How successfully has the writer portrayed a class-ridden and hypocritical society? Throughout Inspector calls, Priestley portrays a class ridden and hypocritical society very successfully. In Act 2, Mrs Birling says 'girls of that sort would never refuse money'; this shows she feels morally superior because she is upper class. In addition, the adjective 'that' shows her disgust towards the working class. Similarly, when Sheila complains how 'last summer ... [Eric] never came near [her]', Mrs Birling replies that she will have to get used to it. Through this, Mrs Birling conveys her sexist attitude that men are superior and her lack of belief in women's right even though she is the chair of a women's charity. In fact, the woman's charity is …show more content…
only a veneer for status and respectability as Mrs Birling is able to use her influence as a wealthy, upper-class woman to refuse help for Eva even though the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation is meant to help women in trouble. Moreover, when Eric's drinking problem is revealed, she claims to be shocked even though Sheila says 'Of course he does, I told you'(Act 3). Through her actions, she is portrayed as a hypocrite. The charity is a facade for her true nature telling the Inspector with dignity '[the charity] has done a great deal of useful work with dignity'. Furthermore, Mr Birling views Eva to just be one of 'several hundred women'. By saying 'they keep changing' with the use of a third person pronoun, he shows that to him the workers have no identity as well as the fact Mr Birling does not really care for them. Therefore, by victimising a working-class woman in the play, Priestley may be trying to suggest how vulnerable the working class during the Edwardian Era were in addition to how it was shockingly deemed socially acceptable. Through language and the actions of the Birling family, Priestley portrays the hypocrisy of the class-ridden Edwardian Era. Though, as an employer, Mr Birling is responsible for his worker, as a parsimonious capitalist, he 'can't accept any responsibility' for her death even though it triggered the chain of events - the metaphor for how everybody in society is linked - that led to her death. He is self-deluded and blind to how terrible society really was as if he is 'looking through rose tinted glass'. Upon his knowing of Eric impregnating Eva, he becomes furious. However, this is not because he pities Eva but because he fears 'a public scandal' and the loss of his knighthood. All that matters to him is is the retention of a high status despite what it might do to others. Again, through Mr Birling not fulfiling the duties he should as an employer and accepting the responsibility he should as a 'public man', Priestley shows that many capitalist, individualists and employers in society were hypocrites. Furthermore, by contrasting the different lives of Sheila and Eva, Priestley shows how class-ridden society is as well as how class and wealth causes it to act hypocritically.
Though Sheila and Eva are both in their twenties and 'pretty', the cardinal reason behind their difference is class. As a working class, poor woman, Eva is forced to work in 'cheap labour' and go 'onto the streets' - a euphemism for prostitution. Mr Birling shows much disregard for the death of Eva as he impatiently states 'I don't understand why you should come here'. Nonetheless, when the Inspector informs Sheila of the details of Eva's death, Mr Birling interrupts the Inspector 'angrily' exclaiming 'why the devil do you want to go upsetting the child like that?'. The massive difference between his attitudes for the two situations shows how he feels that bad things could happen to other classes and people but should not happen to his child. Explicitly, Priestley shows the hypocrisy of Mr Birling and of society. In the Edwardian Era, two-thirds of the country's wealth belonged to less than one percent of society in addition to there being a clear divide between the rich and the poor. Wealthier families such as the Birlings lived in 'large, substantial homes' and have a maid - a reminder of the Birling's wealth - whilst people in poverty represented by Eva Smith lived in rooms out back. Priestley may be trying to convey how the upper classes and the wealthy were blind to how horrible the lives of the
working class and poor are consequently trying to convey how hypocritical and class-ridden society really was.
Discuss Priestley's depiction of the Birling household and Gerald Croft, prior to the arrival of Inspector Goole In this submission I hope to fully discuss Priestley's depiction of the Birling household and Gerald Croft, prior to the arrival of Inspector Goole. The play is set in the fictional town of Brumley, an industrial town in the North Midlands. It is evening in the town, in the spring of 1912. At the moment the play starts the characters are celebrating the engagement between Gerald Croft and the Birling family's only daughter Sheila. They are all very pleased with themselves and are enjoying the occasion.
