Theme : Social Class Flashcards
Eva as symbol of lower class how is she presentase
Never appears so audience perspective made of Birlings classist bias
Audience can decide what is reasonable
Priestly shows how easy it is for upper class to influence narrative Lower
Upper class
“ pink and intimate “
Upper class Birlings live in blissful ignorance of suffering
Pink lighting symbolises Birlings optimistic rose tinted perspective
Audience forced to see end through same lens “intimate atmosphere “
Shows undisturbed of other troubles
Sheila = epitome of lower class ignorance
“ wish you hadn’t told me “
“ wish you hadn’t told me “ - selfish naivety
Views herslef as victim not Eva
Comparison of Sheila and Eva
One woman so “happy” the other “ destroying themselves horribly “
“ nice little family celebration tonight and a nasty mess you’ve made of it now “
Insp response
“ promising life “
Juxtaposition- selfishness pettiness of Mr B
Aware of death but still mourns own party before hers
Echo of harsh ‘ nasty mess ‘ alongside ‘ promising life ‘ shows tragic reality of Eva’s death
Birling = symbol of upper clsss privilege
Upper class use position to evade conflict and responsibility
“ public man “
B expects to be treated differently
Inspector has to remind of ‘ responsibilities’
Implies B and public men have been neglecting duties
How does priestly use social class
To emphasis rich and poor divide
Social clas salienates the groups so neither interact ( only see one class group on stage )
Priestly wants to encourage 1940s society to move forwards towards social equality
1912 - class divided Britain
Rarely interact
WW1 dismantled class system brought people together - rationing meant duff classss lived similar lifestyles regardless of wealth
BUT class inequality still existed . PR emosh sides this