An inspector calls: Eric Flashcards
(10 cards)
“You killed her - and the child… your own grandchild”
Responsibility - Priestly encourages audience to sympathise with Eric. Despite inspectors attempts to enlighten the Birling family that they are all jointly responsible, Eric’s accusation of blame upon his mother is tantamount (equivalent) to Mrs Birling’s blame of the “father” By merely placing all the blame upon his mother with “You killed her”. Eric attempts to absolve himself from any blame
“You don’t understand anything. you never did. You never even tried.”
Responsibility - Eric continues to undermine himself as he berates his mother. “(quote)”. Priestly use of repetition and hyperbole creates parody of sweeping statements we might expect teenager to use in argument with parents.
“[Suddenly guffaws] I don’t know - really. Suddenly I felt I just had to laugh.”
Gender Inequality - Eric’s sudden laughter after Gerald tells Sheila to “be careful” may suggest he’s aware of Gerald’s unfaithfulness. The stage direction hints at Eric’s cynicism or discomfort, likely because he has seen Gerald’s behaviour first-hand — particularly their visits to the Palace Bar to pick up women, possibly including prostitutes.
“She wasn’t the usual sort…” She didn’t know what to do”.
Gender Inequality - Eric’s previous experiences with prostitutes as Eva “Wasn’t the usual sort” Adjective usual implies visiting prostitutes is the norm for Eric. Eric’s observation that “She didn’t know what to do” implies both that he is attracted to Eva’s innocence and also that he might realise that she is a women he can exploit because of her ignorance
“I insisted - it seems”
Guilt - Eric’s visit to Eva’s lodgings: “I insisted - it seems” Usage of the verb “insisted” implies Eric may have physically overwhelmed Eva’s resistance. Usage of ambiguous verb phrase “it seems” reveals Eric’s attempt to forget his immoral actions and distance himself from guilt.
“in that state when a chap easily turns nasty”
Guilt - Eric’s subconscious attempts to distance himself from his actions by switching from 1st to 3rd person as he refers to himself as “a chap” rather than I. Eric’s trivialisation of such violence of a possible rape, through colloquial use of “a chap” is an attempt by Eric to soften the harshness of his actions.
“I threatened to make a row”
Guilt - Eric’s violent language “I threatened” is softened through euphemistic use of “a row”. Priestly demonstrates Eric’s attempts to convince himself his actions were to a lesser extent of immorality than they actually were.
“(involuntarily) My God!”
Morality - eric emotional response to news of Eva’s death as Priestley demonstrates his innate rectitude (morality) through stage directions. Use of adverb “Involuntarily” demonstrates moral nature of eric as he couldn’t supress his emotional reaction ; it is involuntary. Eric wouldn’t chose to reveal emotions within a patriarchal society which condemns feminine traits such as excessive emotion.
“[not too rudely] Well, don’t do any. We’ll drink to their health and have done with it.”
Capitalism vs socialism // class - Eric is uncomfortable with the engagement talk, seeing the marriage as a transactional arrangement. Although he disapproves, he feels powerless to oppose it, which is shown through his hesitant stage direction —highlighting his unease with both his father’s authority and the capitalist motives behind the marriage.
“Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?”
“you said yourself she was a good worker”
Capitalism vs socialism // class - Eric questions “(1st quote)” as he believes capitalist system ought to be fair to both employers and employees. Puts forward a moral form of capitalism pointing out to Birling (2nd quote) Implying she should be financially rewarded for this.
