Overall, Alfieri is extremely important to the audience’s experience of the play even though he is not directly involved with the plot and he doesn’t change the outcome of the play. He helps to build tension and suspense within in the play and he summarises main and important events. Although he is extremely important, he is in fact completely powerless to change the events in the play. Fate is a very prominent theme and I think that fate could be considered more powerful than Alfieri and he doesn’t have the power to change the fate of many characters, particularly Eddie. often ‘only thought of in connection with disasters’. By associating Alfieri with ‘disasters’ highlights his power and importance in the play. Alfieri is also very important to the community in Brooklyn. Alfieri tells the audience in his first monologue that ‘Justice is very important here’ and as Alfieri is a main enforcer of justice this shows that he is a key member of the community because others go to him for justice. Alfieri also introduces the theme of justice which is one of the most potent themes in the play. He is therefore a very important character as he highlights and symbolises the theme of justice. Alfieri is also the first character to speak in the play and he gives the audience the first impressions of the and respected by many people. This shows that he is very important to a large number of people in Brooklyn. Alfieri also acts very much like a counsellor for many of the characters, like