Responsibility

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  • Created by: Morgan.K
  • Created on: 22-04-18 15:46
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  • Responsibility
    • How Priestley presents these ideas
      • Edna
        • Priestley has purposely given Edna little dialogue. He is making a point of her bieng one of the invisible 'millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths'
        • We do not know of Ednas hopes or fears, neither do the Birlings. They are unlikely to feel any responsibility towards her, except for the fact they pay her wages.
        • It is also interesting how Edna ushers Inspector Goole into the dining room. such a fitting action as the Inspector is about the address the Birlings about their responsibility to women like her.
      • In a God-like way
        • The Inspector thretens the Birlings about the consequences of inequality. He uses the phrase 'fire and blood and anguish'. We can associate this with Hell and judgement day when we die.
      • Through the Inspector
        • Many of the issues addressed in The Inspector Calls are real-life issues that once many people were facing.
          • Priestley was a big believer in equality. He got his message through to the public through the eyes of the Inspector.
        • The Inspectors voice is that of Priestley himself.
          • His ideas, thoughts and beliefs were expressed through the inspector.
    • Through the characters
      • Mr Birling
        • He feels his responsibility is to make large profits from his buisness, whether or not this measn treating his workers unfairly.
        • His role in Eva's death is that he dismissed her from his fcatory for requesting a high wage.
          • Mr Birling felt it was his responsibility to do this and his actions were correct for the situation he was in.
        • He believed throughout the play that he played no role in Eva's suicide and that he should not be to blame.
          • He makes Eva seem silly and irresponsible.
            • He attempts, on numerous occasions, to take the attention away from himself.
        • At the end of the play, Mr Birmling still refuses to see the responsibility he has in Eva's death. He is very willing to get over the 'mishap' they had had that night.
      • Mrs Birling
        • Her role in Eva's death was that she refused to help her when she most needed it.
        • She is the chair of the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation. However, she turned Eva Smith down because she didn't believe she needed the help and that she was joking around by using Mrs Birling's name.
        • Mrs Birling gets extremely agitated by the Inspector and takes non of the responsibility.
        • She also, along with Mr Birling, beleive that Eva was being petty and that she was just a hopeless young lady.
        • She begins to blame the man who got her pregnat and made alligations against him, unaware that she was blaming her own son.
          • After relalising that Eric got Eva pregnant, she took back everything she said and believed that a punishment should not be held against him.
            • She begins to take the responsibility off her own family and back onto Eva.
              • Her social standards are more important than Eva.
      • Sheila
        • Her role in Eva Smith's death is that she got her dismissed from her new job at Milwards for looking at her weird.
          • Due to her social standings and her large buisness that her father owns, she had the power to ask the owner of milwards to fire Eva.
            • This shows the inequality between the rich and the poor once again.
        • Sheila grows up in the play and shows that she is deeply disturbed by Eva Smiths death.
          • She also begins to question her own behaviour and regrets her treatment of Eva Smith.
        • She is unlike her parents, as she does take the blame head on and takes responsibility for her actions.
          • When the proposal of forgetting the events of the night comes up by her father, she is reluctant to forget her actions and is very willing to not treat others like she treated Eva Smith.
        • Eventhough Sheila takes responsibility we still see that the inspector does not forgive her. Her actions have been written and cannot be rubbed out.
          • Being an upper class women, having done it once, most certainly means you'll do it again - we cannot trust her.
      • Gerald
        • His role in Eva Smiths death is that he took advantage of Evas vulnerability.
        • He begins with taking responsibility whith the good he gave Eva and how he helped her out with a place to stay and some money.
          • However, he is reluctant to take responsibility, especially infront of Eva, about keeping Eva Smith as his secret mistress for six months.
        • He has double standards because after the scandal is over he wants to resume the engagement with Sheila and forget all about Eva Smith.
          • He also showed very little care for Eva Smith when after six months, he abandomed her and left her to fend on her own again.
      • Eric Birling
        • His role in Eva Smiths death is that he took advantage of Evas vulnerability.
        • Throughout the beginning of the play, when the attention was not on him, he took no responsibility for his family in Eva Smiths death
          • It's not until the inspector gets him involved that he begins to edmit to his wrong doings and take responsibility
        • He admits that he got Eva pregnant after meeting her at the Palace Theatre.
          • He also admits to giving Eva some stolen money from his fathers buisness.
        • He admits his irresponsibility towards Eva and accepts the inspectors words.

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