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An Inspector Calls, Quotes, Themes, Match the Methods, Tracking the…
An Inspector Calls
Characters
Sheila-At the start of the play Sheila is very materialistic and childish over a lot of things.When she gets married to Gerald she waits until he gives her a ring until she finally says "I feel engaged now".
Later in the play Sheila goes in a full circle and she is one of the only few who admits to taking responsibility for Eva Smiths death.At the end of the play Sheila became the inspector continuing to question her family
Eric-At the start of the play is childish and drinks a lot.He constantly bickers with his sister Sheila even on her day when she gets engaged.He does celebrate there engagement but with a tone of sarcasm.Similarly to Sheila he is one of the few who does actually admit responsibility for what he has done. Extremely emotive throughout the play.
Mr Birling-He is the father of Eric and Sheila and is the man who fired Eva Smith and started the vicious cycle leading to Eva's death.He is apart of the older generation and refuses to take responsibility for what he has done.
Mrs Birling-He is Mr Birling's wife and she is the one who turned her down when she went to the charity and used Mrs Birling last name.
Gerald-He is getting engaged to Sheila.He is apart of the younger generation but agrees with the older generations perspective and viewpoint.He helped Eva or Daisy get back to her feet and then he slept with her.Formal,powerful,charismatic
Edna-Quiet,the female stereotype,subserviant
Jo Moggarty-Creepy,powerful,masculinity
Responsibility
Eric and Sheila-These two characters are apart of the younger generation and are the two characters that accept responsibility within the play after Eva Smiths death.
Sheila was the character that got Eva fired from her job at Millwards,this is what potentially could have started Evas downward spire into committing suicide.
Eric was the character who forced himself upon Eva and becoming the father of her unborn baby when she commited suicide.Eric stole money from his fathers business to pay for her
Mr and Mrs Birling-These two characters are apart of the older generation which take no responsibility for what they have done at all.
Mr Birling-He is is the character that fires her from his factory for asking for a pay rise,this is what started her downfall into looking for different jobs just to keep her alive.
Mrs Birling-She is the character who turns her down from her charity when she tries to use Mrs Birling's last name.This is something that impacts Eva even more making her economic struggle even harder.
Gerald-Gerald is a strange character because he is apart of the younger generation but he shares the same views as the older generation and takes no blame for what he did.He is the character that cheats on Sheila with Eva.He meets Eva at a bar and takes her to his friends apartment and visits her daily helping her.One night he sleeps with her.
Events of this play-In the play responsibility is shown through the events of what happens to Eva Smith each character has a different view of what happened but generally the younger generation took responsibility ad the older generation did not.
Society in 1912 (context)-In 1912 women were seen as lower to men.All a women could do to be well off was to marry a working men.If you were a working women you were seen as poor.There was a huge class divide between the upper and lower classes .
Society between 1912-1945-After the first world war women were valued a lot more than they were before the war.A lot of gender boundaries were removed by 1945 and during the war women suffrage movements increased.One women named Emmeline Pankhurst asked the government to allow women to help with war efforts.
This meant that a lot more people took responsibility for what they did and women were not as reliant as they are presented in the play An Inspector Calls.
Plot
The play starts with Sheila and Gerald getting married and the entire Birling family celebrating the proposal of the two of them.
Quotes
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Mr Birling-"The economy is on it's way up"-this is completely wrong as the economy does crash.Undermining the audience.
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Match the Methods
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"Unsinkable,absolutely unsinkable"-Dramatic irony.The effect on the audience would be frustrated by his character.
Priestley's socialist views come across in a better light than the character of Mr Birling or capitalism
"A nasty mess somebody has made of it"-Repetition,the Inspector uses these words originally spoken from Mr Birling used to patriotise Mr Birling
The lighting should be pink and intimate until the INSPECTOR arrives,and then it should be brighter and harder-Stage directions.Romantic(engagement party) The Inspector changes the mood,the lights change because the Inspector is here to shine light on what the Birling's have done.
The character of the inspector-Personification,He is the embodiment of socialism
Tracking the Characters
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Mrs Birling-Mrs Birling is one of the characters who doesn't change too much n the play because at the start she is already annoyed that the Inspector for interrupting their meal and when they start to get accused of leading to Eva's death she becomes very defensive of hat happens.
Sheila-At the start of the play Sheila is very childish and materialistic.When she receives the ring from Gerald that is when she finally feels engaged and she shows it off to her family.Throughout the play as Sheila learns what her family have done to Eva and what she has done she begins to take responsibility for what she has done and begins to mature.At the end of the play she takes the role of the Inspector questioning her family of what they have done.
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Family Life-Responsibility links to family life as in a family everyone has to take responsibility for what they have done to keep the family functioning
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Class-Responsibility links to class because in the play the upper class take less responsibility for their actions.
Gender-The majority of men in this play try to use Eva sexually.Women are subservient to men this is shown when the Inspector arrives and how Sheila and Mrs Birling are not allowed into the room.
Generation gap-Responsibility is linked to generation gap because the older generation refuse to take responsibility for what they have done where as the younger generation are willing to take responsibility for Eva's death
Sheila is frustrated with her mother because her mother will not let her choose what she wants to wear and she takes it out on Eva and gets her fired from her job at Millwards
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