Outline for responsibility question Flashcards
(8 cards)
introduction
context-
explore what you’ll write about
use conclusion in intro
model:
An Inspector Calls is a morality play written by JB Priestley in 1945 and is set in 1912. As I will be exploring further, this time period is greatly instrumental in the point Priestley aims to address which foreshadows societal collapse without societal reform that, as illustrated by the Inspector, Priestley’s mouthpiece, can only be achieved by taking collective responsibility.
P1
Why does Priestley employ the older generation’s rejection of responsibility to further convey his ideas?
-older generation epitomises capitalism which in turn upholds conservative, often patriarchal ideals in its favour: gender pay gap= cheap labour supply- ‘but these girls aren’t just cheap labour, they’re people’
- when the telephone rings at the end- cyclical structure- and the Birlings incriminate themselves through their active rejection of responsibility, Priestley foreshadows the demise of a society where people forfeit their morals to maintain an undeserved status
How does the older generation’s dismissal of the consequences of their actions resonate with a post-war audience?
-older generation appears complicit in the repetition of another world war due to their stagnancy as characters whose lack of reflection and strive for self-preservation can be directly correlated with the second phone call (a microcosm for WW2)
-war epitomizes capitalism (men are treated as expendable commodities for the profit of the nation) which thereby, vilifies the older generation who embody these capitalist ideals
P2
Why does the younger generation accept responsibility?
-Sheila undergoes significant character development (adopts role as the Inspector’s proxy) which strongly resonated with the audience which predominately consisted of women, their husbands hadn’t yet returned. This carries home the idea of responsibility as Priestley catalysed reform in the mindsets of his audience who had most likely internalised the patriarchal values they had been indoctrinated with from a young age and were becoming compliant in their own oppression by living as though they were subservient to men.
-This idea is accentuated through Sheila’s rejection to her mother’s manipulation of her character as she breaks free of her infantilised state in which she is deemed most impressionable and therefore, vulnerable to the lies her mother used to mould her by demonstrating her ability to formulate her own opinions: ‘Mother, I think that was cruel and vile’
How does the Inspector’s omniscience feed into the idea of responsibility on Sheila’s part?
allusion to the Inspector as exhibiting Godlike characteristics through:
-lack of credentials and belonging to police force asserts his role as being more spiritual; embodies a Godlike conscience weighing on the hearts of the Birlings- ‘Goole’ bears connotations of the Holy Spirit in this context through his leaving only being a physical loss though his presence lives on in Sheila and Eric
-depicted as transcending worldly trivialities such as class- ‘‘wears a dark suit of the period- as it is undistinguishable
This dictates Sheila’s role as the Inspector’s proxy as one of divinity as she embodies Jesus, a messenger of God, spreading His Word. Through this, Priestly asserts socialism as constituting part of God’s divine will establishing this social system as morally superior whilst vilifying capitalism through its depiction as directly contradictory and, contrastingly, being driven by corruption and greed.
P3
How does structure convey theme of responsibility?
