An Inspector Calls Quotes

T T… A U

'The Titanic...absolutely unsinkable.'
Mr Birling: dramatic irony about development.

RESPONSIBILITY

G D W W

Mr Birling: dramatic irony about conflict.
RESPONSIBILITY

'Germans don't want war.'

N W-B F

Mr Birling: dramatic irony about his family.

CLASS
'Nice, well-behaved family.'

C A A T N

Mr Birling: community/ Capitalism.
CAPITALISM VS SOCIALISM
'Community and all that nonsense.'

A M H T… L A H

Mr Birling: responsibility/ Capitalism.
RESPONSIBILITY

'A man has to... look after himself.'

G O T C

Mrs Birling: class difference/ prejudice.
CLASS

'Girls of that class.'

I D N I A O

Mrs Birling: lack of responsibility.
RESPONSIBILITY
GUILT

'I did nothing I'm ashamed of.'

A I A G O T S W R U M

Mrs. Birling: preconception/ prejudice.
CLASS

'As if a girl of that sort would refuse money.'

…F Y G W K I A

Mrs. Birling: youth vs. age.
GENERATIONAL DIVIDE

'...famous younger generation who know it all.'

W H T K H

Eric: responsibility.
RESPONSIBILITY

'We helped to kill her.'

B… T P T N H H

Eric: young vs. old.
GENERATIONAL DIVIDE

'Beginning...to pretend that nothing much has happened.'

A I S W A A.. N A P

Eric: social..class.
CLASS

'As if she were an animal...not a person.'

Y M H D B F Y S S

Gerald: social attitudes/ class.
CLASS

'You might have done better for yourself socially.'

W R C N C

Gerald: class.
CLASS

'We're respectable citizens not criminals.'

E A N S (holds up ring) W A T R

Gerald: change/ ignorance.

RESPONSIBILITY

'Everything's alright now Sheila. (holds up ring.) What about this ring?'

I R M - U - B T B T I P A T B

Gerald: responsibility/ change.

RESPONSIBILITY

'I'm rather more - upset - by this business than I probably appear to be.'

I F M T W Y T

Sheila: young vs old.

GENERATIONAL DIVIDE

'It frightens me the way you talk.'

D B C S

Mrs Birling/ Sheila: generation gap

GENERATIONAL DIVIDE

'Don't be childish Sheila.'

I K I T B

Sheila: responsibility.
RESPONSIBILITY

'I know I'm to blame.'

T G A C L - T P

Sheila: class/ social attitudes.
CLASS
CAPITALISM VS SOCIALISM

'These girls aren't cheap labour-they're people.'

(S H H T R)

Sheila: change.
RESPONSIBILITY

'(she hands him the ring.)'

A I W O L

Inspector: responsibility.
RESPONSIBILITY

'All intertwined with our lives.'

A W H T H A M H D H T S. A C O E

Inspector: cause and effect.
RESPONSIBILITY
GUILT

'And what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events.'

P M H R A W A P

Inspector: class and responsibility.
RESPONSIBILITY

'Public men have responsibilities as well as privileges.'

M A M O E S

Inspector: social responsibility.
RESPONSIBILITY
CLASS

'Millions and millions of Eva Smiths.'

W D L A. W A M O O B. W A R F E

Inspector: responsibility/ socialism
Inspector acts as Priestley’s mouthpiece, promoting socialist values

‘Members of one body’ -Christian morality, reinforcing the idea of collective responsibility

Repetition of ‘we’ contrasts with selfishness of Birlings
RESPONSIBILITY
CAPITALISM VS SOCIALISM

'We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for eachother” - Inspector Goole

I M W N L T L, T T W B T I I F A B A A. G N

Inspector: class/ responsibility/ socialism

'If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night."

…W B H… I M A T D

Mr. Birling: lack of social and personal responsibility.

'...we've been had...it makes all the difference.'

[ A H L, R P M … P I T S]

• Mr Birling described as ‘heavy looking’, as though he has strength and weight behind him

• But as he only ‘looks’ that way, is it reaL?

