Eric Flashcards
‘why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices’
L - question, comparative and superlative adjectives
This makes workers request seem reasonable and capitalist business seem exploitative of workers.
D - Later in the play, the Inspector makes Eric question his father’s political and economic ideology.
‘she didn’t want me to go in…I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty’
C - Eric effectively rapes Daisy which illustrates the power of men over women and rich over poor and the vulnerable.
R - this is shocking to the middle class audience and makes them consider their own behaviour and attitude toward the working class.
‘she treated me - as if I were a kid. Though I was nearly as old as she was’
L - noun
Eric is less mature than Daisy.
C - Daisy has to grow up faster because of the less privileged working class life and no parents. So, she had to fend for herself.
‘you killed her - and…your own grandchild’
L - emotive and accusatory language
Emphasises the impact of Mr. Birling’s actions by making it personal to the Birlings.
Priestley illustrates how an action by Mrs. Birling that she dismisses as unimportant can have huge, tragic consequences on others. We are responsible for each other.
‘the girl’s dead and we all helped to kill her’
Eric understands whether or not the Inspector was hoax is irrelevant. He does not seek to pass the blame for the girl’s death but accepts that they share responsibility.
R - the audience feels he has atoned for his terrible treatment of Daisy by accepting it and trying to change and become a better, socially responsible person.
‘He was our police inspector all right’
I -
1. the Inspector interrogated them and made them confess.
2. he was their moral inspector rather than a police inspector. They have all committed moral crimes against another innocent individual.
‘you don’t understand anything. You never did’
Mrs. Birling does not understand her son but she also refuses to understand the Inspector’s message that she is responsible for others.
R - creates sympathy for Eric. His own mother has never tried to understand him. He feels isolated and alone.
‘you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble’
Illustrates the division between father and son personally as well as ideologically.
R - audience feels sympathy for Eric. He has no one to turn to emotionally despite his privileged life. This may explain his alcoholism.
‘damn you!’
L - expletive words
Shows the depth of Eric’s disgust for his mother.
R - shocking
