A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller

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    Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England
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    First published in the United States of America
by Viking Penguin Inc. 1955
Viking Compass Edition (with a new introduction
by the author) published 1960
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    Published in Penguin Books 1977
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Copyright © Arthur Miller, 1955, 1957, 1960
    Copyright renewed Arthur Miller, 1983, 1985, 1988
All rights reserved
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    Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Miller, Arthur, 1915—
A view from the bridge.
(Penguin plays)
Reprint of the 1960 ed. published by The Viking Press, New York,
which was issued as no. C73 of Compass books.
I. Title.
[ps3525.15056v5 1977] 811’.5’2 77-5007
    eISBN : 978-1-101-04254-0
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    This play in its printed form is designed for
the reading public only. All dramatic rights in it
are fully protected by copyrights and no public or
private performance—professional or amateur—
and no public readings for profit may be given
without the written permission of the author and
the payment of royalty. Anyone disregarding
the author’s rights renders himself liable to
prosecution. Communication should be
addressed to the author’s representatives,
International Creative Management,
40 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019.
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    Lyrics from “Paper Doll” by Johnny Black
copyright by Edward B. Marks Music Corporation.
Used by permission.
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INTRODUCTION
    A play is rarely given a second chance. Unlike a novel, which may be received initially with less than enthusiasm, and then as time goes by hailed by a large public, a play usually makes its mark right off or it vanishes into oblivion. Two of mine, The Crucible and A View from the Bridge, failed to find large audiences with their original Broadway productions. Both were regarded as rather cold plays at first. However, after a couple of years The Crucible was produced again off Broadway and ran two years, without a line being changed from the original. With McCarthy dead it was once again possible to feel warmly toward the play, whereas during his time of power it was suspected of being a special plea, a concoction and unaesthetic. On its second time around its humanity emerged and it could be enjoyed as drama.
    For a long time I had not permitted a second New York production of A View from the Bridge principally because I had no desire to see it through the mill a second time. However, a year or so after its first production it was done with great success in London and then in Paris, where it ran two years. It is done everywhere in this country without any apparent difficulty in reaching the emotions of the audience. This play, however, unlike The Crucible, I have revised, and it was the revision which London and Paris saw. The nature of the revisions bears directly upon the questions of form and style which interest students and theater workers.
    The original play produced on Broadway (Viking, 1955) was in one act. It was a hard, telegraphic, unadorned drama. Nothing was permitted which did not advance the progress of Eddie’s catastrophe in a most direct way. In a Note to the published play, I wrote: “What struck me first about this tale when I heard it one night in my neighborhood was how directly, with what breathtaking simplicity, it did