How Priestly Uses the Characters to Represent His Own Views on Society The play "An Inspector Calls" is set in 1912 but was written in 1945. Edwardian society at that time (1912) was strictly divided into social classes and over two-thirds of the nation's wealth was in the hands of less than 1% of the population. Below the very rich were the middle classes (doctors and merchants, shop workers and clerks), after that came the craftsmen and skilled workers. At the very bottom of the social ladder was the largest class of all - the ordinary workers and the poor, many of whom lived below the poverty level. The men of industry treated the workers very badly and they were paid pittance.
Since Priestley to show the current stereotypical mindset of people during those days, he uses Mrs. Birling to show her old-fashioned thoughts, as when Sheila doesn't believe that Gerald was busy all summer, Mrs. Birling says how "men with important work to do sometimes have to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on business." Priestley also stereotypes men as he describes Gerald as a hero as he felt as though it was his duty to rescue Eva/Daisy from Alderman
Priestley mainly uses the characters in the play to present his views, especially Mr and Mrs Birling, to present his ideas about class and society. In the Birling family, Mrs Birling is the most upper class, and is always referring to the lower class female factory workers such as Eva Smith as ‘girls of that class’. She seems to think that working class people are not humans at all.
'An Inspector Calls' is a morality play - a form of play developed in the late middle ages in which a Christian moral lesson was brought out through the struggle between the forces of good and evil - set in 1912, and revolves around the questioning of a family by Inspector Goole about the suicide of a young woman (Eva Smith) that the family knew.The author, J.B. Priestley is trying to show us what some people's arrogance and selfishness can cause without them even noticing. Priestley was a socialist, therefore by writing this play he was drawing attention to the bad things about capitalism. The Inspector was intending to teach the Birlings that ?...we have to share something. If there?s nothing else, we?ll have to share our guilt? Act One. By saying this, he is telling them they are all as guilty as each other of the suicide of Eva Smith, this also links to Priestley being a socialist because he is putting the Birlings to shame.
On overall, Priestley has presented the two characters, Arthur and Sheila Birling as completely differently. He wanted to match the story to the historical context of the 1910’s, but he has done this differently with Sheila. This is because the play was written in 1946 and the world had two wars and has started to comprehend the strength of community. She is the young generation of the 1910’s this means in a few years down the line, a war is going to break out and if they keep making the same mistake over and over again, it’s not going to turn out any better, by this, we see what happens in the second world war. This is why Sheila has been presented so that she understands consequences of what might happen if we don’t pull ourselves together.
Birling who looks down on a lower working class person, Eva Smith. When Mrs. Birling says “As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!” infers that Mrs. Birling is prejudice against the working-class girls. Furthermore, she also believes that do not have morals or dignity as they will take any money from people. This lets the audience know that Mrs. Birling looks down on all working-class woman as they don’t have the same level of status, income, and respect as her, thus showing her lack of remorse when talking ill about the less fortunate and how she thinks highly of herself. Mrs. Birling says this quote loudly and confidently, shown by the exclamation mark, to convey her instant thoughts about the lower class and that what she is saying is correct. The following lines by the inspector, said in a stern manner, shadows what Priestley himself would have said to Mrs. Birling because what she said is completely against the idea of everyone being part of “one body” therefore making the atmosphere tenser within the characters and the audience. This built up tension clearly indicates to the audience how Priestley feels about this topic and how important it is for him to educate his audience about treating people from different social classes with respect and
...nspector, we can see The Inspector’s authority over the Birling household. This statement also shows the inspectors true knowledge about the family reinforcing Sheila’s claim, "He knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don't know yet."Therefore the climax of Act one only adds to the tension and drama amongst the audience, keeping them interested and involved as to what will happen in the following Act. Overall Priestley’s use of dramatic devices voices his concerns on the era, 1912-1945. Where he believed socialist politics would greatly help the people in need. However, I believe the playwright’s message is still relevant today, as there are still major divides between classes today, I also believe his views on socialism would be helpful in today’s society where people still do need to work together and help others in need.
