Act 2 Flashcards
Sheila: “I know I’m to blame – and I’m desperately sorry – but I can’t believe – I won’t believe – it’s simply my fault.”
Reflects Sheila’s growing maturity and acceptance of responsibility.
Sheila: “We really must stop these silly pretences.”
Highlights Sheila’s realization of the family’s dishonesty and her growing moral conscience.
Sheila: “You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do, the Inspector will just break it down.”
A direct challenge to her mother, showing Sheila’s increasing perceptiveness.
Mrs Birling: “Girls of that class—”
Demonstrates Mrs. Birling’s prejudice and classism.
Mrs Birling: “She had only herself to blame.”
Illustrates her refusal to accept responsibility for Eva Smith’s plight.
Mrs Birling: “I consider I did my duty.”
Highlights Mrs. Birling’s self-righteousness and lack of empathy.
Gerald: “I didn’t feel about her as she felt about me.”
Gerald admits to his affair with Daisy Renton but downplays his emotional involvement.
Gerald: “She was young and pretty and warm-hearted—and intensely grateful.”
Reveals his perspective on the relationship and his justifications.
Gerald: “I didn’t install her there so that I could make love to her.”
Attempts to defend his actions, showing his struggle to maintain respectability.
Inspector: “You think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?”
Challenges Gerald’s and society’s double standards regarding class and gender.
Inspector: “We have to share something. If there’s nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt.”
Emphasizes collective responsibility.
Inspector: “Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.”
Directly criticizes the lack of accountability in the upper class.
Eric: “You know, don’t you?”
Suggests Eric’s guilt and foreshadows his confession in Act 3.
Mr Birling: “I’m a public man –”
Mr. Birling’s self-importance and his belief that his public status grants him authority and respect. Sets up the Inspector’s critique of those in power.
