eric

Question 1

describe our first impressions of eric:

Answer 1

• ‘early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive.’ demonstrates naivety.
• portrayed in sympathetic light - opposes
  mr birling’s capitalistic and individualistic
  attitudes. lack of good father role model.
• naïve and ignorant of true suffering of
  lower class.
• eric’s emotional response to eva’s death shows his morals. (involuntarily) ‘my God!’. use of adverb ‘involuntarily’ demonstrates moral nature of eric, couldn’t suppress emotion.
• wouldn’t usually choose to reveal
  emotions within a patriarchal society.
  shows feminine traits such as excessive
  emotion (the disorder hysteria).
• priestley conveys message that emotion
  is human and necessary for society to
  improve. wants audience to react like eric
  did, feel instinctively emotional.
• inherently socialist views. condemns father’s capitalist view of workers, ‘why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?’. able to empathise with lower class, recognises need for workplace rights.
• has capacity for empathy and emotion.
  separates him and sheila from other
  characters (emotionless).

Question 2

what are our final impressions of eric?

Answer 2

• initially portrayed as a moral positive character. revelation of him raping eva shows sin is not beyond anyone.
• eric acknowledges that his father and his
  friends are acting immorally, but he’s too
  weak to stand up for his own beliefs, so
  ends up copying them.
• priestley teaches people need to stand up for reform regardless of who they are in society, instead of disregard their morals, otherwise they may end up behaving like eric.
• repentant and remorseful for his immoral actions. immediately recalls actions, ‘yes, i remember’. eric’s authentic regret - still thinks about eva and impact of his actions.
• linguistic use of euphemistic phrases and
  dramatic exits shows that eric feels guilty
  and doesn’t want to think about what he
  did.
• uses third person when recalling what happened, e.g. ‘when a chap’. disassociate himself from his cruel actions.

Question 3

what is eric’s relationship like with his father?

Answer 3

• constantly challenges and opposes mr birling’s opinions and capitalist attitudes. birling claims of striving for ‘higher prices, lower costs’ and eric rejects this ‘why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?’ and that she ‘can’t go and work somewhere else’.
• placed in juxtaposition to mirror conflict
  between capitalists and socialists. by
  standing in opposition to his father, eric is
  viewed favourably by audience.

Question 4

what is eric’s relationship like with sheila?

Answer 4

• both in opposition to older generation’s capitalistic and individualistic tendencies. priestley suggests that people must work together despite their differences for the shared aim of bettering society.
• inspector acknowledges that they’re more ‘impressionable’ at that age, to both the ideologies of of their parents and the socialist ideologies of the inspector.
• eric’s agreement with inspector not same level as Sheila’s full conversion.
• priestley portrays ambivalence in eric’s
  mindset through heightened emotional
  state, as he quickly goes from (shouting)
  to (quietly). eric may be overwhelmed by
  inspector, not speaking seriously when
  agreeing - might be superficial, impulsive
  agreement.
• eric’s speech tainted with intoxication,
  degree of seriousness is thrown into
  doubt. altered state of consciousness may
  mean eric doesn’t accept socialism once
  sober and calm.

Question 5

what is the significance of priestley leaving the play on a dramatic cliff-hanger?

Answer 5

• leaves audience to predict characters’ reactions to death of second girl.
• forces audience to consider how they, themselves would respond to the death, and question whether their response would be moral. prompts questions on how they live their lives.
• intends for audience to compare their own attitudes to that of characters in the play - causes audience to view physical manifestations of their own set of beliefs.

Question 6

what is eric’s relationship like with eva?

Answer 6

• goes against tradition, due to inter-class nature.
• he uses euphemisms when referring to their relationship (and potential rape) such as ‘that’s when it happened’, ‘i was in a state where a chap easily turns nasty’. vague language hides true extent of his immoral behaviour. reveals his guilt, desire to avoid facing what he did.
• the other Birlings only indirectly abused Eva, but what Eric did seems to have pushed her over the edge. he emotionally and physically abused her, using his social influence and physical power. he uses physical force to enter eva’s house, although ‘she didn’t want me to go in’.
• he is seen as excessively immoral, but
  also shows audience that if eric can
  change his ways and redeem himself,
  there is a possibility for everyone in the
  audience to do the same.