An Inspector Calls (Themes) Flashcards
Responsibility - A1
Birling: ‘If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn’t it?’
Birling: ‘a man has to look after himself’
Inspector: ‘a chain of events’
Sheila: ‘But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people’
Class - A1
Birling: ‘lower costs and higher prices’
Sheila: ‘But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people’
Eric: ‘It isn’t if you can’t go and work somewhere else’
Gender - A1
Eric: ‘I left ‘em talking about clothes again […] Women are potty about ‘em.’
Sheila: ‘But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people’
Mrs. Birling: (To Sheila) ‘When you’re married you’ll realize 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’
Duty - A1
Birling: ‘Well it’s my duty to keep labour costs down’
Birling: ‘A man has to look after himself’
Age - A1
Sheila: ‘Oh –it’s wonderful! Look –mummy –isn’t it a beauty?’
Sheila: ‘But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people’
Reputation - A1
Gerald: ‘You seem to be a nice well-behaved family’
Birling: ‘Well it’s my duty to keep labour costs down’
Irony - A1
Gerald: ‘You seem to be a nice well-behaved family’
Birling: ‘Fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war’
Eva Smith - A1
Eric: ‘It isn’t if you can’t go and work somewhere else’
Eric: ‘Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?’
Birling: ‘She was a lively good-looking girl’
Responsibility - A2
Inspector: ‘You see, we have to share something. If there’s nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt’
Inspector: ‘Public men […] have responsibilities as well as privileges’
Gerald: ‘I didn’t ask for anything in return’
Mrs. Birling: ‘Go and look for the father of the child. It’s his responsibility’
Class - A2
Inspector: ‘Public men […] have responsibilities as well as privileges’
Inspector: ‘She needed not only money but advice, sympathy, friendliness […] and you slammed the door in her face’
Birling: ‘The press might easily take it up’
Gender - A2
Inspector: ‘And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?’
Gerald: ‘I hate those hard-eyed dough-faced women’
Gerald: ‘I suppose it was inevitable. She was young and pretty’
Duty - A2
Inspector: ‘You see, we have to share something. If there’s nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt’
Inspector: ‘Public men […] have responsibilities as well as privileges’
Mrs. Birling: ‘We’ve done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases’
Age - A2
Inspector: ‘Young ones’ are ‘more impressionable’
Inspector: ‘And you think young women ought to be protected from unpleasant and disturbing things?’
Mrs. Birling: Describes Sheila as ‘over-excited’
Mrs. Birling: ‘You’re behaving like an hysterical child tonight’
Reputation - A2
Sheila: (About Eric) ‘He’s been steadily drinking too much for the last two years’
Inspector: ‘Public men […] have responsibilities as well as privileges’
Mrs. Birling: ‘We’ve done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases’
Birling: ‘The press might easily take it up’
Irony - A2
Inspector: ‘And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?’
Gerald: ‘I didn’t ask for anything in return’
Mrs. Birling: ‘We’ve done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases’
Mrs. Birling: ‘Go and look for the father of the child. It’s his responsibility’
