Social Class

Question 1

P1

Answer 1

Social Class is presented in the play in such a way that emphasises the class divide between the upper classes (Birlings and Crofts) and the lower working class (secondary characters like Edna and Eva Smith/Daisy Renton). Shows the entitlement of the upper classes that they take for granted which the lower classes wish for.

Question 2

P2

Answer 2

Social Class is presented as a responsibility for the upper class but is misinterpreted as a privilege for the lower class. Mr Birling is insecure about his social standing and wishes to climb the social ladder. He wants to maintain his social standing at all costs, even at the cost of lives. Lower class have no rep to lose so they are honest but upper classes are secretive and lying.

Question 3

P3

Answer 3

Social Class presented as misleading and causes unnecessary prejudices in society. He uses the novel to destroy prejudices about the lower working classes such as what Mrs Birling has for Eva Smith. He shows how even they have feelings and humanises them. He wants to break barriers between the two classes and show how they are more common than originally thought and that they shouldn’t try and barricade themselves away from the other class.