Techniques that are only found in that text type (e.g. poetic techniques for poems, dramatic devices for plays)
Plays
Writer has lighting, costume, props, staging to help convey ideas, not just the written word
Staging description at start of play
1. Establish setting
2. Establish characters' appearance and dress
3. Establish lighting
Microcosm
Creating a miniature version of Britain within the play
Fourth wall
Realistic plays where the audience feels like a fly on the wall, looking in on everyday life
Realistic set and lighting
Undermines the realism and creates negative connotations, a sympathetic background for the Birling family
Lighting changes when Inspector arrives
Represents the truth and reality coming out, which is difficult for the family to deal with
Character descriptions
Archetypes representing different types of people in 1912 Britain
Provincial speech
Accent/dialect suggesting the character is not from the upper class/London
Priestley uses the characters, setting, and lighting to create symbols and metaphors that convey his key messages and criticisms of British society
Jarring of the two
Helps to serve Priestley's criticism of capitalism and class inequality
Provincial speech of Mr. Burling
Connotations of suggesting he has an accent that is not Southern received pronunciation, implying he is not wealthy or aristocratic, but likely working class
Sheila
Young upper middle class woman
Mrs. Birling
Archetype for the older women with wealth
Sheila
Archetype for the young women with wealth
Gerald Croft
Dandy, well-bred young man about town, archetype for the upper class
Sheila and Eric exist as dramatic devices to provide points of contrast to Mr. and Mrs. Burling
Anagnorisis
When a character recognizes their mistakes and learns from them
Characters who experience anagnorisis
Sheila
Eric
Characters who lack anagnorisis
Mr. Burling
Mrs. Burling
Gerald
Anagnorisis represents the capacity for change and progress in Britain
Mr. Burling
Symbolizes capitalism and individualism
Inspector
Represents socialism and collectivism
Mrs. Burling
Represents Victorian morals and hypocrisy
Eric
Represents toxic masculinity and the experiences of men
Sheila
Represents the experiences of women according to class, an example of intersectional feminism
Eric
Symbol of modern day toxic masculinity, how men must behave
Intersectional feminism
Examining what happens when you take the sexism that a woman experiences and combine it with another form of discrimination they experience due to their identity
Priestley is not suggesting sexism and gender is the bigger discrimination, but that class is the root of the problem
Mr Birling's monologue
Represents the general believed views of people like him in 1912
Mr Birling's monologue
Contains dramatic irony to undermine his views and make the audience lose respect for him
The dramatic irony contrasts the audience's understanding of the world with Mr Birling's
The dramatic irony in Mr Birling's monologue undermines him before the Inspector arrives, making the audience more receptive to the Inspector's more progressive viewpoint