AIC Character Analysis

Question 1

What were Priestley’s intentions with Mr B?

Answer 1

• representative of the older, upper class capitalist generation who are unwilling to change
• capitalism personified; acts as someone who the Priestley promotes as a person with the wrong kind of attitude
• presented as the antithesis of the Inspector to compare ideologies - used to critique the upper class

Question 2

What is the significance of Mr Birling using dramatic irony?

Answer 2

• portrays B as foolish and unlikable
• all of the events that he references are a sore spot for the British public, e.g.: the Titanic sinking, both WWs
• arrival of the Inspector then becomes almost relieving and freeing for the audience
• his claims make the audience dislike the capitalistic notion of Mr B, which makes the socialism a more appealing options
• Priestley also uses the dramatic irony as a reminder to the audience of the horrors of the past couple of decades, and causes them to associate it with capitalism

Question 3

How is Mr Birling shown to be a static character?

Answer 3

• his cyclical ending, ie: him refusing all responsibility for any of his crimes portray him as a static character because he is refusing to accept change
• when he finds out that the inspector was a fake, he gets gassed and excited, not because it means that the girl’s suicide is a fake, but because he will not cause a scandal
• The lack of change in attitude is reflected by the lack of visual change in the play.

Question 4

What are Priestley’s intentions with Mrs Birling?

Answer 4

• epitomises all that is wrong with society
• represents the social snobbery and hypocrisy of the upper class
• again, used to critique the upper class, who literally hold the power to change the lives of poor people, but are too prejudiced and self absorbed to take any real action

Question 5

How does Mrs B uphold the patriarchy?

Answer 5

• in act 1, when her husband and Gerald are to have a little chat, she herself leaves the room without being asked to do so
• she thinks that it is acceptable for Gerald to have been cheating on Sheila, despite him being her own daughter’s husband, clearly showing how she upholds patriarchal ideals
• she also assumes that Eva voluntarily took up prostitution and denies any involvement in catalysing the death of her grandchild
• she disagrees with the suffrage, and can take such a stance because it threatens her comfortable lifestyle and privileges

Question 6

How does Mrs B portray her classist views and how does this have an effect on the play?

Answer 6

• She is the epitome of class prejudice
• she makes assumptions about Eva because she is a working class girlie
• she says that the father should take responsibility, but when faced with the idea that it is her own son, she is more concerned with him stealing money rather than him having a literal baby
• she could’ve potentially saved Eva Smith and her grandchild’s, but she ends up convincing the charity that to not help her, and then claims that she had no hand in Eva’s death

Question 7

What are Priestley’s intentions with Sheila Birling?

Answer 7

• used to represent his own views on social responsibility
• because she is a part of the younger generation, she is shown the reciprocate and absorb the Inspector’s message much quicker and much easier than her parents
• she offers hope for the future and essentially acts as a model to what Priestley wants the audience to act like

Question 8

How does Sheila change throughout the play?

Answer 8

• In the beginning of the play, Sheila is being shown as extremely materialistic and naïve, as shown through how she refers to her parents as ‘mummy and daddy’
• Sheila is presented as a victim of patriarchal society and her mother’s views
• as the Inspector continues to influence her, she changes and flourishes throughout the play, turning into Priestley’s mouthpiece
• when the Inspector leaves, she assumes his position as well as influencing her brother, Eric to do so too

Question 9

How does the cyclical ending affect Sheila?

Answer 9

• By the end of the play, Sheila is offered the ring back by Gerald, representing the two paths she could take: one reverting back to the life of naivety and luxury alongside her ex and her parents, or the other of fighting for change for women as well as the working class
• the ring becomes a symbol of the cyclical structure as well as of her choice
• If she does choose the ring, she will be turning her back on the socialist ideology that she promoted
• this doesn’t just apply to Sheila, but also the rest of the audience as they are also faced with the choice of reverting back to how it was pre-war days or accepting change and responsibility

Question 10

Is Sheila the best character to be promoting the hope that Priestley holds for the audience?

