Inspector Calls key quotes Flashcards
Mrs Birling
“I was perfectly justified”
- adverb perfectly shows certainty in her belief that she was justified for turning away Eva
- parallels her husband’s similar statement “I was quite justified” when explaining why he fired Eva (both perpetuating social norms)
Mrs Birling
“You’ll have to get used to that”
- modal verb have to shows certainty and urgency and shows she is perpetuating stereotypes
- verb phrase “get used” shows no room for change
- internalised sexist social norms
- Mrs Birling is complicit in upholding a firmly entrenched patriarchal ideology, despite sounding bitter about doing so
Sheila Birling
“I don’t believe I will”
in response to Mrs Birling’s speech about men having to focus all their time on their businesses when married
- hopes that she will break the cycle of accepting sexist social norms
- foreshadows the way Priestley will use Sheila to challenge the social norms later
Mrs Birling
“Girls of that class”
- scornful tone
- normal to commit suicide in the working class
- homogenises the working class
Sheila Birling
“Is it the one you wanted me to have?”
- man is in charge
Sheila Birling
“No, not yet. It’s too soon. I must think”
- monosyllabic word no undercut by adverb yet shows she might still be forced to marry Gerald, despite his infidelity
- modal must + verb think parallels the way in which Priestley is trying to make the audience think about their actions in this didactic play
- in 1912, women inevitable forgave their husbands’ infidelity for the sake of an advantageous marriage
Sheila Birling
“Impertinent is such a silly word”
- verbal motif impertinent signals her authority over Eva and challenges class divides
- significantly: criticises Mrs Birling saying it is a colloquial ‘silly’ word
Sheila Birling
“Oh, how horrible! Was it an accident?”
- genuine empathy + shows how shielded she is from the outside world
Sheila Birling asks if Eva Smith was “pretty”
- internalised the patriarchal way of judging a woman by her looks
Sheila Birling
“These girls aren’t cheap labour, they’re people”
- phrase cheap labour dehumanises working class women (victims of capitalist greed)
- italics of people recognises the societal failings of the upper class treating the working class and values sanctity of life. Sheila is the first to show this
Sheila Birling “runs out” after being shown a picture of Eva Smith
- running away from + abdicating responsibility
Sheila Birling
“So I’m really responsible?”
- first time she actively takes responsibility
Mr Birling about Eva Smith
“good worker”
- noun phrase shows she is an asset not an individual
Mr Birling about Eva Smith
“lively, good looking girl”
- women are objectified by what they look like (patriarchal status quo)
Inspector Goole about Eva Smith
“drank some disinfectant and died”
- direct (unlike Mr Birling)
- heavy plosive alliteration shows the statement is solemn yet accusatory
- disinfectant is affordable in contrast to the champagne and port that the Birlings and Gerald drink which heightens the social divide between the upper and working classes
Mr Birling
“The wretched girl’s suicide”
- suicide = blunt noun shows that her death is more of an inconvenience to him
- mild expletive wretched conveys his annoyance
- literal meaning to audience implies her horrible predicament
- infantilising noun girl dehumanises her and paint her as immature. suggesting she wasn’t in control of her decisions, leading to the tragedy
Mr Birling
“Working together for lower costs and higher prices”
- antithetical pair of adjectives emphasizes capitalist exploitation of working class labour for profit in order to further assist the middle classes financially
Mr Birling
“Hard-headed, practical man of business”
- Priestley creates a caricature of a pompous Mr Birling: his hubris and jingoism are almost comical
Mr Birling
“community and all that nonsense”
- dismissive noun nonsense shows his disdain for socialism
- contemptuous tone all that shows his further reluctance to listen to any ideals opposing capitalism
Mr Birling
“she had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go”
- women should know their place
- gendered stereotypes that women can’t speak
Mr Birling to Eric
“You’re the one I blame for this”
- hasn’t learnt collective responsibility
sharp ring of the front doorbell
- represents the avoidance of truth and disrupts Mr Birling’s capitalist diatribe
- as if the capitalist speech sparked the socialist Inspector’s arrival
Inspector Goole
“We don’t live alone. We are all members of one body”
- collective pronoun we addresses the audience as well as the family
- simple declarative statement is direct, the idea is not up for discussion
- metaphor of a body suggests society needs all parts to function together in order to survive (basic philosophy of the Welfare state that Priestley was trying to promote)
Inspector Goole
“If men will not learn that lesson, they will be taught it in fire, blood and anguish”
- semantic field of education parallels the didactic message and the fact that Priestley is trying to teach the audience about the dangers of perpetuating societal norms
- polysyndeton shows the sheer extent of suffering if people don’t work as a community, also shows the prolonged and deep suffering
- moral lesson
Inspector Goole
“You slammed the door in her face”
- capitalists create barriers (like doors) to prevent the working class from improving their lives
- metaphor shows such a barrier in action7
Inspector Goole
“Each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it”
- sharing responsibility
Inspector Goole
“Millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths”
- repetition to implement the extremely collective responsibility
Eric Birling
“My God”
- concerned and genuinely shows empathy
Eric Birling
“Oh - my God! How stupid it all is!”
- disjointed syntax shows genuine emotion
Eric Birling
“I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty”
“I threatened to make a row”
- vague determiner that shows what he is referring to is common to other men listening so doesn’t require detailed explanation
- indefinite article a, shows it can happen to any man (it was the social norm at the time)
- adjective nasty + verb turns shows the process is out of control of the man and that women were in danger if this happened
- e.g. when Eva would be turned out of her lodgings if she didn’t let him in
Eric Birling
“I insisted - it seems”
- verbal motif and verb insisted shows that males of a high status in a patriarchal society could control anyone without question
- clarification it seems + dash shows Eric’s memory of events was influenced by his inebriated state
Eric Birling
“she’d a bit more spirit than the others”
- contrasts Mr Birling
- challenges female stereotypes
Gerald Croft
“I insisted on Daisy moving into those rooms”
- verbal motif + verb insisted shows how men wield power over others and shows the assumed superiority in a patriarchal society where men would be obeyed without question
Gerald Croft
“Nearly any man would have done”
- indefinite determiner any excuses his behaviour because of similar men’s (like Charlie Brunswick) actions at the time
- Gerald is a representative of men in Edwardian society who uphold the societal norms
decanter of port, cigar box and cigarettes
serves as a physical manifestation of ostentatious wealth and represents the materialism of the capitalist society that the play challenges
Mr Birling
“giving us the port Edna?”
Edna is silent and represents the servility and lack of voice for the working class
Mrs Birling
“Arthur, you’re not supposed to say such things”
shows she is class-conscious, like scolding a child, not a husband
Sheila Birling
“Daddy” to “Dad” to “Father”
- her maturing and learning to subvert gender roles and question her father
photograph of Eva Smith
- symbolises the Inspector’s power, the objectification of women, the characters facing their guilt, the ounce of power Eva has to force everyone to face the truth
Crofts Limited
- Mr Birling weaponises social class as a threat against the Inspector and further emphasizes his concern about business rather than being empathetic towards Eva’s predicament
Daisy Renton
- daisies in the spring = new start + common + innocent
- rent (pay money to use her)
