stage directions

Question 1

“Fairly large suburban house” (social class, wealth and power) class

Answer 1

This reflects how they are an upper-middle-class family, therefore they are wealthy but not among the richest. Their wealth is then reinstated later in the text through props like “dessert plates and champagnes glasses” . The fact that they could enjoy these luxury items further emphasises their social status

Question 2

“Substantial and heavily comfortable but not cosy and homelike” class, appearance vs reality

Answer 2

The adjectives “cosy and homelike” have connotations of family and warmth, however, since the house is “comfortable but not cosy and homelike “ it implies how the happy Birling family is a facade and depicts that the family may be unsupportive and there is tension within. It also foreshadows how Mr Birling is unwelcoming to the Inspector and how they treat the lower class. This also helped JB Priestley insinuate that wealth does not mean happiness which ties into his socialist beliefs.

Question 3

“Pink and intimate” “brighter and harder” social responsibility, appearance vs reality

Answer 3

• the adjectives “pink and intimate” romanticise the Birling family and reflect how happy they seem. This also links to the idiom “seeing things through rose tinted glasses”, implies how perfect the Birling family think they are and foreshadows their ignorance throughout the play.
• the use of the contrasting adjectives “brighter and harder” J.B Priestley foreshadows a significant turn for the Birling’s’ lives that the Inspector is going to cause. These adjectives also have connotations of judgement day therefore foreshadowing how the Birlings and Gerald’s sins are going to be exposed.
• demonstrates how Priestley believes that the upper and middle classes think that they are infallible and by later showing how bad the family really, the audience are forced to question how actually well behaved the upper and middle class are.

Question 4

“Arthur Birling at one end, his wife at the other”

Answer 4

• Arthur Birling is sat at the head of the table could reflect his sense of self-importance as well as the idea that the men were the head of the household.
• The physical distance between them could symbolise the distance between them in their relationship and implies how there is no closeness between them, emotionally or physically. could also reflect the views on men and women during the time as women were seen as second class citizens which is evident through the fact that they were unable to vote.

Question 5

“Sheila and Gerald seated upstage”

Answer 5

Presents them as the traditional and the ideal couple which makes what happens later in the play more shocking for the audience.

Question 6

“Eric downstage”

Answer 6

Shows us he is apart from the rest of the family; this is an early hint that he is perhaps hiding something from his parents.