as he holds gratitude towards him, however as the play goes on Marco starts to retaliate towards Eddies taunts. This is first seen in the key moment when Marco lifts the chair in order to show Eddie who is stronger. This develops further until Marco can no longer control his emotions and he kills Eddie.

Marco comes across as the voice of reason throughout the play as he remains calm and collected however this changes towards the end when Marco and no longer put up with Eddie.

One purpose of Marco is to play a father figure towards Rodolfo, if Marco was not there Eddie could have had his way with Catherine and so the play would not unfold as it does.

Purpose/ function within the play

The main purpose of Marco is the fact that he kills Eddie. This then in turn saves Rodolfo, Catherine and Beatrice from an unhappy life living with Eddie.

The character of Marco shows Eddies personality and how he really is as this becomes apparent to us when he calls the immigration Bureau.

Something to think about

What is Marco's purpose in the play? Think about: How he feels about Rodolfo/ his father authority How he highlights Eddie's tragic flaw The killing of Eddie and how it affects Catherine, Rodolfo and Beatrice How he enforces the idea of Italian justice Does he act as the voice of reason?

Extract essay question How is Marco's character developed when he lifts the chair? Model answer: The episode where Marco lifts the chair shows that he
will not let Eddie disrespect his family, it also shows his physical and mental restraint as it takes a lot to sit back and watch how Eddie treats Rodolfo. By lifting the chair he shows his physical strength over Eddie, this is used as a silent warning and as a way of humiliating Eddie in front of his family. He also shows that he is a force to be reckoned with but at the same time doesn't sink to Eddie's level of physical violence. This develops his character by showing his loyalty and protectiveness over his family (Rodolfo) and show his traditional Italian views on family. This plot point is also the starting point of Marco's active role in the play as before this he was more of a passive observer. In a way we can say Arthur Miller uses Marco as a structural element to move the play along. This is important as Marco acts the audiences physical presence, similar to how Alfieri acts as the audiences mind, so when Eddie becomes more dislikeable, Marco's presence increases, culminating until the end where he kills Eddie. This represents what the audience would want to do physically if they were in the situation.