Who wrote AIC
J.B priestly
What can be inferred from the inspector and Priestley himself.
Priestly sounds similar to priest. During confession a priest gets people to confess and similarly the inspector gets the Birlings to confess and therefore there is a chance Priestly is the inspector. He is also the omniscient narrator.
What does sheila represent and symblise in the society of this play
Catalyst of socialism - the development of her sceptical opinions symbolises the development of socialist ideologies and how easily young people can be malleable to new ideas. Her warnings of fire blood and anguish can represent socialist and Marxist uprisings across Europe. in the 20th century.
Time period
Written in 1945 set in 1912 in the Edwardian era
“A pretty girl in her twenty’s very pleased with life. (Sheila)
Selfish on how she treated Eva smith.
The adjective “pretty” perhaps suggest that sheila was rather jealous of Eva and that’s why she wanted her fired.
How is power presented through the play
Power doesn’t exist it’s an illusion exposed by Priestley which he shows through the Birling and the inspector who are powerless at the end.
Power is unequally distributed and abused by the upper class.
Priestley presents the Inspector as a figure of moral authority whose power challenges the Birling family’s dominance.
“There will be blood fire and anguish” inspector goole
Triplet that conveys violent consequences and can be interpreted as a reference to the world wars
Through the nouns “blood, fire and anguish” Priestley gives the inspector prophetic power, predicting a bad event happening in this case WW2.
“We are members of one body” inspector goole
Metaphor to emphasise collective responsibility, suggesting that true power lies in unity rather than hierarchy.
The collective pronoun “we” opposes Birling’s individualism highlighting Priestly’s socialist message.
“The titanic is unsinkable absolutely unsinkable” Mr birling
The adjective “unsinkable” foreshadows the Titanic sinking
Reinforces the idea that power doesn’t matter as it can all be gone in an instant
Dramatic irony - Mr Birling thinks that money,power and status is everything - capitalist
“If you don’t come down hard on these people they will soon be asking for the earth” Mr Birling
Hyperbole criticises how the upper class exploit their economic power to oppress the working class.
The concrete noun “earth” exaggerates how Mr Birling believes the working class is full of beggars and they want everything to themselves out of greed whereas in reality the only greedy one is him.
