Eric Flashcards
‘half shy, half assertive’
shy connotes nervousness and lack of confidence which contrast white assertive. oxymoronic phrase emphasises his uncertainty and not fully developed sense of knowledge. As assertive implies dominance contrasting withs with implies dependance which may reflect his need for a role model and someone to guid hums so that he doesn’t live up to his negative so called ‘squiffy’ persona.
Priestley’s use of contrasting adjectives creates a sense of confusion and uncertainty implying perhaps he is immature and needs teaching so that he is ready to face real life responsibilities that would require him to be defiantly ‘assertive’
audience has a lack of trust and reliability of Eric because of this nature, he may represent the upperclass highlighting the unreliable nature of the upper class. wants to show the capitalist patriarchal individuals are not ones that can be trusted
repetition of half emphasises Erics character is not fully shaped/ formed indicating that he may change to favour socialism. Hope.
’’ squiffy’’ - contemporary slang draws attention to Sheilas use of informal language making them seem like fashionable and youthful members of the younger generation who adapt their language to the time. This foreshadows them changing their attitudes and responsibilities to more social ones as the play unfolds and they become more sympathetic to the lower class - situation of Eva smith - inspectors message.
Erics association with alcohol foreshadows the later revelation about hid drnken behaviour on the night he met Eva smith.
free and easy use of alcohol is used to highlands the unfair double standard in 1912 society for men and women
’’ in that state when a chap easily turns nasty’
he admits to the inspector he insisted on entering Eva smiths logging because he was user the influence of alcohol.
use of the determiner that is interesting as Eric appears to be appealing to a commonly share belief that his listeners have been drunk and relate to exactly what ‘that’ state is, shown is lack of responsibility for his actions and suggest he is using alcohol as an excuse for his rape later on in the play.
‘a Chap’ - Eric refers to himself in 3rd person, informal word of chap has connotations of innocent and friendliness, he is trying to down play his actions (lack of responsibility) . This 3rd person also distances himself from the implied rape, he is presenting himself as a friendly young man who does not take responsibility for his actions or behaviour.
’ and that’s when it happened. And I don’t even remember- that’s the hellish thing.
Priestley used short scentence and a hyphen to reveal Erics distress. and the is structure which could cannot to chaos could represent Erics overwhealming and chaotic abundance of emotions such as supposed regret and sympathy aswell as sadness and guilt. this highlights that h is facing massive inner conflict with himself as a result of his actions which once again foreshadows his change to a more socialist and sympathetic character. this is further enhanced by the adjective ‘hellish’ implying his lack of ability to recall back to the situation and the guilt he is feeling is like a punishment and the worst one as the biblical illusion of hell insinuates his pain runs very deep win him and is extremely powerful. societies expectation of children were for them to obey God ‘‘hellish ‘’ insinuates he is now facing a punishment form God as well as this it highlight clearly what he did was terrible and unforgiving.
lack of detail about what happened suggest he can barely bring himself to admit what he has done - extremely painful for him -
’ not the type of water a chap could Go to when he’s in trouble’’
- we see Eric begin to speak up and become more assertive (change of character)
‘chap’ once again positioning himself as an innocent childlike victim despite being In his early twenties.
speaking up to his father goes against society expectations of children to obey and respect- he is coming across almost disrespectful as he confines his ‘father’ ‘ not the kind’ - insult and not Kind.
highlight how he may change society or be a contributing factor to that change.
not taking responsibility of his own actions.
possible questions on Eric
Eric presented as an insecure character.
Eric a chart who changes
Eric as a sympathetic character
‘we did her in all right ‘’
plural, personal pronoun we to highlight it is not jus him that is responsible for the death of Eva smith but it is Ella of them.
This could highlight that he is taking responsibility as he kind owns up the pronoun ‘we’’ references the statement of the inspector that we are all ‘members of one body’’ - he is converting to socialism as collective responsibility.
But at the same time he is not taking responsibility as he is sure to make known he is not the only cause of her death
highlands priestly socialist view that ‘we’ are are responsible for each other.
’ it is what happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters ‘
he has accepted his role for her downfall and is clearly remorseful and guilty and holds himself accountable.
collective responsibility
Eric begins to echo the message of Priestley/ inspector
change in Eric
Through the play Priestley has presented Eric as an immature young man with a drinking problem. individual who doesn’t hold himself accountable and an exploiter of Eva smith.
as Eric matures and accepts responsibility for his actions he becomes receptive to the inspectors message that ‘‘we are members of on body ‘’, ‘‘we are responsible for each other’’
You killed her… and the child she’d have had too – my child – your own grandchild – damn you, damn you
