An Inspector Calls

Question 1

inspector calls why

Answer 1

• vehicle to convey is concern of social inequality and its effect upon the vunerable or disempowered within socirt

Question 2

silence of the female voice

Answer 2

• through the silence prescence of Edna and Eva Smith’s inability to give her own accounts of the events leading to her suicide
• Preiestely condemns the denigration of the female, working class voice

Question 3

phototgraph

Answer 3

• Through the draamtic device of the photograph and doubling of names
• Priestley presents Eva Smith as an amalgram of working class women, suggesting that far from an isolated case involving one family
• the exploitation and mistreatment of the working class is a common occurrence within Edwardian society

Question 4

cyclical nature of play

Answer 4

• The cylical structure of the play hints at the repetitous nature of history lest lessons be learned
• P was keen to press that hcnage was essentialand that social mistakes of the past must not be repeated

Question 5

responsibility

Answer 5

• Priestely promotes the view that societal problems can only be solved if people accept collective responsibility and support one another
• treating each other as equal irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds

Question 6

Sheila

Answer 6

• exposes the harmful impact of allwoing women to believe that their primary value is derived from their physical appearances
• Her disproportionate reaction when Eva smith held up the dress against herself is a reflection of her personal insecurities
• Likewise, her envy and malicious intent in instigating Eva’s unfair dismissal from Milward’s reveals a sense of unhealthy competition Sheila feels towards other women
• which prevents women from uniting and supporting one another

Question 7

Sheila’s transformation

Answer 7

• promotes hope for a more moral, socilaist future
• exhorts his post war ausidence to follow her example : devolping an attuned conscience and standing up for what is right

Question 8

Eric’s transformation

Answer 8

• affords hope for the future by suggesting that even those who commit morally and crimanlly attrocious deeds are capable of redemption if they show genuine remorse and atone for their behaviour

Question 9

dining room

Answer 9

• through his decision to stage the entirety of his play in the Birling’s dining room
• critises the self- absorbed nature of the middle class and upper class society within Edwardian England
• who rarley look beyond their own needs and desires

Question 10

inspector’s interrogation

Answer 10

• exposes the facade of respectability and the hypocrisy of the upper class by revealing the reality of what goes on behind closed doors

Question 11

Alderman Meggarty

Answer 11

• Through the oestensible obliviousness of Mr and Mrs Birling when discussing the actions of Gerald, Alderman Meggarty and Eric
• emphasises that ignorance is often a conscious decion to avois social embarassment or to justift the descion not to act or not accept responsibility

Question 12

Mr Birling

Answer 12

• Through the pompous and igorant characterisation of Mr Birling
• encourages readers to disassociate with the flawed views and opinions of Arthur Birling
• This in turn causes them to associate with the socialist vision of the Inspector
• in keeping with Preistley’s own political affiliations and desire to promote collective responsibilitly

Question 13

Priestley’s hope for audience

Answer 13

• wished to change the reactionary nature of those in power who seek, through selfish and self -serving decisons,
• to maintain the status quo and protect the self intrests of a minority to the detriment of the needs of the wider majority

Question 14

inspectir speach

Answer 14

• through the final speach of the inspector, warns the audience of the potential consequences to the failure of acccepting responsibility
• He relates this to christian duty, by reminding his audiece that their actions on earth will dictate how they are judged in the afterlife

Question 15

Eva smith & Sheila

juxtaposition

Answer 15

• exposes the disparity between classes within the Edwardian Era,
• whereby young women like Sheila live incredibily over-protected and sheltered lifestyles
• wheras young women like Eva had no means of protection at all, and were forced to resort to prostitution and face starvation,
• due to the lack of support from society

Question 16

Gerald

generation

Answer 16

• by posistioning Gerald as a character who evades neat categoration with the older or younger generation
• P builds tension as to whether he will ultimately accept responsibility for his actions or not
• in doing so, P reminds the audience that each of us has a choice to make- while clearly suggesting that there is a right or wrong decisiom

Question 17

Gerald

character

Answer 17

• portrayed as deeply entrenched within his upper class upbringing
• Whileit is clear that he should, and could learn from his behaviour, he is shown to not progress
• suggesting the inherent difficulty of a sincere transformation, as the betrayal of his class allegiance is too unpalatable a step

