An inspector calls Flashcards
“He was our police officer all right?”
L = ‘our’ - possessive pronoun
I = he knew a lot about the already + he was their moral inspector
“Chain of events” - - inspector
Every persons actions have and impact on someone else in society; we are all interlinked
D = Priestley criticising capitalist philosophy
“As if she was an animal, a Thing”
C = reflects lack of power of women in an Edwardian society
R = this would shock the audience as it dehumanises her and makes her an object of sexual gratification
I = this is from a marksist perspective - reduced to an object and bought for sex by a capitalist economy
L= “Thing” - noun
D = Priestley is critical of capitalist economy
“Damn you”
L = expletive - shows depth of Eric’s disgust towards his mother
R = this would shock the audience
“Began to lead a different sort of life” -inspector
L = euphemism for prostitution
C = no welfare state to provide financial support
‘you killed her – and…your own grandchild’
L = emotive, accusatory language. Emphasizes impact of Mr B’s actions – by making it personal to the Birlings Priestley illustrates how an action by Mrs B that she dismisses as unimportant can have huge, tragic consequences on others. We are responsible for each other.
“The father should be dealt with severally”
And should “confess in public”
L = Irony - it is her son
‘Severely’ - adjective
‘Confess’ - verb
“The titanic …unsinkable”
L = symbolism + dramatic irony
R = audience knows the titanic sank
‘You seem to be a nice well-behaved family’
L = verb ‘seem’ - appear nice. Irony = they don’t behave well to Eva Smith C= appearances and reputation important in Edwardian society; reality is concealed from public
‘It’s a hoax…we’ve been had’
Gerald is the character who introduces the mystery that the Inspector is not on the police force. Who is he? R = audience dramatically engaged by this mystery. G. forms his theory that the girl they each encountered was not the same and there may be no suicide
‘She…looked as if she could take care of herself’ (Sheila)
‘You used the power you had…to punish the girl’ (Inspector)
L/C/R Sheila’s perception of Eva draws upon common social stereotypes of the lower classes as being hard and tough – not people who need help. The Inspector challenges this, using emotive language to illustrate how Sheila has abused her power due to jealousy of Eva’ prettiness to ensure she is sacked, creating sympathy for Eva and antipathy towards Sheila amongst audience members
“Public men.. have responsibilities as well as privileges” - inspector
D/C = Priestley’s message to those in power to not abuse their power but use it to help others
why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices’
L= question. D = later I. makes him question his father’s political and economic ideologiy. Contrast comp. adj and superlative adj – makes workers requests seem reasonable and capitalist businesses seem exploitative of workers
“She wanted to end her life”
“Several hours of agony”
- inspector
L = emotive language - to provoke guilt in the birling family
R =Priestley wants to undersea suffering of lower class
‘They’d be all broke – if I know them’
C= reflects class prejudice that WC are irresponsible with money. In fact is the Birlings and Gerald who are irresponsible. L =WC treated as collective ‘Other’ – pronoun ‘they’ – not as individuals. Supports Mr B’s capitalist views.
