Opening Stage Directions - Characters

Question 1

Arthur Birling : “ Heavy looking, rather portentous man … rather provincial in his speech”

Answer 1

• “heavy-looking” could suggest that Mr Birling is overweight, possibly due to eating a lot more than needed
• the adjective “portentous” foreshadows Mr Birling’s sense of self-importance which continues throughout the play
• This immediately foreshadows the unfolding of Mr Birling’s selfish act that contributed to Eva Smith’s death
• “provincial in his speech” which demonstrates the lack of education and shows he has an accent and therefore isn’t well-spoken which reinforces the idea that Mrs Birling is his ‘social superior’
• This could serve to the reason why Mr Birling overly uses pompous vocabulary: he wants to compensate for his “lower class accent”
• “provincial” also has connotations of being unwilling to accept new ideas or ways of thinking foreshadowing how his beliefs do not change by the end of the play

Question 2

Mrs Birling: “His wife… a rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior”

Answer 2

• ‘His wife’ can present how her identity was based on her husband, as her name isn’t clearly stated like the others
• The use of the adjective “cold” instantly introduces her to be a quite icy, aloof which could be a reflection of her class and foreshadows her behaviour and attitude throughout the play.
• “social superior” = hence why she constantly emits her pride alongside degrading others and is also the reason why she follows the rules of etiquette

Question 3

Shelia: “a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited”

Answer 3

She is pleased with life could represent how fortunate she is, contrasting with someone like Eva Smith, Sheila has never had to work hard in her life as everything was merely handed to her, she is blissfully unaware of the hardship of other

Question 4

Gerald: “easy well-bred young man about town”

Answer 4

• use of the rule of three with the adjectives “easy, well-bred young” establishes him as a member of the elite class, used to a life of leisure.
• adjective “young” is used when he has been described as roughly thirty years old suggests that his attitude to life is immature and thoughtless, and this foreshadows what we later learn about his irresponsible behaviours towards Eva and Shelia
• The phrase “man-about-town” shows that he is a fashionable socialite and implies experience in the ways of the world
• It also implies vanity in that he priorities himself (his appearance and his sexual needs) over helping others. And this could foreshadow the later revelation that he used Eva smith to satisfy his needs before discarding her when their relationship was no longer convenient

Question 5

Eric: “not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive”

Answer 5

• Highlighting how he is a neurotic and an unstable character
• The noun ‘half’ displays how he doesn’t know himself and is confused about his own character, highlighting his immaturity and lack of self-understanding.
• The contrast between “shy’”, which has connotations of apprehension, and ‘assertive’ which implicates dominance emphasis his confusion and uneasiness, which could suggest that he is full of secrets and guilty of something.
• Asyndetic listing, creates the sense that he is overwhelming and overbearing, which could allude to the self-righteous superiority

Question 6

“Pleased with themselves” - social responsibility

Answer 6

• hint that they’re playing happy families but deep down they all have their own secrets
• This shows irony in some sort of way as while they are feeling good about themselves, the Inspector juxtaposes that into guilt
• the beginning of the play where all characters are not aware of anything but wealth and happiness and themselves