An Inspector Calls - Quotes and Analysis

Question 1

“pink and intimate” - stage directions

Answer 1

• forces the audience to witness the opening scenes with the same rose tinted glasses as the characters on stage; blissfully ignorant of the struggles of the wider world

Question 2

“brighter and harder” - stage directions

Answer 2

• imitates the atmosphere of a police interrogation- indicates the truth will be exposed, with no bias or erasure => Birlings can’t escape scrutiny

Question 3

Mr Birling: “A man has to mind his own business - has to look after himself”

Answer 3

• antithesis of what Inspector + Priestley stand for
• being a self made man, perfect representation of capitalism
• thinks highly of his lecture, thinks he is infallible (incapable of being wrong)

Question 4

Mr Birling: “One of the happiest nights of my life”

Answer 4

• leaves the audience to question why its the happiest night of his life
• is he happy because he’s proud and delighted for his daughter and her new development in life, and the prospect of her having a happy fulfilling future
• or is he happy because of the business ventures her relationship proposes for him with crofts limited
• highlights his lack of a paternal nature, what he believes to be important in life

Question 5

Mr Birling: “hard-headed practical man of business”

Answer 5

• values his businessman life and how he is perceived by the public, over his fatherly/paternal abilities
• thinks highly of himself, and his ideas about how to live life and run a business

Question 6

Mr Birling: “all mixed up together like bees in a hive” “community and all that nonsense”

Answer 6

• believes he is above caring for others
• rejects his responsibilities to others, failing to understand that everyone in society relies on each other for progress and a good standard of living
• “bees in a hive” => animalistic, portraying Socialism as primitive and demeaning

Question 7

Mr Birling: “unsinkable…absolutely unsinkable”

Answer 7

• Titanic = example of human progress, but as the audience we know it sinks
• Priestley uses Titanic as symbol for Capitalist ideas; represents strength, luxury and progress. The fact it sinks shows Priestley’s views about this government system

Question 8

“the sharp ring of a doorbell” - stage directions

Answer 8

• the sharpness bringing about the man who is about to correct Mr Birling’s attitudes
• cutting in with an unexpected interruption => about to completely upturn the lives and views of this family

Question 9

“an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness” - stage directions

Answer 9

• takes over from Mr Birling’s and Gerald’s dominance, showing that he will control what follows next
• don’t have to be a rich, capitalist businessman to be respected

Question 10

The Inspector: “a chain of events”

Answer 10

• everything is linked together
• the inspector, as Priestley’s mouthpiece, demonstrates to the Birlings how all actions have consequences because of how society works - nothing happens out of the blue
• metaphor, creates an image of connection and intimacy
• could also connote imprisonment; our social responsibilities is a duty we cannot escape - cost of living in society

Question 11

The Inspector: “And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?”

Answer 11

• misogynistic => views women as innocent, naive and weak
• contextual of the power and overusing nature of the patriarchy, particularly in 1912 (before women even got the vote)

Question 12

Sheila: “but these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people”

Answer 12

• immediately understands what the Inspector is telling her
• recognises how workers are exploited and dehumanised by employers, reduced to cheap labour + financial statistics rather than people
• contradicts her father with ideology like the Inspectors
• situational irony as she get Eva fired from her next job, which we find out later => hypocrisy of the upper classes + its easier to have beliefs of equality than to practice it

Question 13

Mrs Birling: “You seem to have made a great impression on this child Inspector”The Inspector: “We often do on the young ones”

Answer 13

• generational divide, highlights how the younger generation is more openminded to change, willing to adapt their ideologies if necessary
• Mrs Birling, however talks about this in a patronising tone, suggesting that this ability to adapt and develop is a bad thing

Question 14

Sheila: “You mustn’t try and build up a wall between us and that girl”

Answer 14

• quick to follow Inspectors lead, holding her family accountable
• seems she wants to make up for what she has done
• the wall = metaphor for class divide, implying that society is constructed to block certain people from reaching the same success and wealth as others => hierarchy is rigged

Question 15

Mrs Birling: “girls of that class”

Answer 15

• clear distinction between how Mrs Birling views herself compared to Eva
• “that” dehumanising her, suggesting she is vile and unworthy of even being referred to as a human due to her class
• views the lower class morally and socially inferior

Question 16

Mrs Birling: “as if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money”

Answer 16

• her prejudices and judgements show that she can’t even entertain the possibility that Eva wouldn’t want to accept stolen money => portraying lower class as greedy, immoral creatures
• suggests Eva should have abandoned her morals instead of bothering her with her problems, however Eva and the Inspector are the two most moral characters in the play

Question 17

Eric: “It’s what happened to the girl and what we did to her that matters… I don’t feel like sitting down and having a nice cosy talk”

Answer 17

• clear distinction between generations
• Eric is rejecting his fathers ideology of money, reputation and legibility being the most important matters of life
• Priestley encourages compassion and empathy with this quote
• Showing the mortality and motivation of the action is just as important as its consequences
• common for lower classes to be forgotten and neglected by the government, so Priestley continues to steer the focus back to Eva/what she went through and in turn all lower classes

Question 18

Mr Birling: “I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can”

Answer 18

• tension between Mr Birling and Eric, suggesting the culture of masculinity means they’ve never bonded as father and son
• Birling’s first priority is to cover up what Eric did before there is a public scandal
• its not the crimes Eric did (stealing money) that matters to him, its the way it affects his reputation he cares about
• Priestley suggest upper class culture = people valued reputation and deceit over morality
• willing to conceal what his son did, knowing it was wrong, to preserve his status

Question 19

The Inspector: “if men do not learn this lesson they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish”

Answer 19

• triadic structure => shows how the speech is supposed to be persuasive
• almost apocalyptic evoking a sense of godly wrath, conveying how serious and urgent Priestley finds this issue
• allusion to world wars, humanity’s selfishness and neglect is the cause of violence and conflict => Evas death being referred to as “burnt her insides out” links to this, showing the effects of humanity on both small and large scales

Question 20

The Inspector: “Millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths”

Answer 20

• triadic structure => shows how the speech is supposed to be persuasive
• her death symbolises worldwide suffering of the lower class

Question 21

The Inspector: “We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”

Answer 21

• triadic structure => shows how the speech is supposed to be persuasive
• duties we have as society to ensure its proper functioning
• one body => metaphor, creates an image of one human, showing how society is greater than the sum of its working parts - if one individual suffers, we all suffer

Question 22

Mr Birling: “look at them, the famous younger generation, and they can’t even take a joke”

Answer 22

• Birling believes his children are oversensitive, arrogant and foolish, enjoying the opportunity to mock them
• shows how little guilt and regret he feels
• situational irony as they are in fact right, a girl had died and the parents instantly regret what they said
• dramatic irony as the audience knows to side with the children, as all the “fire and blood and anguish” does come
• Priestley implies the arrogance + stubbornness of older generations, who want to uphold tradition, leaving themselves in power, are dangerous barriers to social progress and equality