An Inspector Calls Quotes

Question 1

Key Quotation : Birling - “There’ll be…

Answer 1

peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere”

Question 2

Key Quotation : Birling -“I’m talking as a….

Answer 2

Hard-headed, practical man of business”

Question 3

Key Quotation : Birling -“Just a

Answer 3

knight-hood of course”

Question 4

Key Quotation : Birling -“We’ll try to

Answer 4

keep out of trouble during the next couple of months”

Question 5

Key Quotation : Birling -“as if we were all mixed togther

Answer 5

like bees in a hive”

Question 6

Key Quotation : Birling -“That a man has to

Answer 6

mind his own business and look after himself and his own”

Question 7

Key Quotation : Inspector -“Has a disconcerting habit

Answer 7

of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking”

Question 8

Key Quotation : Birling -“Well, we’ve several hundred

Answer 8

young women there, y’know, and they keep changing”

Question 9

Key Quotation : Inspector -“One person and

Answer 9

one line of inquiry at a time”

Question 10

Key Quotation : Inspector -“They might.

Answer 10

but after all it’s better to ask for the earth than to take it”

Question 11

Key Quotation : Inspector -“A nice little promising life there,

Answer 11

I thought, and a nasty mess somebody’s made of it”

Question 12

Key Quotation : Inspector -“Sometimes there isn’t as much

Answer 12

difference as you think. Often if it was left to me, I wouldn’t know where to draw the line”

Question 13

Key Quotation : Inspector -“[Cut…

Answer 13

[Cutting in, massively]

Question 14

Key Quotation : Sheila -“but I felt

Answer 14

rotten about it at the time and now I feel a lot worse”

Question 15

Key Quotation : Sheila -“Did it make

Answer 15

much difference to her”

Question 16

Key Quotation : Sheila -“So i’m…

Answer 16

Really responsible”

Question 17

Key Quotation : Inspector -“In fact, in a kind

Answer 17

of way, you might be said to have been jealous of her”

Question 18

Key Quotation : Inspector -“But you can’t

Answer 18

It’s too late. She’s dead.”

Question 19

Key Quotation : Gerald -“changed her name to Daisy Renton-

Answer 19

Gerald [Startled]: What?

Question 20

Key Quotation : Gerald -“Yes. We can keep

Answer 20

it from him”

Question 21

Key Quotation : Sheila -“Why-you fool

Answer 21

-he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t.”

Question 22

Key Quotation : Gerald -“[breaks off]

Answer 22

My God ….. [distressed] sorry- I - well, I’ve suddenly realized - taken it in properly - that she’s dead

Question 23

Key Quotation : Sheila -“and probably

Answer 23

between us we killed her”

Question 24

Key Quotation : Sheila & Gerald “you were the wonderful

Answer 24

Fairy Price. You must have adored it, Gerald

Gerald : All right - I did for a time. Nearly any man would have done

Question 25

Key Quotation : Mrs Birling -“I don’t think we

Answer 25

want any further details of this disgusting affair”

Question 26

Key Quotation : Eva Smith -“She was -

Answer 26

very gallant - about it.”

Question 27

Key Quotation : Eva Smith -“ She told me she’d

Answer 27

been happier than she’d ever been before - but that she knew it couldn’t last - hadn’t expected it to last.

Question 28

Key Quotation : Gerald -“She didn’t blame me at all

Answer 28

I wish to God she had now. Perhaps I’d feel better about it.

Question 29

Key Quotation : Inspector -“Apologize for what -

Answer 29

doing my duty?”

This is a massive piece of foreshadowing of both the Inspectors time based abilities, and all of Mrs birlings defences, as this line takes place just after Gerald inspection

Question 30

Key Quotation : Inspector -“Public men, Mr Birling,

Answer 30

have responsibilities as well as privileges.

Question 31

Key Quotation : Inspector -“We are …

Answer 31

responsible for each other”

Question 32

Key Quotation : An Inspector Calls : “Clothes….

