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An Inspector Calls Essay - Coggle Diagram
An Inspector Calls Essay
Eva
Charactonym: "Smith" could represent every woman of her class, "millions and millions and millions".
Never seen on stage; metaphor, upper classes disregard lower classes like this.
Charactonym (2): "Daisy" symbolises innocence which is tarnished by Eric and Gerald. "Renton" almost homonymic of "renting", connoting to prostitution and the commodification of lower class women ("install her"). Name is an oxymoron.
"She needed not only money but advice, sympathy, friendliness" - Would have been provided by a welfare state.
Characters
Sybil
Sybil is incredibly naive and ignorant: "It isn't true...you must know it isn't true" , "girls of that class" , "Aldermand Meggarty! I must say, we are learning something tonight".
Symbolises the uncaring nature of capitalism: "a rather cold woman" ,
From a moral standpoint; Sybil represents pride in the play: "my husband was Lord Mayor only two years ago" , "we've done a great deal of useful work" , "I did nothing I'm ashamed of" , "(triumphantly) Didn't I tell you?" , "I was the only one that didn't give in to him"
Priestly uses Sybil to show that charities do not work; a welfare state should be established. "naturally [...] prejudiced me against her"
Sybil is assertive over Sheila, commanding her frequently: "please don't contradict me like that" , "it would be much better if Sheila didn't listen to this [Gerald's] story at all"
Arthur
Priestly wants for us to see Arthur Birling and, by extension, capitalism as foolish: "unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable" , "We've been had, that's all"
Arthur is the embodiment of a capitalist ideology: "lower costs and high prices" , "man has to mind his own business and look after himself" , "they'd soon be asking for the earth".
Birling shows a clear disdain for proletariats: "pitiful affair" , "wretched girl's suicide".
Arthur's charactonym exemplifies the disparity between him and King Arthur (allusion), who has distinctly Marxist qualities; King Arthur would sit at a round table with all members equal and equidistant while Birling's table is representative of a hierarchy (Birling sits at head). "Arthur Birling at one end"
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Eric
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Priestly perhaps even has Eric take up his point of view in order to encourage the audience that they can change themselves: "And as you were saying ... a man has to look after himself".
Eric relates more to socialist ideals than Capitalist: "you can't go and work somewhere else" , "you said yourself she was a good worker".
Eric's morality deteriorates as the play progresses: "I insisted - it seems" , "in that state when a chap easily turns nasty" , "I threatened to make a row" [using social status as influence] , "how stupid it all is" , "a good sport", "not really".
Eric's eventual change by the end of the play instils a sense of optimism about a socialist future: ""I didn't notice that you told him that it's every man for himself" , "we all helped to kill her" [x2] , ""
"half shy", "half assertive",
Gerald
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"Just out of pity" - Sheila believes Geralds claims and this invites the audience's moral outrage, showing the social conditioning that Sheila has faced as a result of a patriarchal society .
Gerald indulges in sophistry, he knows of the exact matches between the described "girls" but instead argues that they are different girls: "had to leave after a strike".
Gerald premeditates his sexual advancements onto Eva; "nice little set of rooms", "I went down into the bar for a drink",
"I didn't feel for her as she felt about me" , "Everything's alright now Sheila"
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Sheila
Moral: Immature (Gets Eva fired: "Persuade mother to close our account with them"), Envy, Dehumanises (Ostracises classes: "plain little creature"), Materialistic (Importance of the ring: "now I really feel engaged").
Societal: Avoids typical characteristics of Edwardian women ("don't be an ass Eric", ), Socialist ("they're not cheap labour, they're people" vs "it's my job to keep labour costs down",
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Change over time: "very pleased with life", "laughs rather hysterically", "Don't interfere, please, Father"
Responsibility: "beginning to pretend that nothing much has happened", "you're ready to go on in the same old way"
The Inspector
Mouthpiece of J.B. Priestley, a moral teacher and the moral subconscious of each character.
Prioritises morality over manners, frequently interrupts characters: "I don't play golf", ignores social position, "burnt her inside out".
"He speaks carefully, weightily" - Careful and logical forethought differs from Birling's idol predictions about war, etc...
"Pink and intimate [...] brighter and harder": 1) Illuminate or elucidate the heinous actions of each family member. 2) He is a irresistible force and will not be manipulated by the Birlings' social presence.
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