• Provincial - from the country - does he lack sophistication?

• CLASS

“A heavy looking, rather portentous man […] provincial in this speech” - Stage Direction, About Birling

C A A T N … M U T L B I A H

• Ridicules the idea of working together

• comparing us to bees in a hive: insects with no ability to think for ourselves

• RESPONSIBILITY

“Community and all that nonsense […] mixed up together like bees in a hive’ - Mr BirliNG

A M H T M H O B A L A H

• Mr Birling’s selfishness is so deeply rooted - he thinks he ‘has to’ look after himself

• As though being selfish was some kind of rule

• Theme of RESPONSIBILITY

“a man has to mind his own business and look after himself” - Mr Birling

W, I M D T K L C D

• “duty” comes up repeatedly - Mr Birling thinks it’s his duty to keep costs down so his customers can enjoy his product and he can compete

He has no care for the real cost of this
RESPONSIBILITY
CAPITALISM VS SOCIALISM

“Well, it’s my duty to keep labour costs down” - Birlin

I Y T Y C B A P T B U M I, Y Q M

• Arrogance

• Patronising tone

• RESPONSIBILITY

“if you think you can bring any pressure to bear upon me Inspector, you’re quite mistaken” - Mrs Birling

Y H N P T M M C M M

• Inspector has no “power” over her, no ability to change her

• She sees power as being entirely down to privilege and the idea hat he might reason with her is not something she could contemplate

• RESPONSIBILITY

“You have no power to make me change my mind” - Mrs Birling

I D B I. I W B I.

• Perhaps this is Mrs Birling’s truth - that she “wont” see the truth

• RESPONSIBILITY

“I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it.” - Mrs Birling

I D N M T M D

• Her duty - pass judgements onto the lower classes

• That is what she did and she is unapologetic about it

• RESPONSIBILITY

“I did no more than my duty” - Mrs Birling

O - G - Y G I - I I T O Y W M T H?… L M, I I A B

• Sheila can’t make her own decisions

• She is simultaneously a child and a woman

• ‘Mummy’ - Exposes how child like she is

• Shows off her ring and not her husband - shallow and materialistic

• GENDER

“Oh – Gerald – you’ve got it – is it the one you wanted me to have? … Look mummy, isn’t a beauty!” - Sheila

i n n d i t a a

• Regret

• Promise to change

• RESPONSIBILITY
  GUILT

“I’ll never, never, do it to anybody again” - Sheila

W T, F L C A H P

CAPITALISM VS SOCIALISM

• Priorities of business, needs to make as much profit as possible

  • No sense of responsibility

“Working together, for lower costs and higher prices” – Birling

I K I T B - A I D S

• Sympathetic and Courageous - first character to empathise with Eva Smith’s predicament

• Personal pronoun ‘I’ - Sheila acknowledges her own guilt

• Genuine remorse shownf

• GUILT

“I know I’m to blame - and I’m desperately sorry” - Sheila

I V S. B I T S H O H T B

• Portrayed as one of the least compassionate characters in the play

• Refuses to express any guilt for their treatment of Eva

• Continues to fail or see or acknowledge that she has done anything wrong

• Older generation contrasts with younger
  GUILT
  OLDER VS YOUNGER GENERATION

 “I’m very sorry. But I think she had only herself to blame” – Sybil Birling

I W I T S W A C T E N

• While an audience may view Eric as a sympathetic character, his treatment of Eva reveals how he also abused her

• Hinting at potential for sexual violence and reveals Eva did not want him to enter her room until he became ‘nasty’

• Vulnerability of women who can be easily exploited by wealthy men like Eric

• GENDER

• CLASS

“I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty” - Eric Birling

I D K A G L S. I A I. A I S S

• Three part list — Gerald feels that it is all over and done and he and Sheila can simply move on

• During his confession, Gerald appears more concerned that his affair has been discovered, rather than having betrayed his fiancee

• Confession overlooked by arthur and sybil

• GENDER

“I did keep a girl last summer. I’ve admitted it. And I’m sorry Sheila” - Gerald Croft