Posted: 1/25/16 at 6:29pm
I never read or saw the play until yesterday but isn't there a plot flaw? Isn't only one of Catherine's relationships incestuous? Her fiancé is her cousin. I totally understand that Eddie is her father figure and raised her but he's not related to her while Rodolfo is...
Posted: 1/25/16 at 7:17pm
Rodolfo and Marco are Beatrice's cousins, while Catherine is Bea's niece, this doesn't make Catherine and Rodolfo cousins.
Posted: 1/25/16 at 7:26pm
Yes, that's exactly what it makes them since Beatrice (from my understanding bc both husband and wife called her my sister) is the bio aunt so the niece is their cousin, too. Not first cousins and probably not illegal to marry but still incest. Eddie might be morally/ethically wrong, he's not related.
Updated On: 1/25/16 at 07:26 PM
Posted: 1/26/16 at 3:21am
Rodolfo and Marco are indeed Beatrice's cousins, but that could mean a lot of things. It's never specified how closely they are related but it even if they were Beatrice's first cousins, they would be Catherine's first cousin once-removed. However, given that Rodolfo and Marco seem to be introducing themselves to Beatrice for the first time when they arrive in America, I'd peg them as a branch or two further down the family tree.. Compare to Monty and Pheobe in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder: They are Third Cousins (it's stated they share a mutual great-great-grandfather) yet no one objects to their engagement for this reason. It's basicall the same thing.
Eddie, on the other hand, may not be technically a blood relation but he raised Catherine since she was a young child, which makes his obsession with her far more troubling to me.
Posted: 1/26/16 at 8:55am
It's definitely troubling but I don't get why no one cares/realizes that she's engaged to a relative even if it's a distant one. I have searched looking for discussion boards or fb pages but can't find any. I feel like it adds to the dilemma bc while he's her surrogate father, he's not related to her and could be with her if they had money to start over and she wanted it. For me, the "morality" issue would be more black and white if she wasn't marrying a blood relative.
Posted: 1/26/16 at 8:58am
ChairinMain, I'm with you.
"However, given that Rodolfo and Marco seem to be introducing themselves to Beatrice for the first time when they arrive in America, I'd peg them as a branch or two further down the family tree.. "
Yes.
"Eddie, on the other hand, may not be technically a blood relation but he raised Catherine since she was a young child, which makes his obsession with her far more troubling to me. "
And yes.
Updated On: 1/26/16 at 08:58 AM
Posted: 1/26/16 at 9:30am
Posted: 1/26/16 at 9:59am
Kad said: "Marrying a distant cousin didn't carry the same social stigma. "
Totally understandable and I know many people have married distant blood relatives but I just personally felt like it should be acknowledged that Eddie is "immoral" for being in love with the girl he's not related to while she's marrying her cousin. I don't see any discussions of the play that address this issue and I think it's a big issue of how people decide what's "right or wrong". I wonder if Miller purposely chose to make him a cousin for this reason. Also, I may have missed the info, but when did they get Catherine? If it was past a certain age, it probably wouldn't be surprising if he had innapropriate feelings towards her since they may haven't had the westermack (sp?) effect take place. I think it's kind of misleading to say he's in love with his niece when he's in love with his wife's niece. It's creepy and all but not as creepy if it was his blood niece. Anyway, I'm not really arguing that anyone should be screwing anyone. I'm just saying that the pairing of the cousins appears like it's an added layer/ topic. If it wasn't important then why wouldn't Miller just make them non relatives? I get that most people aren't going to risk the law for non family but I still have to think that he made them family for a reason.
Posted: 1/26/16 at 10:07am
Updated On: 1/26/16 at 10:07 AM
