The intention of a playwright may not only be to engage an audience. Playwrights often give the audience an insight into the values, attitudes and ideologies of the society explored in the play and thus, exposing the problems and weaknesses of the society on both a personal level and societal level. “A View from the Bridge”, written by Arthur Miller, is a 1950s domestic American tragedy which dramatises the spiritual and psychological destruction of Eddie Carbone, the protagonist, as a consequence of his incestuous taboo desire for his niece, Catherine. Through the effective use of symbolism, dialogue and props, Miller exposes the human and societal flaws of 1950s working class American society in order to bring about change in the values, attitudes and ideologies of 1950s society.

In “A View from the Bridge”, the conflict between the New and Old World values is a ‘flaw’ that 1950s working class American class society possesses while the dark illicit desires for Catherine is a human weakness that Eddie possesses. Through these failings, Miller reveals the consequences of these flaws and the darker side of the human psyche. Miller reveals that the clash of values and attitudes between different people within society is a collective defect of 1950s working class American society and that the facades that individuals put on in order to conform to their expected role within society is a human flaw of the 1950s working class American individuals. Thus, the audience obtains a greater understanding of the world and learns of the potential of humans to be evil and irrational. Although this text was written in 1950s about the Red Hook working class society, the gender and ethnical understandings explored are still relevant to contemporary Australian