AIC character quotes Flashcards
Mr Birling
“A man has to…
mind his own business and look out for himself and his own”
Mr Birling using patronising/submissive language
“Fiddlesticks”
“Silly”
“Nothing to do with you Sheila”
Mr Birling being selfish/worried about being guilty
“I” > “We”
Mr Birling
“Unsinkable,…
absolutely unsinkable”
Mr Birling
“Mixed up…
together like bees in a hive”
Mr Birling not being sympathetic
“the wretched…
girl’s suicide”
Mr Birling as having his authority broken down
“y’know”
Mrs Birling
“I did…
nothing I am ashamed of”
Mrs Birling thinking she is superior
“Girl…
“No…
of that class”
Edna’ll go”
Mrs Birling unwilling to change
“You have no power to make me change my mind”
Mrs Birling having her authority broken down
“No-Eric-please”
Mrs Birling as naive
“Alderman Meggarty… we are to learn something tonight:
The Inspector as powerful
“He creates at once…
an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness” - semantic field of size
The Inspector as omniscient/direct/warning audience of disaster
“Fire and blood and anguish”
The Inspector as a dramatic catalyst
Sheila: “He’s giving us the rope - so that we’ll hang ourselves”
The Inspector as working systematically
“One person and…
one line of enquiry at a time”
The Inspector to be creating sympathy for Eva
“She died…
in misery and agony”
The Inspector using religious imagery/metaphor
“We are members of one body”
Sheila as didactic which makes audience NOT sympathise with her
“If I could help her now - I would”
Sheila as naive/immature:
“Mummy”
“Very pleased with life and rather excited”
Sheila to highlight tension between younger and older generation
“So nothings happened…
nothing to be sorry for, nothing to learn”
Sheila as easily influenced:
(Repeating the inspector)
“Fire and blood and anguish”
Eric as a dramatic irritant to his Father and challenging his ideology:
“Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?”
Eric being unsure of himself
“Not quite at ease, half…
shy, half assertive”
Eric using fragmented speech to show his emotion
“Oh- my God! How stupid it all is!”
Eric as hysterical
“(Bursting out)…
This girl’s still dead isn’t she! Nobody can bring her back to life!”
Eric as hysterical using stage direction
(Bursting out)
Eric as aggressive "I don't give... "Damn you, "That's the... "When a chap...
a damn now”
damn you” (Semantic field of hell)
hellish thing”
easily turns nasty”