‘An Inspector Calls’ is a crime based play, which explores the idea of corruption, displayed by the ‘inspector.’ This links in with ‘Hobson’s Choice’ because both plays depict a dominant, patriarchal figure, the mannerisms of all family members are pretty similar and also the fact that the environment and setting are to some extent identical. Firstly, I will say how the families appear to us and the how the environment and physical features gives us an impression of the characters. To start with, we know that the Birling family are of a high social class, considering the fact that they have ‘a fairly large suburban house’ and also the fact that they have ‘solid’ furniture which proves that they are secure and have a ‘solid’ amount of money. Even though their house is ‘heavily comfortable’ which …show more content…
In the stage directions of An Inspector Calls, the lights are supposed to start off as ‘pink’ and ‘intimate’ suggesting warm, which are meant to gradually get ‘brighter’ and ‘harder’ which starts to suggest confession, which connects ‘Hobson’s Choice’ because we are also told that the ‘bright light’ shines through the windows, which could have significant importance. We can see that Alice is slowly ‘moving down a little’ from Albert almost like she is hiding something which she needs to confess, just like how Sheila brought up the fact that ‘last summer, you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you’ to Gerald, linking the fact that they were both distant from each other, possibly something to do with the fact that they can’t really be trusted anymore. Another point that links to this is the fact that Sheila says that phrase ‘half serious, half playful’ which portrays her as if she doesn’t want to seem too jokey about it but not exactly straight-faced, so she is holding back which is what Alice is doing when she ‘moves back to behind the
In the beginning, Priestley describes the Birlings’ house as ‘a fairly large suburban house’ with ‘good solid furniture of the period’, showing they are upper-middle class and that they have money. They also have servants such as a maid and a cook. Priestley wants to give us an idea that the Birlings are upper class both in possessions and attitudes.
McCullough describes the family as a paradox. "It was, plainly, a family of paradoxes: privileged and cushioned beyond most people's imagining, yet little like the stereotype of the vapid, insular rich; uneducated in any usual, formal fashion but also uninhibited by education - ardent readers, insatiable askers of questions; chronically troubled, cursed it would seem, by one illness or mysterious disorder after another, yet refusing to subject others to their troubles or to give in to despair" (pg. 37).
On one side, there is Kathy Nicolo and Sheriff Lester Burdon who want the house from which Kathy was evicted. It previously belonged to Kathy’s father and she is reluctant to relinquish possession of it. Then there is the Behranis, a Persian family who was forced to flee to America in fear of their lives. They want the house because it symbolizes their rise from poverty (they had to leave everything behind and were quite poor when they arrived in the United States) back to affluence which, to this family, will help to restore their family’s dignity, lost when thrust into poverty. The story centers on gaining possession of the house. Unknowingly, all of these characters are doomed to tragedy by their inability to understand each other, hurtling down an explosive collision course.
The lngles family from Little House on the Prairie, a popular television series, demonstrates the working class. Mr. Ingles works while Mrs. Ingles takes care of the household duties. The family displays a genuin e happiness. They have no modern utilities, but they have each other. They have a strong love within their family, and worldly materials serve little importance to them. A typical family today displays tremendous difference s compared to the Ingles family. Jealously and competitiveness play a major part in showing these varia...
A morality play is a medieval play designed to teach the audience right from wrong. JB Priestley uses An Inspector call to convey a moral message, which is that you should not judge people on their class i.e. lower working class/higher class. He also expands the views of socialism within the message; this is all made very clear by the use of dramatic devices. Although it is a morality play it is not in the traditional format. Priestley makes it very clear in what he wants the audience to think is moral and immoral. The play also conveys a strong political message. The play encourages the idea of socialism, a society in which responsibility and community are essential, also a place where the community all work together and are responsible for their actions. This is in contrast with capitalism. JB priestly wrote the play in 1945, but it was set in 1912 just before the war, it was later performed in 1946. The play was written after World War I and World War II, Priestley used this to his advantage, it makes the audience feel awful after what has just happened, the majority of the audience would have either lived through one or both of the wars. This helped Priestley promote socialism against capitalism.
First of all, emphasis is placed on the daily struggles endured on a daily basis by the middle-class. Much like George and Lennie, they worry about having enough money to survive, for shelter and for clothing. Also, there seems to be the fear of loneliness that seems to surface throughout the novel. Despite the on going quarrels between George and Lennie, the two men are afraid of being alone on their own. In addition, it seems the two main characters find themselves in positions that are beyond their control. These are the conflicts one finds in this novel.
Birling is presented as a self-centred capitalist very early on in the play. His pleasure in the marriage of his daughter is purely for his own profit. "Now you've brought us together and perhaps we may look forward to a time when Crofts and Birling are no longer competing but are worki...
Physical surroundings (such as a home in the countryside) in works of literary merit such as “Good Country People”, “Everyday Use”, and “Young Goodman Brown” shape psychological and moral traits of the characters, similarly and differently throughout the stories.
