Key quotes- Eric Birling Flashcards
“when a chap easily turns nasty”
adverb “easily” connotates how easy it is for men of higher class to take advantage of women of lower classes + almost an excuse for pursuing Eva
“Half shy, half assertive”
“Half” implies in between something (socialism/capitalism). Shy +assertive= unsure, proleptic irony
“squiffy”
Sheila describes him, Sin: gluttony. Drinking problem to cope w/ socialist views. Capitalist exploitation (greed).
“(involuntarily) My God!”
Exclamatory sentence, anger of Eva’s situation. “involuntarily”: SD, natural reaction= natural socialist.
“suddenly gaffaws”
SD: Awkward laugh, foreshadowing his unease of inspector’s arrival.
“you killed her… damn you, damn you-“
Blames his mother, contrasts Mr. B’s “triumphantly”. “killed”= violent + negative connotations.
“Its still the same rotten story”
Accepts they’ve done something wrong- “rotten”= doesn’t matter is they get caught, they should learn.
“I’m not likely to forget”
Wants to change+ contrasts Mr. B’s “triumphantly”. Accepts responsibility.
“You’re not the kind of father a chap can go to when he’s in trouble”
Blames Mr. B, exposes him + contrasts father’s “triumphantly”
“why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?”
Question shows curiosity towards socialism- proleptic irony. Immature worldview made him pursue Eva.
