AIC Quotes Flashcards
Mr Birling
“Provincial in his speech”
Repeatedly uses “of course” eg “Just a knighthood, of course”
“There’ll be a public scandal - unless we’re lucky”
“A man has to mind his own business and look after himself”
“I can’t accept any responsibility”
Sees himself as “ a hard-headed man of business”
“Like bees in a hive” “cranks”
“Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”
Mrs Birling
“As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money”
“I used it my influence to have it refused.”
Women “of that sort”
“I accept no blame for it at all”
Described as “smiling” in final scene and has been “amused”.
Priestley describes her as “her husband’s social superior”. “Triumphantly” tells everyone she knew it all along.
“He’s only a boy”.
“You have no power to make me change my mind.”
Speaks “haughtily”.
Sheila
“Squiffy”
Asks Inspector if Eva was “Pretty?”
Stage directions describe her as “rather excited”
“Look - Mummy - isn’t it a beauty?”
“Now I really feel engaged”
“These girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people” (before she knows)
“I’m not a child”
“Don’t interfere” to father when giving back the ring.
“I got that girl sacked at Milwards”
“Probably between us we killed her”
“The girl’s still dead.”
“You and I arent the same people who sat down to dinner”
Eric
Stage directions “not quite at ease”
Birling of Eric “Be quiet, Eric, and don’t get excited”.
Alcoholic “familiarity with quick heavy drinking” in Act 3 and “could I have a drink first?”
“You’re just the kind of son-in-law I always wanted”.
“You don’t understand thing. You never did. You never even tried.”
“You’re not the kind of father a chap can go to when’s he’s in trouble”
“State when a chap easily turns nasty”
“The fact remains that I did what I did”
“I’m ashamed of you as well”.
“My God - I’m not likely to forget.”
Gerald
“You couldn’t have done anything else.” Of Birling’s sacking of Eva
Agrees that women should be “protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?”
Inspector’s verdict Gerald “had some affection for her and made her happy for a time.”
“He bluffs us into confessing”
“No proof”
“Everything’s all right now, Sheila.”
The inspector (as character)
"Sharp ring" of doorbell "I don't play golf" "We are members of one body". "Impression of massiveness" "Cutting through, massively" "One line of inquiry at a time" "Pretty" "lively" "With a burnt-out inside on a slab" "Fire and blood and anguish" "You know very well there was, Mrs Birling" "Was it or was it not your influence?" "Millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths"
Social class
Women “of that sort”
“There’ll be a public scandal - unless we’re lucky”
“Just a knighthood, of course”
“Special reason for not wanting any public scandal just now”
“We are members of one body”.
“These girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people”.
“Millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths”
“You musn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl”
Social responsibility
“lower costs and higher prices”
“A man has to mind his own business and look after himself”
“Like bees in a hive”
“Of that sort”
“These girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people”
“The fact remains that I did what I did”
“Millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths”
“Fire and blood and anguish”
“We are one body”
What quotes are used to show language techniques
- “Squiffy”-Sheila -slang-Shocks mrs Birling- highlights that the differences in younger vs older gen run deeper than just ideas
- Birling-Semantic field of buisness language -“an elaborate sell” “the unpleasant buisness” -highlights how engrained hos buisness is into him and how much he cares about it
- Sheila uses plain childish language at the start ~contrast to end where she uses emotive language “we drove that girl to commit suicide” to show what she is saying is coming from heart
- Preistley uses dramatic irony during Birlings speech (e.g describes titanic as “unsinkable”) to plant a seed in the audiences mind that what he says is idiotic and short sighted. This then is carried forward as they think what he says next about socialists being “cranks” is also ioditic and stupid
What other language techniques are there
- Mrs Birling uses ephamisms such as calling evas pregnancy , her “condition” to avoid thinking of what she has done and avoid facing the truth - contary to presitleys message of accepting the truth
- Inspector-uses graphic imagery to shock audience and characters- fills Sheila will guilt and makes her realise the magntitude of her actions. “burnt her inside out”
- The inspector uses biblical imagery at the end “ we are members of one body” . Perhaps Preistly does this so that the audience will treat what he says with sacred importance
Younger generation vs older generation
Eva “had a lot to say - far too much”
Gerald “Everything’s all right now, Sheila”
Birling “the famous younger generation who know it all”
Eric stands away from his parents at the end of the play, Sheila joins him showing the younger generation are no longer controlled by the older generation
-“Im absolutely ashamed of you” Eric: “I’m ashamed of you as well”
“She’s right though”
Birling “panic-stricken” at the end
Dramatic techniques used in an inspector calls
-Sheila runs offstage when she realises she is the reason Eva has been sacked - this exit signals her running away from telling her story - contrast to the end where she is very open and accepts responsiblity for her actions -“we drove that girl to commit suicide” - shows her change to becoming more socially responsible