Answer 32

mean something quite different to a woman
-demonstrate how women where seen in society. Men where judged by their wealth, masculinity. Women where respected almost entirely based of their appearance. Visually judged like an object, which is how Eric and Gerald viewed Eva.

Question 33

Key Quotation : An Inspector Calls : “Clothes….

Answer 33

mean something quite different to a woman
-demonstrate how women where seen in society. Men where judged by their wealth, masculinity. Women where respected almost entirely based of their appearance. Visually judged like an object, which is how Eric and Gerald viewed Eva.

Question 34

Key Quotation : Inspector [dryly]: I do…

Answer 34

[dryly] I don’t play golf
-Birling uses the fact he plays golf with the chief constable as a threat
-Golf at this time was an incredibly exclusive sport, played only by the richest and highest in society
-At the time, to play golf was a show of status and connections, and it was common for those higher in society to threaten those lower down
=>what Sheila does
-to refuse, the inspector is effectively saying how he refuses this system they are in. His is not afraid of Mr Birlings threat and ultimately is saying I’m not a capitalist, i’m not afraid of your corruption

Question 35

Key Quotation : Birling - “The famous younger

Answer 35

generation who think they know it all.

Peak of Birlings Hubris and irony. He constantly believes he knows all, example in the next line of how “they can’t even take a joke” when Gerald sees to be serious about reengaging Sheila.
If anything, it is Eric and especially SHEILA who do not believe they know all.
earlier quote => “ Of course he knows. And i hate to think how much he knows that we don’t”

Question 36

Key Quotation : Eric - “I was in that state when

Answer 36

a chap easily turns nasty
Lack of responsibility
=> that - determiner. appealing to a shared belief that the inspector (and audience) know what ‘that’ state is.
=> a chap - Third person, informal, friendly. Trying to distance himself from the rape
THIS IS NEAR THE START OF HIS INSPECTION

Question 37

Key Quotation : Eric - Entitlement - “Inspector : … you stole the money?”

Answer 37

Eric : Not really
-demonstrates an inability to understand what he has done
-Believes it is what he is owed
=> Demonstrates capitalist viewpoint. Believes he deserves money he has not worked for just because of relationship.

Question 38

Key Quotation : Eric - Blaming others (2) - To birling “ You’re not the
To Mrs “[almost threatening her] You dont

Answer 38

“You’re not the kind of father a chap can go to when he’s in trouble”
“[almost threatening her] You don’t understand anything. You never did. You never even tried.
-At this point he is still to emotionally taken up by eva’s death, and is to immature to blame himself. This soon changes

Question 39

Key Quotation : Eric - Accepting responsibility post inspector “ Mrs : I’m absolutely ashamed of you.”

Answer 39

“Well, I don’t blame you”
Eric has moved on - learnt from his mistakes (adopting socialism)
=> complete opposite of Mr and Mrs Birling. They are too prideful to accept doing any wrong
Mr Birling : “There’s every excuse for what both your mother and I did”

Question 40

Key Quotation : Eric - Adopting Socialism - “then one of those cranks walked in

Answer 40

“then one of those cranks walked in … I didn’t notice you told him that’s its every man for himself”
- after Eric uses Birlings earlier speech against him.
Ironic use of cranks is repeated throughout. Crank meaning lunatic, crazy, eccentric.
=> what birling uses to address socialists
Eric calls the inspector a crank ironically, as he was anything but eccentric.

Question 41

Key Quotation : Eric - Understanding the consequences of his actions - “Whoever that chap was

Answer 41

“Whoever that chap was, the fact remains I did what I did.”
This is after the family discovers the Inspector is fake.
-This is Eric at his final stage. He has matured now and adopted socialism
=> He understands (unlike older generation) that it doesn’t matter if they were caught or not, they still deserve to be punished.
- Another show of maturity, is how now him and Sheila get along instead of squabbling