Answer 10

PROS:
- Sheila was the most receptive to the Inspector’s message and clearly impressionable so it makes sense
- she is likeable, because she only played a minor role in the downfall of Eva Smith as compared to some of the other characters
- she immediately apologises for her actions and is regretful, but she was also regretful BEFORE the Inspector’s arrival, as she felt guilt and went to speak to her mother about it but was told to shrug it off
CONS:
- her quick change may appear fake to the audience
- her naivety and materialism come off as initially dislikeable
- she has the opportunity to turn down the ring at the end of the play, but instead her response is ambiguous, which could rub the audience to wrong way

Question 11

How do Sheila’s ideologies change throughout the play and how does she become the Inspector’s mouthpiece?

Answer 11

• Initially, in her very first appearance, we see her being suspicious of Gerald’s whereabouts last summer (fling w Eva), which gets thrown out the window when she is presented with the ring
• shows how materialistic and naïve she is, as well as highlighting her priorities lie in material goods rather than faithfulness
• However, as soon as the interrogations begin, Sheila’s stance begins to highlight more of that of which we saw a glimpse of in the start of the play, notably when she questions her father’s actions to view ‘these girls’ as ‘cheap labour’
• We then move onto her being interrogated, after which she is extremely apologetic and regretful and she basically emerges a new person
• By the departure of the Inspector, Sheila completely juxtaposes her initial representation and echoes his words ‘fire, blood and anguish’ which symbolises her journey as becoming Priestley’s mouthpiece

Question 12

Why was it symbolic that Sheila was the one that Priestley chose to be his mouthpiece and not another character, such as Eric?

Answer 12

• Sheila is the most childlike and naïve character in the whole play, which makes her appear impressionable and easily susceptible to change
• clearly Eric had a much bigger immediate impact on Eva’s life as compared to Sheila, and his drinking problem would raise eyebrows with the audience if he was chosen
• Priestley wanted the notion of socialism to be as likeable as possible, which wouldn’t have been possible to the same extent if he used Eric, as Eric got a girl preggo out of wedlock, which would’ve been a stigma in those times
• Sheila’s gender is also important, as this aligns with the suffrage movement and her oppressed nature makes her actions more justifiable. It also provides her more room for change and development
• It also allows the audience to draw comparisons between her and Eva Smith

Question 13

What were Priestley’s intentions with Eric Birling?

Answer 13

• He is the most confusing character in the whole play
• symbolic of redemption, no matter the atrocities he has committed in the past, he can change
• he is shown to be the product of ill influences of societal norms and capitalism representative of how even men can be affected by the system

Question 14

Why is Eric such an ambiguous, morally grey character in the play?

Answer 14

• Eric is a complete contrast of a character, as described in the stage directions as ‘half shy half assertive’
• The contrast of his disgusting actions to his passion and remorse of said actions provides us proof that people can change
• so it is up to the audience to judge him by their standards whether he is a good or a bad character
• he acts as a proof of redemption to the members of the audience who are genuinely regretful and remorseful about their negative impacts on others’ lives, providing them comfort through Eric
• However, due to the nature of the character being so weak and driven by emotions, it begs the difference will Eric acc change?
• remember, Eric is also an alcoholic, so will he revert back to that by the end of the play or will he stay clean?

Question 15

What were Priestley’s intentions with Gerald Croft?

Answer 15

• used to throw light both on the Birling parents who are too set in their social ways to be changed by the Inspector’s visit, + Birling children who are certainly very responsive to the Inspector’s message, but possibly in a slightly naïve and hysterical way
• acts as a bridge between the two generations
• By having Gerald be interrogated alongside the Birlings, Priestley can emphasise how widespread the problem of prejudice and class

Question 16

Why did Priestley make Gerald’s character seem blameless and almost heroic in his actions towards Eva Smith?

Answer 16

• Since it is Gerald saying the story, he is trying to make himself appear as blameless as possible
• He only feels the effects of Eva Smith’s death after he recalls her physical beauty, so he clearly judges people off of appearance rather than their worth as a human being OR physical appearance = worth as human being
• We are told that he “saved” her from the prostitution centre and alderman Meggarty, and placed her into a housing and provided her funding for those summer months
• However, it could be argued that he basically placed her there for her to act as his lower class mistress
• because, when it comes to the end of the six months, Gerald simply drops her and never contacts her again
• It could be argued that him doing so sets her up for a greater fall as now she is going through a broken heart, and has to fend for herself all over again, in the only way she knows she can

Question 17

How was Gerald presented as manipulative in the play?

