An Inspector Calls General Quotes Flashcards
“you killed her – and the child…your own grandchild” - ERIC
Priestley encourages the audience to sympathise with eric. Despite the Inspectors attempts to enlighten the Birling family that they are all innocent both Eric and Mrs Birling blame each other just as much.
“You don’t understand anything. You never did. You never even tried” -ERIC
Eric continues to undermine himself as he
berates his mother. Also repetition and hyperbole.
“The Titanic - she sails next week…and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”
Mr Birling
- dramatic irony gives the audience an advantage over characters, makes them more involved
- titanic symbolises his own family, thinks their untouchable until the inspector arrives, awakening
- Also the titanic representative of the power of capitalism at the time, will fall down
“I was an alderman for years - and lord mayor two years ago”
Mr Birling
- asserting his power
- use of ‘i’ conveys a selfish attitude. as the play progresses use inclusive pronouns ‘we’ to diminish the scale of the problem, shift blame.
- Also his language becomes more colloquial ‘yknow’ his authority breaking down. through colloquial language, Priestley presents him as a realistic character. Furthermore, he is described as panic stricken’ this indicates that his defiance has been finally shattered and so priestly shows the audience that capitalism is weak.
“theres every excuse for what your mother and i did”
Mr Birling
- Takes no responsibility
- representative of the older generation who is unwilling to change
“As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!”
Mrs Birling
- Thinks all lower-class women are the same and are not individuals
- Her language here is quite abrupt and dismissive ‘that..’ shows she believes she is morally and socially superior to them
- priestly uses her to epitomise all that is wrong with society. represents the social snobbery and hypocrisy of the upper class
“No-Eric-please”
Mrs Birling
- The fragmented speech echoes the collapsing self-confidence and complacency of these wealthy characters. contrasts to the start of the play. The dashes could also represent the breakdown in their relationships, she is not a good mother
- Cant trust wealthy people to look after society
“Go and look for the father of the child. Its his responsibility.”
Mrs Birling
- takes no responibility
- condemns her son, is cut off from reality
- Priestley presents her as an absurd character who ironically passes her own social guilt onto her own son. as a result, priestly treats her with special severity
“Yes, go on, Mummy”
Sheila
- personal pronouns to highlight her selfish, childlike attitude at the start of the play
- as the play progresses ‘mother’ reflects she has lost respect for Mrs birling because of her behaviour
- Sheila offers hope for the future and priestly uses her as an example of people changing attitudes towards the less fortunate in 1912
“Build up a kind of wall” - “Giving us rope so that we hang ourselves”
Sheila
-Uses imagery to display the metaphorical distance Mrs Birling creates between the classes. When sheila warns the others that the inspector is ‘giving us rope…’ she is once again using a metaphor to create a visual image of the way the inspector skilfully manipulates characters to confess their sins
“but that won’t bring Eva smith back to live, will it?”
Sheila
- Shows she becomes a bit like the inspector, ing questions and contradicting her mother
- clearly feels truly sorry for her actions, the audience feel sympathetic for her
- acts as an assistant to the inspector she supports his criticism of the other characters, becoming his mouthpiece when he leaves the stage.
“Why should you(stay)? It’s bound to be unpleasant and disturbing”
Gerald
- shares Mr Birlings concern to protect sheila from anything unpleasant. Patronising view of women
- Gerald provides a strong contrast to Eric and Priestley uses Gerald to show tensions between eric and his father.
“(Daisy) gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for health”
Gerald -Uses imagery of a rescue mission when describing his role in daisys death. he does this to lessen his guilt and try to justify his behaviour. Priestley shows that it is common for the upper class to behave so badly towards the lower class by having Gerald present. makes it clear to the audience the problem is widespread
“everything’s all right now”
Gerald
- delusional think deep down he is a good person
- represents aristocrats, detached from society
- Priestley uses Gerald to throw light on both the birling parents who are too set in their ways and their children who are responsive to the inspector’s message. acts as a bridge between two gens
“and you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?”
Inspector
Manipulates the characters systematically extracting information
-Turns each character’s words back upon them, this theme of reversal runs through the structure of the play
-The omniscient inspector is used by Priestley to further convey his views on social responsibility. He is used effectively to highlight corruption and the selfish attitudes of the twentieth century.
Cutting through massively
Inspector
-semantic field of size: showing his importance and power
-The inspector assumes control, which is disconcerting for Arthur and he immediately tries to regain it
many examples like this of inspector interrupting birling, doorbell, represents the superiority of socialism over capitalism.
