AIC - eva Flashcards
(Act 1, pg 11)
“Inspector: Two hours ago a young woman … swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant. Burnt her inside out, of course.”
Eva is presented as pitiable purely because she has killed herself – gives the impression that her life must have been unimaginably terrible to drive her to suicide.
the emotive phrase ‘burnt her inside out of course’ evokes a strong image of torturous pain suggesting that’s the currently unnamed woman was incredibly desperate to end her life
(Act 1, pg 18)
“Inspector: Twenty-four[ … ] she had been pretty - very pretty.”
she had so much life left to live reinforcing the notion that Eva is pitiable.
The inspector emphasizes Eva’s beauty with the phrase ‘- very pretty’ at the end of the line. Use of a dash adds a pause emphasizing Eva’s beauty. This makes her unnecessary, torturous, and early death seem all the more tragic.
The past perfect verb ‘had been’ emphasizes that her beauty and therefore her life is finished it is over and there is no hope of reclaiming it.
(Act 1, pg 15)
“Birling: the four or five ring- leaders … She’d had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go.”
The noun ‘ringleader’ suggests that Eva was stood up for her peers as well as herself. Implies her ability to motivate and inspire others - shows that Eva was trying to fight against class discrimination – implies her optimism which is lost later in her life.
(Act 2, pg 36)
“Gerald: All she wanted was to talk – a little friendliness”.
Highlights Eva’s loneliness - suggests that she has no-one to simply talk to often
The adverb ‘a little’ highlights how desperate her situation is - gives the impression that she had an incredibly rough time and that she has nobody to turn to
the isolation is so overwhelming that she eventually develops feelings for the first person to give her some positive attention and care.
(Act 3, pg 53)
“Eric: She didn’t want me to marry her. Said I didn’t love her - and all that.”
presents Eva as being principled as despite her dire situation she didn’t marry Eric (who would have solved all her money issues) because Eric ‘didn’t love her’.
Suggests that she is morally principled - she would rather marry for love than wealth and status and security.
Priestly presents her in the most positive light out of all characters in the play to emphasize the injustice in her unnecessary, torturous death.
(Act 3, pg 53)
“Eric: Well, she hadn’t a job - and didn’t feel like trying again for one”
presented as totally defeated her fighting spirit has been crushed as shown by the fact that she didn’t feel like trying for a job
the negative past tense modal verb ‘didn’t’ implies the certainty in her mind that she will remain out of work for the rest of her days – reveals the devastating emotional impact of her past experiences.
this complete sense of defeat and apathy could be indicative of the deep dark feeling that would have brought her to take her own life.
quotes
Pitiable presentation of eva
(Act 1, pg 11) - “Inspector: Two hours ago a young woman … swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant. Burnt her inside out, of course.”
(Act 1, pg 18) - “Inspector: Twenty-four[ … ] she had been pretty - very pretty.”
presentation as morally correct
(Act 1, pg 15) - “Birling: the four or five ring- leaders … Eva Smith … was one of them. She’d had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go.”
(Act 2, pg 36) - “Gerald: All she wanted was to talk – a little friendliness”.
(Act 3, pg 53) - “Eric: She didn’t want me to marry her. Said I didn’t love her - and all that.”
loss of enthusiasm
(Act 3, pg 53) - “Eric: Well, she hadn’t a job - and didn’t feel like trying again for one”
