Eva Smith To Represent Lives Of The Poor Flashcards
Umbrella
Eva smith is a political construct by Priestley to highlight to the audience the social inequality in Edwardian society and the need to change attitudes in order to bring about social reforms.
Ts1: Eva Smith is constructed to show that poor women in a patriarchal society don’t have the right to give consent and are taken advantage of.
‘An animal, a thing’
‘I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty’
Ts2: Mrs Birlings dismissal of Eva highlights how the WC are neglected in society and therefore Priestley advocates for a Welfare state.
‘Girls of that class’
‘You refused her… even the pitable little bit of organised charity you had in your power to grant her’
‘Elaborate fine feelings and scruples… absurd in a girl in her position’
Ts3: Mr Birlings views of Eva Smith illustrate the class prejudice prevalent in the Edwardian era.(construct to convey attitudes towards WC women)
‘She had a lot to say… she had to go’
‘If you don’t come down sharply on these people, they’d be asking for the Earth’
‘Get into trouble? Go on the streets?’
(They’d be all broke- if I know them’
‘These girls aren’t cheap labour, they’re people’
‘Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices’
‘Girls of that class’
‘Like bees in a hive’
‘Crank’)
Ts4: The Inspectors sympathy for Eva shows how he functions as a mouthpiece for Priestley’s political views.
‘You slammed the door in her face’
‘Lonely, half starved, desperate’
‘We’ll have to share our guilt’ ‘a chain of events’
Topic sentences:
Ts1: women don’t have right for consent and Eva highlights this
Ts2: Mrs b shows how WC neglected in society and Priestley advocates for welfare state.
Ts3: Mr B illustrates class prejudice prevalent in the Edwardian era.
Ts4: the I acts as a mouthpiece for Priestley due to his sympathy for Eva.
‘I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty’
C= Eric effectively rapes daisy. Illustrates power of men over women and rich over poor and vulnerable. R= shocking to MC audience; makes them consider their own behaviour and attitudes to WC.
‘An animal, a thing’
L= noun choices emphasise how he dehumanises Eva. R= describes Eric’s horrible treatment of her- makes audience feel pity for her as her body treated as a commodity. C/I= Marxist perspective- human beings reduced to means of production in capitalist society.
‘Girls of that class’
C= reflects class prejudice in highly stratified Edwardian society. L= use of determiner (that not this) Establishes lower class as other to upper class in its values and behaviour.
‘You refused her… even the pitiable little bit of organised charity you had in your power to grant her’
L= adjectives ‘pitable’ ‘little’ are emotive; emphasise how little Daisy is asking for and how mean-spirited Mrs B is to refuse her help. R= despise Mrs B for her hard hearted ness. C= no welfare state in Edwardian Era; poor relied on charitable institutions . D/I= as a women Mrs B has very little power in the patriarchal Edwardian society. The charitable committee is the only place she can exercise any power, yet she abuses it.
‘Elaborate fine feelings and scruples… absurd in a girl in her position’
L= adjectives ‘elaborate’ ‘fine’ imply WC girls are not morally superior to the UMC. R= audience realise this is ironic. Mrs B has behaved immorally and Daisy has behaved honourably. C= Priestley advocates for a Welfare state as criticises charitable institutions which were the only place poor people like Eva could go to due to no welfare state in the Edwardian Era. R= audience watching post WW2 so will want to change society for the better- NHS 1948.
‘She had a lot to say… she had to go’
C= WC and women not allowed a voice, challenged by the rise of unionism and suffragette movement.
Little power WC have to challenge their dismissal.
‘ if you don’t come down sharply on these people, they’d be asking for the Earth’
L= adverb, hyperbole and metaphor- WC demands unreasonable to Mr B. WC demands need to be crushed in his capitalist view.
‘Get into trouble? Go on the streets?’
Mr B assumes she will be a troublemaker.
C= reflects UMC prejudice against WC- they are considered immoral and troublesome.
Irony= Birlings are exposed as immoral not Eva.
‘You slammed the door in her face’
L= metaphor/idiom
Violence of image emphasises terrible consequences of Mrs B’s refusal to help Daisy/Eva.
R= audience feel disgust at her behaviour.
