An Inspector Calls Flashcards
Business Look After
“A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”
Aphorism
Labour People
“But these girls aren’t cheap labour-they’re people”
Antithesis
Contrasts the idea of the girls being viewed merely as cheap labour with the reality that they are humans
Responsible Everybody Awkward
“If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn’t it?”
Litotes
Downplays the concept of social responsibility
Blame Young Man Example
“First, the girl herself…. Secondly, I blame the young man who was the father of the child… He should be made an example of.”
Enumeration
Pretty Sport
“I wasn’t in love with her or anything-but I liked her-she was pretty and a good sport”
Personification
And Taught
“They will be taught it in fire and blood an anguish”
Vivid Imagery
Members
“We are members of one body”
Metaphor
Learnt
“The point is, you don’t seem to have learnt anything.”
Direct adress
Millions
“There are millions and millions of Eva Smiths”
Repetition
Clothes
“Clothes mean something quite different for a woman”
Sentiments
“I never harbored the sentiments for her that she harbored for me.”
Context
Edwardian era
In Bradford Priestley witnessed a lot of poverty amongst the working classes
Priestley was raised around socialist views
His experiences at war made him realise how social inequality has consequences beyond what he had seen at home
Women who society believed had lost their innocence and fallen from the grace of God were called “fallen women”.
Men preyed on these “fallen women” as easy targets to satisfy their own needs while getting credit from their peers.(may represent Gerald)
Structure
Linear narrative structure, with events unfolding in chronological order
Gradual uncovering of secrets and interconnected plotlines
Clear exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution within each act
A twist at the very end. This use of structure helps to build up dramatic tension
Priestley structures the play using some dramatic devices from Greek tragedy, specifically the Three Unities, to create intensity and add an element of realism to the play:
The play employs a cyclical structure, meaning the play ends where it began with a call from a police inspector:
This structure may indicate the characters will be made to repeat the events of the evening, with another opportunity of redemption for those characters who had refused to do so .
