Characters - Eric Flashcards
What is Erics role in the family?
To take over his father’s business, though both his parents dismiss him and don’t take him seriously.
What is Erics role in the play?
To represent the upper-class men who used their power to get what they want.
Why does Eric have a drinking problem?
His parents dismiss him and his father favours Gerald over him.
His parents have never taken the time to get to know their son.
What is Erics connection to Eva?
He met her when he was drunk and forced himself onto her.
She then found out she was pregnant, so he stole money for her, but she refused to see him after she found out the money was stolen.
How is his father and his relationship presented in the play?
They have a tense relationship.
Mr Birling ignores Eric and talks to Gerald throughout the play.
Eric shows support for the workers and Mr Birling gets angry and doesn’t respect his son.
How does Eric feel after learning about Eva’s fate?
He feels guilty and responsible for her death.
He regrets forcing himself onto her and hates how selfish he was.
How does Eric change as the play goes on?
He starts of awkward and shy and becomes stronger and more mature.
He stands up to his parents, by accusing his mother of killing his child and telling his father he doesn’t give a damn what he thinks of him.
Does Eric learn from his mistakes?
Yes, he promises to become a better person and tries to get his parents to accept responsibility and change with him.
What does Eric represent?
Hope for future generations in creating a better society for everyone.
The abusive upper-class - he uses his status to force himself onto Eva.
“[Not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive]”
This sets him apart from his family and immediately shows the cracks in his family’s relationship.
This shows that his family treats him like a child and do not take him seriously.
“Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?”
This shows that at the beginning Eric disagrees with his parent’s views and that he leans more towards socialist’s viewpoints.
He also goes against social norms by standing up to his father in front of people.
“I don’t give a damn”
This is Erics breaking point, he openly dismisses his father showing that he has lost respect for him.
He is tired of his parents selfish and egotistical views.
“I wasn’t in love with her or anything – but I liked her – she was pretty and a good sport”
This shows the selfish views of the upper-class.
They didn’t care about how their actions affected others, they only cared about what they got out of it.
“You’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble”
This shows how bad his relationship was with his father. His father constantly ignored him and didn’t take him seriously, so Eric turned to drinking instead.
“You killed her – and the child she’d have had too – my child – your own grandchild – you killed them both – damn you, damn you”
This shows how Eric now no longer wants to hide from his parents, he has lost all respect for them and stands up to her for what she did.
This shows how the actions of upper-class can end up killing someone.
