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Social Class in An Inspector Calls Grade 9 Analysis
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Grade 9 in-depth Notes on the theme of Social Class in An Inspector Calls for GCSE English
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The Importance of Sheila and Mr Birling in An Inspector Calls Grade 9 Notes
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Social Class in An Inspector CallsUpper classes are ignorant & prejudiced towards the working classes:
- This is because they do not mingle, and the upper class do not need to or want to know
o “You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl” – Sheila pg30
- They instead make dehumanising generalisations of the working classes.
o “She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her
position”
o “Girls of that sort”
- Eva’s death shows the consequences of class prejudice The Inspector highlights the inherent injustice of
the class system and stresses that immorality is a crime.
o “I don’t play golf”
Class defines purpose:
- Sheila is the same as Eva except for the fact that they are in different classes their lives are drastically
different, which proves that class defines purpose.
o Mrs B. and Sheila are oblivious to the real world while Eva is forced to work and face the negativity
of the world The concept of private/public sphere does not exist in the lower classes.
Both described as “pretty” but Sheila is described as “very pleased with life and rather
excited” and Eva is described as “hating life” when she died
o Eva is voiceless throughout the play and the working class itself is underrepresented.
The upper classes dictated what happened to Eva, both in a literal sense (they told the
Inspector what they did to her) and in a deeper sense (each of their actions had an impact
which led to Eva’s death)
- There is a divide within the upper class, such as the divide between Mr B. and Gerald new money and old
money.
o Mr B is marrying Sheila to Gerald in order to increase his own status within society.
o Mr B is more concerned about his knighthood than the consequences of his actions on Eva.
- However, Priestley uses the play to show that there is more to what meets the eye, in both the upper and
lower classes of society.
o The upper class are expected to be “respectable citizens” but are instead “criminals”.
The lighting at the start is “pink and intimate” which gives the sense of seeing the family
through rose-tinted glasses. This connotes that there is more to the family than what can be
seen from the outside world, as the upper classes put up a façade in order to maintain their
status and reputation.
o Eva’s name is a reference to Eve from the Bible, a subtle reminder of temptation, greed and sin,
which were the qualities that the working classes were expected to have. Priestley shows that, in
reality, it was the upper class Birlings that had these qualities.
Eva refuses stolen money even in her most desperate moments.
Upper class is sinful The Birlings’ actions towards Eva all represent the Seven Deadly Sins.
o He shows that it is possible to break the stereotype, as Sheila and Eric change so that they do not
share the same views of the working classes as their own class.
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