responsibility in aic Flashcards
ospenskys theory paragraph opener
priestley uses the end of his didactic play as a clear ask for his audeince to take societal responsibility for the declining state of the world, something a post war audience suffering from the aftermath of the atrocities of ww2 wouldve been deeply receptible to, he does this through the theory of eternal reccruance, the idea that humans are forced to reinact our lives until they can right the sins committed before
ospenskys theory paragraph plan
the play uses an incredibly cyclical structure, at the beginning the family is blissfully dining when the phone rings and the inspector arrives- shifting their perceptions of one another, and as it ends they are resettling back into the evening changed certainly but back in the same state when the phone rings a second time.
as ospensky theroiseed those who do not accept societal resposniblity will be forced to relive their past atrocities and thats largely this experince. sheila warns her parents, ‘youre pretending everythings as it was before’, shes clearly the inspectors willing proxy in his departure and so this sttaement creates a cycle. however its telling that even sheila, the example of youth receptibility and femeine compassion begins to question reaccepting geralds ring- though she recognises that they are differnt people and does not seem wlling the families pressure seems to be slowly wearing in on her
on the pther hand the elders more concrete set people are completely unphased by the event due to the lacking of real proof of the inspectors existence the principle of the situation is irrlevant, this highlights the miopic and lack of morality that would horrify the audience, mr b pours gerlad a glass of port and they rediscuss the engagment
through this theory and the cyclial structure of the poem priestley clearly looks to highlight the need for societal resposnibili despite the difficulty of doing so, its much eaiser to lie back as a comfortable middle and upper class peson like those who would be viewing the stageplay as they are the benefactors of a capitlaist society, but they should be affected by both the frustration in the brilings slow and miopic actiosn and the repititive aspect of the world wars to be scared nto some form of scoeital change
inspector and responsiblity opener
priestley uses the inspector as his mouthpiece to perpetuate the idea of a strong moral compass and a greater need for community and resposn=siblity for one another in a world dictated by miopic capitalist greed
inspector and responsiblity paragraph planner
he is a juxtaposition to mr birlings portentous and provincial tone of speaking in vast and non substancial quantities where he refuses to take responsibility for things that he may have been involved in, rather he speaks ‘carefully and weightily’ relying on the depth of the facts in his language, this means that he is a good moral teacher for the audience rather than mr b who uses a semantic field of eductation as he lectures the youths and yet through dramatic ironically gets much information wrong
he has a moral compass and a focus on mans ‘duty’ to be resposnbile for all in society that starkly contrasts the repition of duty as percived by the other charcaters, mrs birling sees it as her ‘duty’ to turn away bad cases on the charity front which is really an excuse for her to exploit desparate women and assert her birth given power over the poor
in his final speech priestley uses it as a direct cry to the audience for a wave of new social rsposinility to a receptible post war audience who would be looking to stop the repeititve nature of world wars. he reminds them of the need for social responsiblity through the metaphor that they are ‘all part of one body’- this imagery shows that humans need one another to function and cannot continue with a m=huge majority being cast aide, his final cry for a need to build a sense of community is a prophet like foreshadowing of ‘fire and blood and anguish’ if there is not an imminent societal shift. this is an intert=sting tricolon as it has both biblical connotations to eternal suffering in hell but also a much more recent even of the world war
overlal the inspector is here to punish the birlings in a way theywould not be without priestleys mouthpeice and hes also trying to reach a middle to upper class audience and alrt them of the dire need for resposnibilityfor thier opressive actions
shiela and social responsibility
- represnts a need for the younger generation to have a more uncernsored view of society so they can use theri compassion to hold those in power accountable
- central shift in cahracter
- she begins ‘pretty and excited’ shows a very hollow naive character with no depth at all, who acts as a direct verbatim echo of her mother- reoeating the word ‘impertinent’ after her, this is telling as impertinent is often used to show acting wrongly for your class- symbolic of how the older gen pass down theri prejudice
- upon the inspector shiela is at first ‘miserable’ in finding her part in the suicide, this shows that the emotion of responsibility is new th=o the upper class and is causing her discomfort
- however she quickly rejects her families immoral warped ideas, repating that impertinence is ‘such a silly word’ which rejects ad belittles her mother + their class ideas
- shiela shows real responsibility, informing she will ‘never, never do it again’ which implies a very genuine and sincere regret as shown by the repetition]
- she later tells the family the inspector is ‘giving us the rope’- this very macabre allusion of death is unsettling and shows clearly how dire and unsettling the very situation is. shiela here acts to show the olders that their actions as powerful people have caused their own fall, as well as alluding to how the inspector is bringing justice through the connoations to excecution.
