Gold concepts

• echoing the concerns of the 1945 audience

  Priestly's personal views around the futility of war would have been echoes by many of the contemporary audience who also served, lost and survived WW2
• Marxist Philosophy


  Society is capitalist and the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat for personal gain

  
  

  The irony is that Mr Birling rose from the upper echelons of the bourgeoisie from the ranks of the proletariat using the tool of capitalism, yet now he prevents others from rising and improving their personal situation
• Time as a dramatic device - Ouspenksy's theory of time


  Priestly is giving his audience the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past as he has set the play in 1912, however, he wrote the play in 1945

  In 1912, society was predominantly capitalist and conservative

  In 1945, society was favouring more socialist ideologies and values
• social revolution


  the two social classes (bourgeoisie and proletariat) are in conflict which ultimately leads to social unrest until it culminates in social revolution and equality
• didactic message social responsibility

  Priestley encouraging the audience to act for the greater good rather than selfish myopic behaviours
• the human condition


  what it means to be human - to die, live, suffer and experience pain

  The Birlings subvert this ideology as Mr and Mrs Birling dehumanise Eva - "the girl"

  However, Sheila humanises Eva - "this girl"
• Inspector Goole as a mouthpiece

  Priestley's views are ventriloquised by Inspector Goole

  Inspector Goole represents Priestley's socialist viewpoint and vocalises the need for a collective social conscience
• Exploration of gender roles - women as the second sex

  De Beauvoir's feminist reading of the play shows the typical Edwardian nature of the Birling women in Act 1 as subservient, submissive, restricted and objectified

  Sheila, by Act 3 subverts societal gender roles as she becomes more autonomous.

  Eva Smith is a victim of the patriarchy
• dramatic irony as a didactic tool


  used to demonstrate the foolishness and myopic vision of the Birlings and therefore the bourgeoisie

  Also demonstrates the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie - Mrs Birling critiques the 'drunken young idler' who got Eva pregnant but would never apply the same harsh standards to her own children
• Existentialism 


  the characters question their place in the world and their role in the death of Eva Smith
• the cyclical nature of human behaviour

  at the denouement of the play we are left with the sense that the events are going to start all over again - this represents the cyclical nature of the older generation's behaviour VS the changing perspective of the younger generation
• binary opposition between younger and older generation

  the dichotomy between the capitalist of the older generation (Mr and Mrs Birling) and the socialist beliefs of the younger generation (Sheila and Eric)
• Allusions to paradise lost

  "if men will not learn that lesson, they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish" - hellish imagery, if the bourgeoisie/ the Birlings do not learn from their lesson, they will be condemned to the depths of hell for eternal punishment

  This is the Inspector's warning; hell and suffering as a consequence of transgression
• dangers of capitalism and capitalism without a conscience

  capitalism is inherently exploitative and creates massive economic inequality

  it commodifies the proletariat and leads to the erosion of human rights yet increases the wealth and prosperity of the bourgeoisie
• commodification of human life

  transforming people and their bodies into objects of economic desire

  Eva as the 'faceless proletariat' - nothing more than a cog in the capitalist machine that Mr Birling has built
• aspects of love


  society's expectations of parental and romantic love which often leads to disastrous love.

  Sheila confuses romantic love with marriage for the sake of duty

  Eva deals with love turned to the sin of lust
• seven deadly sins

  • lust - Gerald/Eric
  • pride - Mr Birling/Mrs Birling
  • greed - The Birlings/Gerald
  • wrath (anger) - Eric
  • gluttony - Eric
  • Envy - Sheila
  • Sloth - Eric