Question 18

senior birlings

Answer 18

• presentation of the senior Birlings serves to exemplify the peril of missued responsibility
• They represent the upper and middle classes during the Edwardian era - who harboured missapprehensions aboout the nature of their ‘duty’ to justify their abuse of power

Question 19

Mrs Birling

Answer 19

• shown to be impervious to the effects of the Inspector as her lack of self awarness and self protective stance wards off all approches
• critises her cold-hearted callousness and actions towards Eva Smith , to advocate a more open and empathetic response from his audience

Question 20

inspector

Answer 20

• the Inspector’s ambigious nature facillitates the creation of a omnisicent presence whose authorative, imperative, moralistic voice cuts across all class barriers, age and genders to strike at the heart of what’s important
• through the inspector’s critique of those like the Crofts and Birling’s and defence of the Eva Smiths of society
• P emphasises the need for a legal system free of nepotism and corruption taht will seek justice for all

Question 21

Eva’s downfall

Answer 21

• through the gradual exposition of the downfall of Eva/Daisy Priestley is able to
• demonstrate his audience that our actions, no matter how seemingly small or significant, will impact others

Question 22

Look Mummy isn’t it a beauty

Question 23

i don’t suppose for a momet we can understand why the girl commited sucide- Girls of that class

Question 24

conducnting it i a rather pecuilar and offensive manner

Question 25

as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive

mr Birling

Question 26

Just let me finish Eric, you’ve alot to learn yet

Question 27

i’ve got to cover this up

mr birling

Question 28

social class essay

introduction

Answer 28

• catalysed by the breakdown of rigid class boundaries throughout the communal war effort
• P uses the play as a vehicle to condemn the class divide in Edwardian England
• empahsising the vast disparity between the treatment of the upper and working classes
• P wished to change the reactionary nature of those in power, who strove , through selfish and self serving decisions, to maintian the status quo and protect the interests of a minority to the detriment of the needs of the wider majority
• The play reveals his socialist vision for a much more egalitarian society predicated on welfare and civic responsibility

Question 29

Social class

p1 thesis

Answer 29

• early in the play, Mr Birling is presnted as a caricature of the capitalist views held by the upperclass,
• enabling Priestley to satirise and condemn his self absorbed, bigoted beliefs

Question 30

social class

p1 Quote 1

Answer 30

• Birling conveys his desire for a segreated scoiety, using the similie “as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive”
• demonstrating his disdain for socilaist principles
• uses insectoid associations to make th concept of social equality appear backwards and repungantly
• ironicallly, similie provides an example of a community working together effectively to achieve positive outcomes for all
• enabling P to highlight the idiocy of Mr Birling’s views

Question 31

social class

p1 Quote 2

Answer 31

• Birling willingly exploits the working class to increase his own profit margin
• proundly espousing the idea of “lower costs and higher prices”
• without any consideration of the human cost endured by his workforce
• it is clear that to justify their mistreatment, the upperclass dehumanise the working-class

Question 32

social class

p1 quote 3

Answer 32

• when Mr Birling comments on the short-lived strike action of his workforce,
• Gerald is quick to quip “not if it was just after the holidays: they’s all be broke- if i know them”
• This condescending stance reveals his lack of empathy for his workers,
• implying their plight and destitution is a result of poor money managment, as opposed to unsustainably low pay

Question 33

social class

p1, quote 4

Answer 33

• Mr Birling later demonstates similar prejudical views when she argues
• “i don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl commited suicide. Girls of that class-“
• Here, she presents the working class as a different species altogether, whose motivations remain utterly unfathomable to the upper class
• She is quick to generalise and imply that all “girls of that class” are likley to think and behave in the same way

Question 34

social class

p1, quote 5/ thesis evaluation

Answer 34

• Sheila proceeds to warn her mother that she “mustn’t try and build a wall between us and that girl… the inspector will just break it down”
• This metaphore empasises that Priestley intents to use the inspector as a mouthpeice for his socilaist views,
• deconstructing the narrative of difference propagated by the upper-class and emphasisng a common hunaity that overrides arbitrary class divisions

Question 35

Social class

p2 thesis

Answer 35

• As the play continues, Priestley exposes the way the ipperclass abuse their power and privilege