Priestley represents Mrs Birling, as a very posh and high class woman. She, like her husband, can be very self-important, for example, when the Inspector says, "You're not telling me the truth" and she replies, "I beg your pardon!" She seems horrified that somebody could speak like that to a lady of her class. This is not only an example of how she is portrayed as self-important but also how class-conscious she is. Another example of this is in the stage directions at the beginning of the play when Mrs Birling is described as ?her husband?s social superior? meaning she is probably more aware of what the class boundaries are than perhaps Mr Birling would. She is also presented as rather cold and severe, ?If the girl?s death is due to anybody, then it?s due to him? Mrs Birling says as she criticises the father of Eva Smith?s baby. Here she shows she has little or no real regard towards other people?s feelings, especially people of a lower class. She says that the man responsible should be ?dealt with very severely?, assuming that he, like Eva, is lower class, therefore implying that upper class people never do anything like that. This links with the theme of stereotypes which is seen a lot in the play.
Priestley used his ‘surroundings’ and the problems at the time to write ‘An Inspector Calls’. In Act 1, the Birling’s are celebrating their daughter’s engagement to Gerald Croft, which would merge two business competitors (the Birling’s and the Croft’s), which would result in higher profits - being the most beneficial to Mr Birling. In Act 1, Priestley heavily relies on the audience’s knowledge of past events for dramatic irony - Priestley uses Birling’s optimism as he raves about Titanic: “the Titanic - she sails next week - forty-six thousand eight hundred tons - New York in five days - and every luxury, and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.” This is about going into a world that will avoid conflict. Ironically, Priestley already introduced conflict as Birling’s views conflict with the reality of what is about to cause unease in Britain.
He uses the downfall of Eva Smith and a chain of events to demonstrate this. This leads to a very convincing and well-devised play, which puts across JB Priestley’s views clearly and precisely. In Edwardian Britain there was a great difference in the roles of men and women in society and the outlook of what and was not accepted differed substantially. A prime example of this in the play is when Mr Birling says ‘Nothing to do with you, Sheila.
The Inspector, straight form his introduction, is commanding and authoritative. Upon his entrance he creates, “…at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.”(PG.11) The Inspector continues to create this impression as he progresses through his speeches and through his interrogation of the family. The Inspector remains confident, sturdy and composed, while people around him crumble and fall to pieces. His ‘solidity’ is proven by the fact he remains on task despite numerous attempts from Birling to digress from the points he is making. The Inspector is told to appear ‘purposeful’; this is shown where he explains to Birling that Birlings way of thinking “Every man must only look out for himself,” is not the case, and all warps of society are interlinked. The view is best illustrated in the Inspectors final speech, where he says, “We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”(p.56). This idea is one that Priestley, himself believed in deeply, and many of Priestleys writing shared this very theme.
Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813 and it depicts key themes in society and the impact these themes had on life for the characters in the novel. One of these themes is social class, which was a chief contributor to the characters problems in the story. Social class is an underlying issue in the lives of the characters and greatly affects the decisions they make during the novel. Every character is aware of the importance of social standing and it becomes a key factor in the development of each individual in Pride and Prejudice. Mrs. Bennet is the mother of five daughters and she is desperate to have them married. Elizabeth wants to marry for love and not social gain. Charlotte is the example of what a woman was expected to be in society and does not agree with Elizabeth and she is content to secure a future. While Lydia runs the risk of disgracing her family by running a riot around town. This is a clear example of social class and the different perspective characters express on the topic.
In her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen brought to life the struggles and instability of the English hierarchy in the early 19th century. Through the heartaches and happiness shared by Elinor Dashwood, who represented sense and her sister Marianne, who stood for sensibility, Austen tells a story of sisters who plummet from the upper class to the lower crust of society and the characters that surround them. Austen juxtaposes the upper and lower classes in English society to give the reader a full understanding of the motivation to be a part of the upper class and the sacrifices one will give up to achieve such status. Austen exposes the corruptness of society, the significance of class and the fundamental building blocks both are to the decision-making surrounding her protagonists, Marianne and Elinor.
In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip's struggle and ultimate failure to become a gentleman was due to social pressure. Dickens comments the stratums of the Victorian social class system. The novel shows that money cannot buy love or guarantee happiness. Pip's perspective is used to expose the confusing personality of someone transcending social barriers. Dickens also shows a contrast between both class and characters.