An Inspector Calls Revision Flashcards

A set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering the key quotes, characters, and themes of 'An Inspector Calls' discussed in the lecture transcript.

Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable

A quote from Mr. Birling that signifies the arrogance of the upper class and acts as a metaphor for the falling of the capitalist system.

Well bred young man

A description of Gerald Croft representing generationally wealthy men who are groomed to fulfill their desires and view women as extensions of themselves.

Quite young and pretty

A quote from Sheila Birling used to illustrate how Eva Smith was dehumanized and judged based on physical criteria rather than her humanity.

Fire, blood, and anguish

The Inspector’s warning about the consequences of ignoring social responsibility, representing either the destruction of war or eternal religious punishment.

Girls of that class

Mrs. Birling’s dismissive and dehumanizing language used to categorize working-class women as morally inferior.

Man's got to make his own way

Mr. Birling’s capitalist motto that emphasizes individualism and looking after one's own family over the needs of society.

Members of one body

A socialist and Christian-inspired message that argues society should function as a unit with collective responsibility for all its parts.

She was a good sport

Eric Birling’s description of Eva Smith, which portrays her as a commodity existing for male pleasure and entertainment.

Edna

The Birling’s maid who represents the working class and serves as the catalyst who introduces the Inspector into the play.

Eva Smith

A characters who serves as an image throughout the text representing victims of the class system who are trampled by the hierarchy.

Inspector Goole

A character who acts as Priestley's mouthpiece and a warning figure, potentially possessing supernatural qualities like a ghost.

Capitalism

An ideology symbolized by the Titanic and prioritized by Mr. Birling, which values individual profit and generational wealth.

Socialism

The ideology advocated by the Inspector which promotes equality and the destruction of the rigid social hierarchy.

Patriarchy

A social system that victimizes women, as seen in Sheila being handed from her father’s control to Gerald’s control.

Sheila Birling

A character who initially functions as a female capitalist valuing beauty, but later becomes the most receptive to the Inspector's moral lessons.

Gerald Croft

A character representing 'old money' who exploits his privilege and believes his own actions, such as taking a mistress, are noble.

Dramatic Irony

A literary device used when Mr. Birling calls the Titanic unsinkable, discrediting his views to the 1945 audience who knows the truth of the disaster.

Morality Tale

A literary tradition, similar to A Christmas Carol, used here to teach the rich how to respond to the poor through lessons of social responsibility.

Female Capitalist

A term for characters like Sheila and Mrs. Birling who value human life based on beauty and social status rather than purely fiscal value.

Circular Structure

A structural device where the repetition of events, such as the two phone calls about deaths, suggests that the cycle of suffering will continue until lessons are learned.