An Inspector Calls quotes

Question 1

Mr Birling quote 1

Answer 1

“lower costs and higher prices”
- Reflects Birling’s CAPITALIST IDEOLOGY
- Little care to anything else even the marriage that they are celebrating
- SELFISH

Question 2

Mr Birling quote 2

Answer 2

“all mixed up together like bees in a hive”
- implies chaotic atmosphere
- bees work together for the better of the queen (Birling)
- IRONIC

Question 3

Mr Birling quote 3

Answer 3

“you have to understand… a lot of young men”
- DISMISSIVE of what Gerald did
- Defends Gerald’s actions for his business not for Sheila
- Hints that he behaved like this in the past

Question 4

Mr Birling quote 4

Answer 4

“I’d give thousands yes thousands”
- Thinks he can buy his way out of it
- Shows how much he cares about his reputation and position in society

Question 5

Mr Birling quote 5

Answer 5

“but the whole thing’s different now”
- DISMISSIVE
- Shows a disregard to the Inspector’s ideas
- IRONIC as he was scared and offered thousands as consolation

Question 6

Mrs Birling quote 1

Answer 6

“You’re not supposed to say such things”
- Shows that she holds POWER over her husband
- Social superior to her husband
- Not supposed to mention servants as Mrs Birling had supposedly organised the meal which would have been traditional of women of that class at the time

Question 7

Mrs Birling quote 2

Answer 7

“You’ll have to get used to that just as I had”
- Shows that she holds traditional values
- Shows she is insensitive to Sheila’s worries that Gerald is lying
- Theme of RESPONSIBILITY as she looks after Sheila and helps her

Question 8

Mrs Birling quote 3

Answer 8

“Girls of that class”
- DISMISSIVE
- Thinks that girls of working class or a lower class than herself are incapable of having the same morals as people of higher classes
- Thinks all girls in that class are the same as each other

Question 9

Mrs Birling quote 4

Answer 9

“it wasn’t I who turned her out of employment”
- Refuses to accept RESPONSIBILITY
- Starts to blame others (Sheila and Mr Birling)
- Suggests that her pride matters more to her than her own family

Question 10

Mrs Birling quote 5

Answer 10

“I blame the father of the child”
- Her ARROGANCE in thinking that the Inspector was agreeing with her led to her humiliation when Eric was discovered as the father

Question 11

Gerald quote 1

Answer 11

“a sort of sign or token of their self respect”
- About women and clothes
- Birling says it but Gerald agrees
- Reflects their shared sexist attitude towards women
- Links to Gerald’s shared views with the older generation

Question 12

Gerald quote 2

Answer 12

“If possible, yes”
- Refers to him being asked about whether women should be protected against disturbing things
- Double standard as he is only referring to higher class women and not the working class of whom he exploited

Question 13

Gerald quote 3

Answer 13

“hard-eyed, dough-faced women”
- Creates a strong contrast between Daisy and the prostitutes
- Makes Daisy seem out of the ordinary and special

Question 14

Gerald quote 4

Answer 14

“wonderful fairy prince”
- Metaphor
- Suggests that Gerald was a fairy tale hero but it was said sarcastically as Gerald exploits the ‘damsel in distress’ and eventually abandons her

Question 15

Gerald quote 5

Answer 15

“[slowly] That man wasn’t a police officer”
- enforces the idea that he enjoys being the ‘hero’ as he has new information that the Inspector was a fake, a ‘hoax’
- SELFISH

Question 16

Sheila quote 1

Answer 16

“pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life”
- shows she starts the play as immature and childish
- Deliberately a similar age to Eva to show they are only separated by the class they were born into and reflects Priestley’s criticism of the social class system

Question 17

Sheila quote 2

Answer 17

“nothing to do with you Sheila, run along”
- Reflects how she is treated like a small child by her parents which enforces the idea of her immaturity at the start of the play
- However, this relationship changes as the play progresses because at the end of the play, she starts to talk back to her parents “Mother stop”

Question 18

Sheila quote 3

Answer 18

“I must obviously be a selfish, vindictive creature”
- She is being self piteous
- Feels she is entirely to blame
- Links to how she dehumanised Eva earlier as she dehumanised herself in that quote

Question 19

Sheila quote 4

Answer 19

“He’s giving us the rope so we’ll hang ourselves”
- Shows that Sheila is very intelligent and quick thinking as she catches on to how the Inspector questions each character just enough to get them to confess to their actions

Question 20

Sheila quote 5

Answer 20

“I suppose we’re all nice people now”
- Sarcasm because they’ve all done the things they’ve admitted to but they’re acting as if it never happened
- Enforces the idea that she is intelligent despite not having an education

Question 21

Eric quote 1

Answer 21

“I’d have let her stay”
- Contradicts his father’s beliefs
- Shows that Eric holds socialist beliefs because he doesn’t mind not aiming for the highest profits

Question 22

Eric quote 2

Answer 22

“I understand a lot of things now that i didn’t understand before”
- Links to the theme of RESPONSIBILITY
- Realises he has to face the consequences of his actions

Question 23

Eric quote 3

Answer 23

“I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty”
- Blames the drinks for his IRRESPONSIBLE actions
- ‘easily’ suggests he was out of control

Question 24

Eric quote 4

Answer 24

“You’re not the kind of father a chap can go to when he’s in trouble”
- Sees his father as a bad role model
- Doesn’t trust his father
- Re enforces the idea that Eric holds the beliefs and ideas of the younger generation

Question 25

Eric quote 5

Answer 25

“I did what I did”
- Acknowledges that his actions were unforgivable
- Shows that he has become more RESPONSIBLE over the course of the play

Question 26

Inspector quote 1

Answer 26

“[need not be a big man]”
- Suggests he is quite intimidating regardless of his size
- Also suggests his presence is very strong which makes the characters uneasy when talking to him

Question 27

Inspector quote 2

Answer 27

“one line of inquiry at a time, otherwise there’s a muddle”
- Demonstrates his omnipotence over the Birling family
- Enforces the idea that he is intimidating as nobody questions him

Question 28

Inspector quote 3

Answer 28

“I don’t play golf”
- Shows that he has no care for Mr Birling’s social connections
- Ignores the class system that supposedly separates them

Question 29

Inspector quote 4

Answer 29

“Public men, Mr Birling have responsibilities as well as privileges”
- Inspector would have hoped that being in a political position of power would have made him look out for people more and would therefore make him more RESPONSIBLE

Question 30

Inspector quote 5

Answer 30

“We are members of one body, we are responsible for each other”
- Repetition of ‘we’ reflects the socialist ideology that Priestley is trying to convey through the character of the Inspector