AIC - other characters

Hi,

One final post.

1) Remember your timings for tomorrow. You can find them on the right-hand side of this doc:

2) I thought I'd throw together a few ideas about questions focused on other characters. Here goes:

Gerald

Early impressions: 'easy well-bred man about town'. Polite. This is shown through Gerald's charm and his agreement with everything that Birling says. This stage direction gives an early hint about his womanising too. Higher social class than Birling - indications that his parents don't approve. Early clue about 'last summer' - 'I was awfully busy at the works'. He clearly has something to hide. Which brings us to...

Development: his use of euphemistic language ('women of the town', 'I don't come into this suicide business'). He uses language to sanitise his backstory. He also seems to be hyper-aware of the need to 'seem like a nice, well-behaved family.' The word 'seemed' sums Gerald up. He thinks appearances are everything ('we're respectable citizens and not criminals.') He seems selfish when he says 'I became at once the most important person in her life' and later calls her 'gallant' when he ditches her. It seems that his affair made him feel important and heroic, undermining his claim that he was just trying to help. He considers factory workers to be all alike ('They'll be broke if I know them...) However, he does show signs of regret: 'I've suddenly realised - taken it in properly - that she's dead...' His smooth exterior is broken here, shown by his fragmented sentences.

Conclusions/Endings: Ultimately, Gerald is happy to wriggle out of his responsibilities as he has the most to lose in any change in society. Gerald floats in between the two sides of the young/old, capitalist/socialist dichotomies. He can change, but it is not in his interests to do so. Priestley seems to be saying that we can't trust the powerful to change society; the ordinary workers need to do it themselves (i.e. stop 'asking for the earth', but 'take it'.)


Mrs B

Early impressions: control freak (reluctant to have some port), constantly chastising her children and even her husband (who is her social inferior). Tries to control proceedings, for example by diverting attention from Eric's drinking on to Sheila's language. She also tells Sheila when to leave so that the men can talk. She is deferential towards men. She represents the status quo - she is elitist, prejudiced.

Development: Mrs Birling is used to controlling proceedings, so reacts particularly defensively when the Inspector takes control. Her prejudice against working class girls is revealed ('Girls of that class...) and she thinks of them as all being the same. She is supercilious and self-righteous. She only weakens when the Inspector traps her into condemning her own son. She is so keen to evade the blame herself, that she passes it onto her son. 

Conclusions/Endings: Finally, Mrs Birling ends up back where she began (circular structure/ static character). She shows that society needs to be taught through 'fire and blood and anguish'. Mrs B represents the ignorance of the elite. She is obsessed with superficial things like appearances, reputation and manners.



I hope this helps. I'd be a good idea to try the same for Eric. Remember, Eric has already lost his innocence at the start of the play and has already lost faith in his parents. His life is 'sport' - he is bored and reckless. He drinks too much, he's full of self-loathing but the Inspector gives him the opportunity to redeem himself and change his ways. Both Eric and Sheila are like the 'Everyman' of medieval morality plays. They sin but then have the opportunity to learn and grow.

Another possibility: Eva. We did some work on finding Eva - it should be in your books. She represents the working class and is revealed to us only through the words of others. We learn that she is strong and brave at the start, selfless and gallant in her relationship with Gerald, but ultimately she is broken, desperate and weak by the end. Remember to comment on how she has been portrayed on screen and on the significance of her multiple identities. Finally, Priestley wants us to focus on the 'millions and millions of Eva Smiths' out there. 


Good luck!


Mr M

PS. Final tip: make sure you know your '-isms'. The examiners want to see you discussing the big ideas in the play and Priestley's message.