exploitation

• Exploitation is when someone treats something in an unfair and underhand way in order to benefit from it, often involving taking advantage of weakness or trust
• The theme of exploitation in "An Inspector Calls" runs through the play, with Eva Smith being exploited by individuals and the system of Capitalism as a whole
• Eva Smith is vulnerable due to being a working-class woman, lacking power and facing discrimination
• Employers, including the Capitalist economy, prey on the vulnerability of working-class women to make huge profits by exploiting their desperation and making them work for low wages
• The British economy in the twentieth century relied on the exploitation of those at the bottom of the hierarchy
• The upper classes in British society exploit the systems of class and power, taking advantage of their trusted positions to control others and escape punishment
• In "An Inspector Calls," each of the Birlings used a form of exploitation in mistreating Eva:

  • Mr. Birling exploited her for cheap labor
  • Sheila exploited her status to get Eva fired
  • Gerald and Eric exploited her for sex
  • Mrs. Birling exploited her influence at the charity to deny her case
• Priestley outlines different forms of exploitation supporting the upper classes, showing how the class system and Capitalism rely on exploiting the weak, vulnerable, or powerless
• Mr. Birling's business practices serve as an allegory for Capitalism's exploitation of the working class, prioritizing profit over personal wellbeing and dehumanizing workers
• Mr. Birling uses his position as an employer to threaten workers with unemployment if they don't adhere to his strict ways, targeting the weak and vulnerable for low-wage work
• Mr. Birling's business motto prioritizes lower costs and higher prices, focusing on profit over improving working conditions or workers' rights
• Mr. Birling dehumanizes his workers, viewing them as a collective without individual identity, consistently hiring new staff while firing old staff to keep costs low
• The Inspector in "An Inspector Calls" explains how beneficial extreme poverty and despair are for Capitalist companies, actively seeking out suffering to exploit and keep profit margins high
• The wealth and success of one person's life or business in "An Inspector Calls" is directly dependent on the distress and hardship of others, perpetuating a cycle of poverty to ensure a cheap workforce is always available
• Priestley accuses "the factories and warehouses" of perpetuating the cycle of poverty to ensure a cheap workforce is always available, suggesting the issue of poverty could be solved but isn't because others benefit from it
• Gerald and Eric in "An Inspector Calls" represent the normalization and encouragement of exploitation and mistreatment of women in society
• Gerald uses young women's fear to get them to go to bed with him, taking advantage of their vulnerability for his own entertainment
• Gerald's actions towards Eva suggest he is a Good Samaritan, but he exploits her vulnerability for his own entertainment by making her his mistress and abandoning her when he sees fit
• Gerald's descriptions of Eva show that her worth was based purely on her attractiveness, implying his sexual attraction to her was always a factor in his decision to befriend her
• Eva's dependency on Gerald highlights the power imbalance in their relationship, with Gerald controlling her through his status as an upper-class man
• Gerald's relationship with Eva illustrates the imbalance of power, showing the working classes' dependence on the upper classes
• Gerald's confession that he didn't feel about Eva as she felt about him shows the unequal love and dependency in their relationship, with him exploiting her need for him to sleep with her
• Eric's relationship with Eva is one-sided, with him using her to satisfy his own sexual desires, showing how the exploitation of working-class women caused long-lasting trauma and damage
• Eric objectifies Eva by describing her as "pretty and a good sport," implying she only tolerated him, and he forced her into a position she didn't want to be in
• The consequences of Eric's relationship with Eva are more serious and permanent for her than for him, highlighting the long-lasting trauma caused by the exploitation of working-class women
• The Inspector in "An Inspector Calls" summarizes how Eric exploited Eva to satisfy his own urges, using her as a means to an end without considering her feelings
• Eric dehumanizes Eva by using her as a "thing" without committing to marrying her or ever seeing her again, implying he saw her as inferior due to her lower class
• Priestley likens the upper classes' exploitation of the working classes to the treatment of "animals," showing how they were treated inhumanely and barbarically