Priestley presents the theme of social responsibility by using Eva/Daisy’s case and the Birling family. J.B. Priestley was a socialist and he wrote about times when capitalism was spread around England, social classes weren’t treated the same, genders were unequal, and poverty was common all over England. This shows us that most people didn’t care about each other and social responsibility wasn’t accepted by them. In the play he used the character of Inspector to challenge main characters as well as to try to make them feel responsible so they change. We can also see how younger generation tries to encourage older ones to feel responsible.
Priestley uses Inspector to pass his own ideas about social responsibility. He could be seen as narrator …show more content…
Priestley used a phone call to say that something went wrong and they will have to learn the lesson again after which they hopefully will accept their social responsibility. Eric and Sheila accepted their social responsibility, therefore learnt the lesson. They are very disappointed in their parents because the older generation and Gerald don’t understand that it doesn’t matter whether all this is a hoax or not. The only thing which matters is that they participated and were fully responsible for Eva’s suicide. Stage direction for Mr Birling after Inspector’s speech was ‘angrily to Eric’- he says ‘You are the only one I blame for this’. Eric responds in a cold way- ‘I’ll bet I am’ which shows that he isn’t bothered. Mr Birling says ‘you don’t seem to care about anything’, as he only cares about his knighthood. Eric responds in an angry way saying that doesn’t matter now. This make the audience to feel sympathy to Eric and detest Mr Birling. This is linked to Sheila’s argument with her father. She also feels responsible and that makes her to protest her father. She says ‘I behaved badly too. I know I did. I’m ashamed of it. But now you’re beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened.’ Mr Birling responds in a way that nothing happened. Then Mrs Birling cuts in and says ‘Don’t be childish, Sheila’. This pushes Sheila to pronounce her speech …show more content…
However, he also conveys them negatively through Mr Birling, who refuses to accept any social responsibility for Eva’s death. This creates a memorable contrast for the audiences. Priestley does this through his widespread use of dramatic devices and also stage directions in the play to show a clear image to the audience on how the character is feeling and reacting to the various challenging situations in the play. Priestley decided to set his play in 1912 because this date represented a time when everything was very different from the time he was writing. In 1912, social classes and equality between genders looked as though nothing would change. Priestley wanted these changes become real. Throughout the play, he encourages people to use an opportunity the war had given them to build a better carrying
Priestley uses Inspector to pass his own ideas about social responsibility. He could be seen as narrator …show more content…
Priestley used a phone call to say that something went wrong and they will have to learn the lesson again after which they hopefully will accept their social responsibility. Eric and Sheila accepted their social responsibility, therefore learnt the lesson. They are very disappointed in their parents because the older generation and Gerald don’t understand that it doesn’t matter whether all this is a hoax or not. The only thing which matters is that they participated and were fully responsible for Eva’s suicide. Stage direction for Mr Birling after Inspector’s speech was ‘angrily to Eric’- he says ‘You are the only one I blame for this’. Eric responds in a cold way- ‘I’ll bet I am’ which shows that he isn’t bothered. Mr Birling says ‘you don’t seem to care about anything’, as he only cares about his knighthood. Eric responds in an angry way saying that doesn’t matter now. This make the audience to feel sympathy to Eric and detest Mr Birling. This is linked to Sheila’s argument with her father. She also feels responsible and that makes her to protest her father. She says ‘I behaved badly too. I know I did. I’m ashamed of it. But now you’re beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened.’ Mr Birling responds in a way that nothing happened. Then Mrs Birling cuts in and says ‘Don’t be childish, Sheila’. This pushes Sheila to pronounce her speech …show more content…
However, he also conveys them negatively through Mr Birling, who refuses to accept any social responsibility for Eva’s death. This creates a memorable contrast for the audiences. Priestley does this through his widespread use of dramatic devices and also stage directions in the play to show a clear image to the audience on how the character is feeling and reacting to the various challenging situations in the play. Priestley decided to set his play in 1912 because this date represented a time when everything was very different from the time he was writing. In 1912, social classes and equality between genders looked as though nothing would change. Priestley wanted these changes become real. Throughout the play, he encourages people to use an opportunity the war had given them to build a better carrying