English Lit: An Inspector Calls

Language, Structure and Form.

FORM: Morality Play: > often focused on the 7 Deadly Sins - lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. > characters and the sins: > Mr Birling: lust, greed, wrath, pride. > Mrs Birling: greed, sloth, pride. > Sheila: envy, pride. > Eric: lust, gluttony, sloth. > Gerald: lust, pride.> some characters turn to the 7 Holy Virtues in the end: humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, liberality and diligence. > Sheila: humility, kindness, patience. > Eric: chastity, liberality.Well-made Play: > Popular dramatic genre in the 19th-century. > this structure allows the audience to be manipulated - they don't know what's happened to Eva so each revelation adds to the drama and cleverly builds to the climax.

STRUCTURE:> Freytag's pyramid: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement - end of each act ends on a climax.> Setting: centered in the dining room of the Birling house - makes atmosphere seem claustrophobic and intense; the Birlings cannot escape the Inspector's rigid 'one person and one line of inquiry at a time' structure; highlights the Birlings' capitalism and disregard of the lower class.> One Photo: used by the Inspector (aka Preistley) to pace the action to build tension and control the situation; sparks isolation and segregation; never see the photo, remains ambiguous - represents the lower class.> Stage Directions - entrances and exits: Inspector uses this to draw info from the Birlings; symbolises his unspoken authority and ability to shut down the Birlings, in relation to Mr Birling's sentence lengths:> Sentence Lengths: > Mr Birling: often interrupted by the Inspector '[cutting in]' and the doorbell - lack of power and importance in his words; Preistley disregarding capitalism.> Mrs Birling: complex with control until the revelation at the end of Act 2: 'But surely... I mean... It's ridiculous...'

LANGUAGE:> Direct Address: Inspector speaks plainly - 'burnt inside out' - contrasting Mr Birling's long speech in Act 1; Sheila uses this tone more (see below) in the later Acts, contrasting her childish 'I'm sorry, Daddy.' in Act 1.> Fronted Conjunction: Sheila uses this in 'But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people.' which contrasts her timid obedience in Act 1.> Dramatic Irony: Mr Birling uses this on multiple occasions - 'The famous younger generation who know it all.' - to show the older generation are actually the most naive and in fact the younger generation are more adult than the older generation; 'unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.'> Euphemisms: 'girls of that class.' and 'a girl of that sort.' to refer to the struggles such as prostitution that Eva had to face - display the Birling's unwillingness to associate with the lower class.> Adjectives: 'cranks' and 'scaremongers.' again used to display the Birling's disregard of the lower class - capitalism.> Imagery: 'we are members of one body' is an idea found in the Bible - we have a sacred duty to care for each other; 'they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.' is the Inspector's parting line - sounds like 'fire mingled with blood' from the Book of Revelation where people are punished for their sins.> Symbolism:> The Ring: ('[she hands him the ring.]') symbolizes love, but also obedience and a woman's faith to men at the time, so when Sheila gives the ring back it symbolizes Sheila's independence and breaking away from the gender hierarchy. In Sheila's monologue following this event ('I don't dislike you as I did half an hour ago, Gerald.') short sentences are repeatedly used, representing the direct tone Sheila takes on with her newfound independence.> Lighting: the light changes from 'pink and intimate' to 'brighter and harder' as the Inspector enters, symbolizing the loss of love and unity between the Birling's, as well as the Inspector's authority over the family; brighter light like a spotlight.

Theme Analysis.

CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM:Inspector: 'We are members of one body.'Mr Birling: 'A man has to make his own way - has to look after himself.' + 'girls of that class.' + 'scaremongers.' + 'cranks.'Mrs Birling: 'Still, I can't accept any responsibility.'Sheila: 'But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people.' + 'You mustn't try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl... the Inspector will just break it down.' (breaking down capitalism)

GENDER:Inspector: 'You think young women ought to be protected?'Mr Birling: '[Birling at one end, his wife at the other.]'Mrs Birling: 'I think Sheila and I had better go to the drawing room and leave you men.'

