Inspector Calls Quotes

Question 1

• A heavy looking, rather portentous man… provincial in this speech

Mr Birling

Answer 1

Mr Birling is described as being “heavy looking” as though he has strength and weight behind him, but as he only “looks” that way – is it real? Provincial means from the country – does he lack sophistication?

Question 2

unsinkable, absolutely, unsinkable

Mr Birling

Answer 2

This piece of dramatic irony exposes Birling’s arrogance. The Titanic did sink – and so he was wrong. His repetition makes him sound even more confident

Question 3

This piece of dramatic irony exposes Birling’s arrogance. The Titanic did sink – and so he was wrong. His repetition makes him sound even more confident

Mr Birling

Answer 3

Mr Birling ridicules the idea of working together – comparing us to bees in a hive: insects with no ability to think for ourselves

Question 4

a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his….

Mr Birling

Answer 4

Mr Birling’s selfishness is so deeply rooted he thinks he “has to” look after himself – as though being selfish was some kind of rule

Question 5

I can’t accept any responsibility for everything that happens to everyone

Mr Birling

Answer 5

Now his ability to look after other people is presented as though it’s a kind of disability! He “can’t” accept any responsibility for anyone else. Also, the “everything that happens to everyone” is a piece of hyperbole that’s designed to make the suggestion that he should care more sound ridiculous

Question 6

Well, it’s my duty to keep labour costs down

Mr Birling

Answer 6

“Duty” comes up repeatedly during the play – Mr Birling thinks it’s his duty to keep costs down so that his customers can enjoy his product and he can compete. He has no care for the real cost of this

Question 7

we’ve been had that’s all

Mr Birling

Answer 7

In the end, he doesn’t care and he hasn’t learnt anything. He sees the whole thing as a game

Question 8

girls of that class

Mrs Birling

Answer 8

Mrs Birling clearly draws a distinction between her and Eva – she is “that” class.

Question 9

• if you think you can bring any pressure to bear upon my Inspector, you’re quite mistaken

Mrs Birling

Answer 9

Mrs Birling’s arrogance – the inspector won’t affect her. Her tone is almost patronising as well

Question 10

You have no power to make me change my mind

Mrs Birling

Answer 10

The Inspector has “no power” over her – no ability to change her – she sees power as being entirely down to privilege and the idea that he might reason with her is not something she could contemplate

Question 11

I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it.

Mrs Birling

Answer 11

Is this Mrs Birling’s truth? That she “won’t” see the truth – she refuses to

Question 12

I did no more than my duty

Mrs Birling

Answer 12

Her duty is to pass judgments on the lower classes. That is what she did and she’s unapologetic about it

Question 13

I accept no blame for it at all

Mrs Birling

Answer 13

Again – a refusal to accept any responsibility for what happened

Question 14

• I was the only one who didn’t give in to him

Mrs Birling

Answer 14

Even in the end she is determined to maintain her sense of superiority

Question 15

Oh – Gerald – you’ve got it – is it the one you wanted me to have? … Look mummy, isn’t a beauty!

Shiela

Answer 15

Sheila can’t make her own decisions – she’s just a child (and a woman) Her reference to her mummy also exposes how child-like she is, while the fact that she shows off her ring and not her husband shows that she is shallow and materialistic

Question 16

I’ll never, never, do it to anybody again

Shiela

Answer 16

She shows regret – and repeats a promise to change

Question 17

They’re not cheap labour, they’re people

Shiela

Answer 17

She doesn’t see Eva by virtue of how much she costs to employ, she sees her as a person

Question 18

You and I aren’t the same people who sat down to dinner here.

Shiela

Answer 18

Shows that both her and Gerald have changed – Gerald changes back, she doesn’t

Question 19

Between us we drove that girl to commit suicide.

Shiela

Answer 19

She accepts and shares responsibility in the way the inspector taught

Question 20

The point is – you don’t seem to have learnt anything

Shiela

Answer 20

She’s now grown up and tells her parents off

Question 21

It’s you two who are being childish – trying not to face the facts.