Answer 17

• he was the one who proposes that the Inspector was lying and that he didn’t show the picture of the same girl to everyone, since he showed them all the picture individually
• he knows that they were all the same girl, but he attempts to excuse himself for his actions by deluding his role in her death
• this was possible in an Edwardian society, where the upper class were basically untouchable, so they could do whatever they wanted and it was classed as acceptable and inconsequential to them,whilst the poor have to suffer for their actions

Question 18

What were Priestley’s intentions with the Inspector?

Answer 18

• Priestley presents his character as a spiritual avenging angel
• omniscience is used to further the writer’s views on collective responsibility/ socialism
• vehicle to catalyse change in perceptions of responsibility
• encourages the younger generation to break away from the older, more traditional and individualistic generation

Question 19

How is the Inspector synonymous with the Agent of God role?

Answer 19

• Priestley incorporates many similarities between the Inspector and the message of the Judeo-Christian faith, which would arguably align with many of the faiths of the audience (who at this time would be predominantly white, Christian Britons)
• the nature of the enquiry is moral, not criminal and the crimes of the Birlings are immoral, not criminal (with the exception of Eric)
• the characters confess their wrongdoings draws parallels with a Christian admitting their sins to a Priest in a Catholic Church
• Both Christian mass and the Inspector’s message ends in ‘go forth in peace’, which may be preaching that if the Inspector’s message of socialism is followed, society may achieve peace

Question 20

How does the Inspector use dramatic irony?

Answer 20

• The Inspector and Mr Birling are foils of each other
• Therefore, similar to Mr Birling, the Inspector also employs devices such as dramatic irony, allowing the audience to draw parallels between the two
• where Mr B’s dramatic irony destroys his reliability as a character, the Inspector’s makes him more reliable
• for example, the Inspector’s dramatic irony references the war: ‘fire, blood and anguish’, which the audience have lived through and know that he is right, so surely his other claims must hold some truth
• This perception of the Inspector extends to his political ideologies which Priestley tries so hard to promote: socialism

Question 21

How is the Inspector’s real identity being a mystery significant to the play?

Answer 21

• the character’s dramatic power lies in the idea that we don’t actually know who he is
• To have revealed his identity as a hoaxer or as some kind of ‘spirit’ would have spoilt the unresolved tension that is so effective at the end of the play
• It would counteract Priestley’s message
• By keeping the character of the Inspector so vague, it argues that his message is what should be the takeaway from the play, rather than his character

Question 22

What were Priestley’s intentions with Eva Smith?

Answer 22

• represents ordinary people who can be destroyed by society’s indifference to them, and when they are failed to grant the right of basic human dignity
• she acts as a symbol for the lower class throughout the play
• Eva smith is shown to be courageous,brave and outspoken since she challenges the roles and stereotypes placed on her by the classist and patriarchal society, whilst still remaining moral and righteous
• by making her such a righteous person, Priestley emphasises her downfall

Question 23

How does Priestley use the character of Eva Smith to expose the corruption in society?

Answer 23

• She is used to show the suffering of the lower class by the hands of the upper class, which is reflective upon real life
• by exposing the corruption, she can then promote Priestley’s idea of socialism
• ‘smith’ is such a common surname: it could be anyone

Question 24

What were Priestley’s intentions with Edna?

Answer 24

• she is exploited, disrespected and abused by the Birling family on a daily basis due to her social status
• reminder of the constant presence of the lower class and their mistreatment in society

Question 25

Why is it important that Edna answered the door, and not the Birlings?

Answer 25

• By having Edna answer the door, she (the lower class) is welcoming change into the lives of the upper class, who might not have wanted to accept responsibility
• Priestley wants this to be reflected by his audience, he thinks that socialism would be better accepted by his lower and working class audience as compared to his upper class audience