an inspector calls act 1 quotes Flashcards
‘fairly large suburban house’
stage directions
suggests the family is wealthy
‘cosy but not homelike’
stage directions
suggests Mr and Mrs Birling value money over family
‘rather provincial in his speech’
stage directions about Mr Birling
suggests he did not start in a wealthy family, signifying that he made his wealth.
‘rather cold woman’
stage direction about Mrs Birling
shows she is not very friendly
‘her husbands social superior’
stage directions about Mrs Birling
shows she did start in a wealthy family.
‘very pleased with life’ and ‘pretty’
stage directions about Sheila
suggests she is shallow and privileged, as she is rich as well as pretty
‘well-bred young man about town’
stage directions about Gerald Croft
shows he is born into a wealthy family and is privileged
‘half shy, half assertive’
stage directions about Eric
shows he does not know who he is yet and doesn’t fit in
‘the parlermaid’
stage directions about Edna lack of description represents her insignificance and further suggests that the Birlings see the working class as insignificant and beneath them.
‘When your married you’ll realise that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. You’ll have to get used to that, just as I had’
Mrs Birling
Mrs Birling is conforming to the expectations of how women were supposed to act at the time - subordinate to men. She is showing that she cares more about business than family.
‘Crofts limited are both older and bigger than Birling and company’
Mr Birling
Mr Birling is sucking up to Gerald, revealing that his true reasons for being happy about the engagement is it will help his business.
‘perhaps we may look forward to a time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together - for lower costs and higher prices’
Mr Birling
Mr Birling is showing he is primarily concerned about his business, rather than his daughter’s happiness with regards to this engagement.
‘rather noisily’
Stage directions Eric
This shows his immaturity despite being in his 20s. This shows the children have led a sheltered and protected life.
‘excited’
Stage directions Sheila
Sheila is excited about the ring showing she is shallow and materialistic.
‘I speak as a hard-headed practical man of business’
Mr Birling
Priestley does this to undermine Birling and all practical men of business due to what Birling later says.
‘some people say war’s inevitable. And to that i say - fiddlesticks!’
‘There isn’t a chance of war’
Mr Birling
Priestley is undermining Birling as the audience know that a war occurred. This is an example of dramatic irony.
‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’
Mr Birling
The use of the adverb ‘absolutely’ shows how sure of himself Mr Birling is. Priestley is suggesting Birling, and by extension capitalists are very out of touch with reality due to Birling’s comments about war and the titanic.
‘In 1940 … there will be peace and prosperity everywhere’
Mr Birling
Dramatic irony is used to undermine Birling as we are in the middle of a major war in 1940
‘I gather there’s a very good chance of a knighthood - so long as we behave ourselves, don’t get into the police court or start a scandel’
Mr Birling
This foreshadows what is about to happen in the play, and tells us that Mr Birling’s primary concern will be his knighthood.
‘a man has to make his own way - has to look after himself - and his family too’
Mr Birling
This portrays Mr Birling as a hypocrite as he doesn’t seem to care that much about his family.
‘community and all that nonsense’
Mr Birling
He outlines his capitalist views. Priestley does this to highlight the selfishness and greed of capitalism.
‘a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own - and -‘ ‘We hear the sharp ring of the front door bell’
Mr Birling / Stage direction
Mr Birling is interrupted while making a capitalist speech. This signifies that the person who will disrupt and expose those views for how evil and greedy they are has arrived. This undermines capitalism.