While the Burnells talked of their doll house they showed their cruel and prejudice nature by excluding the Kelvey children from the group. “And the only two who stayed outside the ring were the two who were always outside, the little Kelveys. They knew better than to come anywhere near the Burnells.” The way the people treat the Kelvey family is less than equity. They gossip of the Kelveys creating rude remarks of their outer appearance and making up harsh tales of them and the father of the young children. “Many of the children, including the Burnells, were not allowed even to speak to them. They walked past the Kelveys with their heads in the air, and as they set the fashion in all matters of behavior, the Kelveys were shunned by everybody.” The people handle the Kelveys as though they are rodents that take their disregarded clothing and scraps from their tables. They may think of them as rodents by how they wear clothes made from table cloth, curtains, or the second hand clothes from the rich families’ homes. Even the aunt of the aunt of the Burnells shooed the Kelveys away just as though they were unwelcome animals. The children of high society ranked
The novel is focused mainly on the Bennet family: Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. The Bennets live in Longbourn in Hertfordshire. Some may describe the Bennet family as improper and disgraceful. “Mr. Bennet has never been an adequate head of his family” (Kenneth L. Moler). Mr. Bennet spends majority of his time inside of his library to avoid his wife and daughters. Mr. Bennet is a disgrace to his family. He humiliates his wife and he fails to discipline his two younger daughters, Kitty and Lydia (Hirsch). Mrs. Bennet, the wife of Mr. Bennet, is impulsive, querulous, outgoing, and she humiliates her family. Mrs. Bennet’s primary goal in her life is to get her daughters married (Austen 3). Jane, the eldest of the daughters, is the sweetest of the sisters. Jane is very beautiful, respectful, and elegant. Jane is a very pleasant young women and she defends her family when necessary (Hirsch). Next of the Bennet sisters is Elizabeth. She is her father’s favorite and she does no wrong in his eyes. Elizabeth appears to be very intelligent and snobby. She is very observant and she judges others fairly quickly. Elizabeth is confident and she wants to marry for love and not for wealth. Because of her sisters, Kitty and Lydia, Elizabeth is very ashamed and embarrassed of her family. Mary, the oddest of the Bennets, is not very talkative. Mary is
Sociology relates to this novel in so many different ways. The family in the story, Flowers in the Attic, written by V.C. Andrews, starts off as a family of procreation, a family established through marriage, which includes the mother (Mrs. Dollanger), the father (Mr. Dollanger), and the four children: Cathy (the oldest daughter), Chris (the second oldest son), Carrie and Corey (the young twins). A conflict begins when the father dies in a car wreck, so the mother and her four children must move in her rich parents estate because they have no money and nowhere to stay. After the father's death, the norms of the children changed. The norms of the children were to stay hidden in the basement by them selves because Mrs. Dollanger may only earn back the right to inherit her father's estate by falsifying that she has no children by her husband who was also her half-uncle. The original agreement was that they can leave the basement when their grandfather dies. The rules of the house were given by the dying grandfather that stated if Mrs. Dollanger was found to have children that she would be disinherited again.
The first impression of Arthur Birling is in the initial stage directions, when he is described as ‘a heavy looking, rather portentous man in his fifties.’ The fact that he is described as ‘heavy looking’ and ‘portentous’ suggests that he has a fairly comfortable lifestyle, and has an inflated opinion of his own importance. Priestley has done this to fit the typical man of the house during the 1910’s.
The houses are all lined in formation, with similar colors and structure. Even the colors and decorations in the houses are all pretty much the same, pinkish red and yellow, that makes everything feminine and monotonous, perhaps even boring, just like the houses on the outside. The people of the town are all different, but are all narrow-minded in the same way, which is shown when they gather and gossip about Edward (Burton, 1990). These are all examples of how there is not much difference from one another in a way that they are all controlled by the same, concrete social group. What the beginning of the film brings us is a type of realism where people live in the excessive stereotype of suburban America.
Without a husband to support her, Amanda tries to raise her children like upper class children. Unlike Amanda, Carrie Meeber, the protagonist of a naturalist novel Sister Carrie, starts out very poor, and after meeting two significant men, Drouet and Hurstwood, Carrie’s morals decline, but her finances increase exponentially. Amanda’s assets increase while she is with her husband, but when he abandons her, she struggles economically. Without a man like Tom to help her, Amanda and Laura would be hopeless. Following the standards of naturalism, Amanda reacts accordingly, and teaches her children to behave like members of the upper class. She strictly enforces proper manners; the importance of a well-rounded education, and the décor in her home is simulating value. In her regard, upper class members are often treated better, and she ...
The family seems to remain very involved within itself. Much of this is Spanish culture. In Spanish-speaking countries, it is not uncommon to find many generations of the same family living in one house. The Buendia house always has various relatives within it. Yet, this is not the only explanation. The incest of the family is a theme throughout the novel, and is a significant factor in the solitude of this family. If a family rarely turns to others to branch out, it eventually becomes completely turned in upon itself: isolated and detached.