Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Exam Structure:
45 MINUTES. 30 MARKS (SPAG = 4 MARKS)
Key:
Green - Effect on
Audience
Purple - Alternatives
Red - Key Words
Character Profiles:
Mr Birling: Priestley wants to undermine Birlings character because of his
ARROGANCE. Wants audience to see his immorality. Local magistrate,
thinks hes above the law. COMPLACENT CHARACTER = VERY SURE OF
HIMSELF
Act 1:
heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties. = Quite
ominous/ important.
lower costs and higher prices = He doesnt care that there are low
wages for workers. He celebrates ripping off his workers and customers
fairly easy manners, but rather provincial in his speech. = Quite
confident, but implies he is rather looked down upon; could be his
motivation to raise his social standing. Provincial connoting a
Suddenly I felt I just had to laugh. = Could silently resent his family
and scoff at them; could also be a form of attention-seeking as he
feels as though he does not get the attention he deserves.
Act 3:
And I agree with Sheila. = Shows how strong Eric and Sheilas
relationship is and also shows that Eric has some sort of moral
compass like Sheila. He wants to change also and represents the
younger generation who will change their mind-set from the older
generation and improve for the better.
That doesnt matter to me. The one I knew is dead. = doesnt matter
to me suggests he still wants to accept blame which contrasts with
Mr Bs views, quite socialist in comparison to conservative, capitalist
views. The one I knew is dead. Suggests he still feels guilt over death
which shows he still has a moral compass. Contrasts with Mr Birling.
Mrs Birling:
Act 1:
a rather cold woman = cold implies an unsympathetic, arrogant
character; cold-hearted?
Husbands social superior. = superior suggests shes possibly quite
pretentious. Mr B may have married her to raise his social class; of a
higher class, could be well-spoken, would not have to try as hard as he
does.
Act 2:
When youre married youll realise that men with important work to do
sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their
business. Youll have to get used to that, just as I had. = Implies that
even though she is of a higher social class by birth, she is still not the
dominant one (inferior) and she still acknowledges gender roles.
Implies she has accepted her role in the family.
Yes of course, dear. = Always agrees with husband; does not offer
own opinion.
Act 3:
Youve argued this very cleverly, and Im most grateful. = Im most
grateful suggests she feels grateful for making sure she feels no
guilt, she didnt want to feel any remorse. She wants to be as removed
from this situation as Mr B.
From the way the children talk, you might be wanting to help him
instead of us. = Suggests that she views this as a divide (Us against
them); wants her children to cover up instead of doing the right thing.
Suggests she has no moral compass.
Inspector Goole:
Feels that everyone should feel responsible for the death of Eva.
Thinks the Birlings (mainly the parents) are self-centred beings who
do not accept blame for anyone else = (p55) each of you helped to
kill her. Remember that. Never forget it. Feels the need to warn them
explicitly to make sure they do not forget or they could.
The aim of the Inspector is to point out and make the family realise that
they all should have a sense of social responsibility.
Context:
Based on a medieval morality play, normally accompanied with a message
at the end. It is meant to teach the audience a moral lesson. Plays that
emphasise the difference between good and evil might also be classed as
a morality play. Focuses on the SEVEN DEADLY SINS.
Sheila is a working example: Initially a sinful character; guilty of envy,
wrath and vanity but eventually repents throughout the novel by
becoming more socially responsible and gaining the strongest moral
compass. Gradually becomes the voice of the Inspector.
Play set in 1912 and written in 1945:
1912 The First World War would start in 2 years. Birlings optimistic
view of there not being a war is completely wrong [dramatic irony].
There were strong distinctions between upper and lower classes.
Ruling classes saw no need to change the status quo. Women were
SUBSERVIENT to men. All a well-off woman could do was get married;
a poor woman was seen as cheap labour. The social issues that
were so prevalent in the labour strikes of 1912 were ill important in
1946, because the very definition of society is realised as human
beings dont live alone and that each one is responsible for their
actions towards the other. By setting his characters in a time of
innocence and hope, Priestley can speak even more strongly to
his audiences who have lived through a time of despair. The pride
and complacency of the Birlings seems all the more foolish to an
audience who knows what is about to happen to the English people.
The lessons that Eric and Sheila learn are even more poignant when
one realizes that very soon all classes in England, upper, middle and
lower, will be involved in the same tragic war.
1945 Class distinctions had been greatly reduced as a result of
WW1 & 2. WW2 had just ended and people were recovering from the
effects of war. As a result of the wars, women had earned a more valued
place in society. GREAT DESIRE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE. Labour Party
won landslide victory over Conservatives led by Churchill.
Well- Made Play:
Its progression is that from ignorance to knowledge not only for the
audience but the characters themselves.
Character Representations:
Gerald:
Themes:
Collective Responsibility A view supported by Priestley. As a society we
should all be responsible for one another. The rich should look after the
poor.
Youth and Age - The play implicitly draws out a significant contrast
between the older and younger generations of Birlings. While Arthur
and Sybil refuse to accept responsibility for their actions toward Eva Smith
(Arthur, in particular, is only concerned for his reputation and his potential
knighthood), Eric and especially Sheila are shaken by the Inspectors message
and their role in Eva Smiths suicide. The younger generation is taking
more responsibility, perhaps because they are more emotional and
idealistic, but perhaps because Priestley is suggesting a more communally
responsible socialist future for Britain. (REFER TO CHARACTER
REPRESENTATIONS ABOVE)
Supernatural - The Inspectors name, though explicitly spelled Goole in the
play, is often interpreted through an alternative spelling: ghoul. The
Inspector, it seems, is not a real Brumley police inspector, and Priestley
provides no answer as to whether we should believe his claim that he
has nothing to do with Eva Smith. What are we to make of the police
inspector who rings to announce his arrival at the end of the play? The
original Inspector could perhaps, be a ghost. Makes the audience question
what forces are at work in the play to make the Birlings really accept
their responsibility and guilt.
Responsibility The term is used frequently throughout the novel, through
Birlings limited, individualistic understanding of responsibility to the
Inspectors wider, more communal understanding of responsibility.
Birling is taking an individualist, capitalist point of view about personal
responsibility, and his lines here provide the general attitude of his speeches
since the play began: a man has to mind his own business and look after
himself.