Paper Doll Scene Essays

Paper Doll Scene Essays Paper Doll Scene Essay Paper Doll Scene Essay The song that Rodolfo sings, Paper Doll, plays a key role in this scene and also in the rest of the play. On an obvious level, it draws, attention to Rodolfo, particularly, how feminine he is, which becomes a lot more significant later in the play. The lyrics of the song are also important as they reflect what is actually happening in the play, in particular the line, its tough to love a doll thats not your own. Miller could have meant this to mean that Eddie is trying to love Catherine but she belongs to Rodolfo now and also that she was never really his since she is his niece not his daughter. The singing is also significant as it is the first of many things that cause Eddie to hate Rodolfo. Eddie despises the fact that Rodolfo is flirting with Catherine, especially since Rodolfo isnt masculine at all, has a high voice and likes to sing. The final stage direction, his [Eddies] face was puffed with trouble, after watching Rodolfo and Catherine flirting, shows his feelings for them being romantically together, and the use of puffed provokes physical imagery in the readers mind. By telling Catherine to change her shoes, he exerts his power over her, demonstrating to Rodolfo that she belongs to him. Eddie phrases the command more like a request, although he doesnt leave her much choice on the matter. Also, by saying do me a favour, will you? he makes it much more personal and makes it impossible for Catherine to refuse especially since they have company. Furthermore, the vocative Garbo that Eddie uses to address Catherine with, is almost mocking, making her seem like a child who wants to be a film star. This is further reinforced by Eddies next comment, all actresses they want to be around here, which is also trying to demoralise Catherine. However Rodolfo turns this comment around to compliment Catherine, saying, especially when they are so beautiful, which further increases Eddies disdain for him. While Eddie claims he stops Rodolfo singing in case someone hears him, this seems very unlikely and Eddie could have stopped the singing purely out of contempt for Rodolfo or maybe he realised that the song was about him and couldnt stand to listen to it anymore. However Catherine is completely under Rodolfos spell after the song and doesnt want him to stop, without realising the effect it is having on Eddie. By stopping Rodolfo singing, Eddie changes the entire tone of the scene, the casual family gathering becomes much more tense as Marco is anxious about getting picked up.  This scene marks a change in the relationships between Eddie, Catherine and Rodolfo. Eddies hate for Rodolfo increases as Rodolfos love for Catherine also increases. This in turn causes Eddie and Catherine to start drifting apart.