GENERATION GAP:Inspector: 'We often do with the younger ones. They're more impressionable.'Mr Birling: 'The famous younger generation who know it all.'Mrs Birling: 'Behaving like a hysterical child.' + 'He's only a boy.'Sheila: 'Gerald knows what I mean. You obviously don't.' + 'I'm not a child.' + 'You're beginning to pretend all over again.'Eric: 'You're not the kind of father a chap could go to.'Gerald: 'You couldn't have done anything else.' (siding with the older generation.)

BLAME AND RESPONSIBILITY:Inspector: 'There are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us... their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives.' + 'We are responsible for each other.'Mr Birling: 'A man has to mind his own business and look out for himself and his own.'Mrs Birling: 'I blame the young man. He ought to be dealt with very severely.' + 'She only had herself to blame.' + 'Still, I can't accept any responsibility.' + 'Go and look for the father of the child. It's his responsibility.'Sheila: 'I know I'm to blame and I'm desperately sorry.'Eric: 'You killed her - and the child she'd have had too - my child.'Gerald: 'I don't come into this suicide business.' + 'She didn't blame me.'

INFLUENCE AND POWER:Mr Birling: 'Just a knighthood, of course.'Mrs Birling: 'Was it or was it not your influence.' 'Yes, it was.'Sheila: 'So you used the power you had... to punish her.''If I could help her now, I would.' - Sheila, Act 1'I would give thousands, yes thousands.' - Mr Birling, Act 3> demonstrates Sheila's growth from giving out empty aid (she can't actually deliver it) like her father to actually understanding Eva - a socialist quality worth more than help via empty words or money (capitalism).

Character Analysis.

MR BIRLING:> underneath the 'hard headed, practical man of business' exterior, Mr Birling is an anxious man, trying to win the Croft's approval with 'just a knighthood, of course.'> he tries to make himself sound important due to his underlying insecurity over his background - he's middle class whilst the Croft's are higher class with 'Lord' and 'Lady' titles.

MRS BIRLING:> Sybil is Arthur's social superior, coming from a higher class family; she tell off Sheila for using slang and Arthur for mentioning the lower class servants ('Tell the cook from me.').> involved in the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation, but uses her influence to decide whether a case is 'deserving' or not - capitalist mindset.

SHEILA BIRLING:> she acts like another one of Preistley's socialist mouthpieces, almost becoming the Inspector himself.

ERIC BIRLING:

INSPECTOR GOOLE:> the Inspector '[need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness solidarity and purposefulness.]' and he often 'massively' takes charge.> his authority tone strengthens the message of his socialist based views.> the Inspector says dryly 'I don't play golf.' and similarly doesn't share Mr Birling's interests nor has the expected etiquette (he interrupts, repeats and pauses) of middle class; this makes the Inspector seem from a different time and a different world.> he's also classless, not fitting into the Birling's rigid structure of society; he treats everyone the same.> the Inspector is Preistley's mouthpiece, could be why Mr and Mrs Birling get more of a rough time than the others, as well as why they are portrayed as being naive - he wants to give capitalism a bad name.> the ending is left ambiguous as to whether the girl they all dealt with was the same - this enforces Priestley's socialist view that it doesn't matter whom you deal with, all that matters is the equal treatment of whoever may cross your path.

EVA SMITH:> her identity is left ambiguous, leaving her to be an ideal representation of the entirety of the lower class and their struggles.> she is the centre of the play's message, but she represents millions more people ('millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths') which reinforces the play's message that people should be responsible for everyone and anyone else.> Eva Smith represents all the people the Birling's and the upper class have ever treated badly.

Context.

Background on Presitley:> strong socialist opinions.> decided against going to university as he thought he would get a better feel for the world around him away from academia.> Priestley and others set up a new political party, the Common Wealth Party, which argued for - among other ideas - a new morality in politics.In 1912 Britain:> strong distinctions between the upper and lower classes.> women were subservient to men. All a well off women could do was get married; a poor woman was seen as cheap labour - however, the Suffragette movement for women's votes was in action at the time. > The ruling classes saw no need to change the current divide of the social classes.In 1945 Britain:> class distinctions had been greatly reduced.> women now had the vote and a more valued place in society.> There was a great desire for social change. Immediately after The Second World War, the Labour Party won a landslide victory over the Conservatives.