Question 36

social class

P2, Quote 2

Answer 36

• Through the Birling family ‘s interaction with the inspector, it becomes clear that nepotism and corruption is rife within the judicial system as they attempt to use intimidation, threats and bribery to achieve their ends.
• Mr Birling arrogantly lists his accolades and acquaintances, informing the inspector : “the chief inspector is an old friend of mine. We play golf together sometimes”
• emphasising he sees himself as a protected member of society, who is entitles to preferntial treatment

Question 37

social class

P2, Quote 2

Answer 37

• Mr and Mrs Birling’s view that the inspector’s interrogation is audacious and **“impertinent” ** reiterates the fact that his unbiased and objectie stance is unusual in a society where the upperclass were rarley held accountable for their indiscretions.

Question 38

social class

p2, quote 3

Answer 38

• This is further symbolised by the figure of Alderman Meggarty, a “notorious womaniser”, who Gerald describes as lecherously preying on Eva at the palace Bar
• the adjective “notorious” implies his behaviour and character are renowned,
• yet as a memeber of the upper class he goes unchallenged and continues to exploit the power afforded to him by his position in public , to take advantage of vunerable women

Question 39

social class

p2, Quote 4

Answer 39

• A similar abuse of power is demonstated through Sheila’s instigation of Eva’s unfair dismissal: “so you used thr power you had….to punish the girl”
• the verb “punish” reveals how flippantly Sheila used her social and financial status to destroy Eva’s livelihood, purley to ameliorate her own jealousy
• This abuse of power is indicative of the level of control the upperclass had over the working class

Question 40

social class

p2, Quote 5/thesis evaluation

Answer 40

• Priestley makes his stance on this abundantly clear in the play when the inspector tells Mr Birling
• “public men Mr Birling have responsibilites as well as privileges”
• emphasisng that power comes with a duty to protect those under your authority, rather than exploit them for personal gain

Question 41

social class

p3, Thesis

Answer 41

• In his final speech, the inspector condemns the mistreatment of the working class.

Question 42

social class

p3, Quote 1

Answer 42

• Through the poly syndetic list “there are millions and millions and millions of Eva smiths and John Smiths”
• he stresses that Eva was far from an anomaly and her experience is representative of the plight of the entire working class

Question 43

social class

p3, Quote 2

Answer 43

• He reinforces a human interdependence that transcends class barriers when he states “their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all interwined with our lives”
• collective pronoun “our” emphasises the redundancy of trying to create a segregated society
• where we all rely so heavily upon one another
• emphasising Priestley’s vision for a fairer society based on socilist principles of collective responsibility

Question 44

social class

p3, quote 3

Answer 44

• Through the transformation of Sheila and Eric, Priestley implies that the younger generation are now receptive to this vision .
• sheila’s scathing and sarcastic comment “i suppose we’re all nice people now”
• emphasises that irresepective of the inspector’s credibility,
• Sheila acknowledges thatthe Birling family have behaved abhorrently and can no longer maintain a pretence of morality and respectibility.
• Like Eric, Sheila has undergone a complete transformation and has no desire to return to her former self, eevn when an easy means of doing so is offered to her

Question 45

social class

p3, Quote 4

Answer 45

• Contrastingly, gerald is portrayed as being deeply entrenched in his upper class upbringing .
• While it is sugessted that he should, and could, learn and grow from his behaviour ,
• he is shown not to progress when he returns to the Birling house to tell the family “that man wasn’t a police officer”
• Wheras for Sheila and Eric the credibility of the inspector is a trivial detail in the grand scheme of the evening’s revelations, Gerald uses the information to justify dismissing the inspector’s teachings and evade responsibility
• As a member of the aristocracy, Gerald benefits greatly from the class system, and his final moments in the play suggest that for the most privileged, the betrayal of their class alleginence is too unpalatable a step

Question 46

social class

p3 , thesis

Answer 46

• Nonetheless, in spite of the resistance of Gerald and the older members of the Birling family,
• through the transformation of Sheila and Eric ,
• P demonstrates his hope in a future societ fromm from the class division and sytematic inequality.

Question 47

What is the difference between Polysndetic list and asyndetic list?

Answer 47

Poly: uses and for everything
Asyndetic: just uses conjunctions