Eddie

=What do I need to know about ... Eddie?=

Brief Description

 * Eddie is Catherine's uncle who has raised her as if she were his own daughter.
 * Eddie is married to Beatrice however, their marriage is strained as Eddie fails to fulfill Beatrice's needs.
 * 'He is forty- and a husky, slightly overweight longshoreman.'
 * Hardworker
 * Stubborn
 * Protective over Catherine- just paternal love or sexual feelings?

Key Quotations

 * **‘Because as soon as you see a tired relative, I end up on the floor.’ -** //Eddie Pg 16// Eddie can become selfish and would not sacrifice just a bed for his own relatives in contrast to Marco who is willing to sacrifice his life in Italy for his family.
 * **‘When am I gonna be a wife again?’ –** //Beatrice Pg 36// Shows the relationship between Eddie and Beatrice is strained. Eddie is not fulfilling Beatrice's needs because his attention is focused on Catherine.
 * **‘I’ll be alright B.; just lay off me, will ya? I’m worried about her.’ -** //Eddie Pg 36// Suggests that Catherine's well being is more important than his own wife's needs.
 * **‘You want somethin’ else, Eddie, and you can never have her!’** - Beatrice Pg 83
 * **‘You ain’t ‘all the girls’** - Eddie pg 14
 * **‘You’re a baby, you don’t understand these things.’** - Eddie Pg 14
 * **‘I don’t see you no more. I come home and you’re runnin’ around someplace-**’ Eddie pg 39
 * **‘[his smile goes] You like him.’** –Eddie pg 40
 * **‘he don’t respect you’ E**ddie pg 40
 * **‘I don’t know B. It just seems wrong if he’s against it so much’ C**atherine pg 42
 * **'Katie, he's only bowin' to his passport'** - Eddie pg 41
 * **‘It’s wonderful. He sings, he cooks, he could make dresses…’** – Eddie pg 55
 * **‘He was as good a man as he had to be in life that was hard and even.’** – Alfieri Pg 26
 * **‘His eyes were like tunnels;’ -** A//lfieri Pg 45// Eddie's obsession is here metephorically compared to a tunnel: it is never ending with obscure and dark thoughts.
 * **‘I saw it was only a passion that had moved into his body, like a stranger.’** //Alfieri pg 45// Eddie transforms into a different person. His thoughts, paranoia and obsessions has compelled him to abandon his morales.
 * **'She can't marry you can she?' -** //Alfieri Pg 49// Hints to a deeper love for Catherine than paternal love.

His role in the novel
The play reflects society during the 1950s. Eddie represents the common man during the 1950s, raising a family, working long hours as a longshoreman. The gender roles in this play portray the image of women, represented by Beatrice, as a housewife with no career, doing all the housework while Eddie just comes home after work, not having to do any household chores. Eddie wants his name, his respect, his honour; he never faces up to his 'improper' feelings towards Catherine; instead choosing to focus on the fact that Rodolpho 'aint right'. He is involved in power struggles throughout the play. In the family, he is generous and giving to Catherine but he expects to be treated as head of the household., The chair raising incident is very significant as it is where Marco asserts that he is a force to be reckoned with. Eddie is unbending and stubborn. He rejects Rodopho's vain attempts to resolve the conflict at the end and instead refuses to accept him as an equal, worthy of fighting. This is ironic in terms of it being Rodopho who has stolen Catherine's love.