Shiela

Answer 21

The best line to show Sheila’s growth – now her parents are the young ones

Question 22

Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices.

Eric

Answer 22

Eric recognises that capitalism should allow for workers to push for better wages as well as Mr Birling tries to lower them – she sees the workers as being independent people

Question 23

I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty

Eric

Answer 23

A euphemism for his rape shows just how little he thought – or thinks – about what he did

Question 26

• The girl’s dead and we all killed her

Eric

Answer 26

He accepts responsibility

Question 26

She was young and pretty and warm-hearted - and intensely grateful.

Gerald

Answer 26

Gerald speaks highly of her and is clearly flattered by how much she appreciates him. But he goes on to treat her appallingly anyway

Question 29

I’m rather more – upset – by this business than I probably appear to be –

Gerald

Answer 29

Gerald is two-faced – was he really upset by this? Or has he just realised that he should be upset by this!

Question 30

It may have all been nonsense

Gerald

Answer 30

He begins to change back – if he can get out of the problem, then it didn’t really happen

Question 31

He creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity, and purposefulness

Inspector

Answer 31

A list of adjectives that really show what the Inspector is made of. Though, like Birling, he only gives an “impression” of it

Question 32

It’s better to ask for the earth than take it

Inspector

Answer 32

Is this a veiled threat of revolution from the inspector? The Russian workers rose up in 1917 and took Russia back.

Question 33

A chain of events

Inspector

Answer 33

We are all connected in the inspector’s view – links in a chain

Question 34

The lighting should be pink and intimate until the inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder.

Staging

Answer 34

This stage direction portrays the capitalist and nonchalant atmosphere in a pink and soft light that the play opens with, suggesting that it is ‘rosy’ - like the Birlings are looking at the world through rose tinted spectacles, unlike reality. It suggests that the events inside the household are somehow unrealistic, or sheltered, as most of the characters are protected by their wealth. When the inspector arrives, however, he brings a brighter and harder light, which shines lights on everything, dispelling this rosy atmosphere, replacing it with reality. The inspector is in this sense like a literal torch, shining a light on falsehood, so the inspector is the moral correctness in this story.

Question 35

‘Arthur Birling is a heavy looking, rather portentous man’

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 35

The fact that Mr Birling’s stage directions “heavy looking,” suggests that he has a certain gravitas, or a weight of character – though it’s worth noting that he is only heavy “looking” so this may be deceitful. Also, it shows that he is well fed and therefore well off. Someone who is “Portentous” is overly solemn, as if trying to impress, which suggests he takes himself a little too seriously.

Question 36

“the Titanic –unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” –Mr Birling (Act 1)

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 36

This portrays the didactic nature of Mr Birling, and goes to highlight the Edwardian hubris (pride/confidence) of the time. It’s unrealistically positive, and also shows that Mr Birling thinks that he knows it all (by the repetition). This is more dramatic irony, and it also highlights his arrogance.

Question 37

“there’s a fair chance that I might find my way into the next Honours List. Just a knighthood, of course.” – Mr Birling (Act 1)
“I care. I was almost certain for a knighthood in the next Honours List” – Mr Birling (Act 3)

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 37

Birling’s dream is social climbing, and may also imply that the reason that Mr Birling has married a relatively poor aristocrat (Mrs Birling) was as a trade deal – he gets to climb the social ladder (be part of the aristocracy to some extent), and she gets the money, and by that we can infer the shallow nature of the family. Sheila’s marriage is arguably a part of the same plan. But Mr Birling’s truly blind and ruthless nature isn’t really exposed until later in the play when he claims to care about what happened to Eva, but only on the grounds that it might block this ambition. He is truly, deeply selfish.

Question 38

“don’t get into a police court or start a scandal, eh?” – Mr Birling (Act 1)

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 38

Foreshadowing of the entire accusation involving Eva Smith. Priestley loved being a part of an in-joke with the audience, and - we must assume - that a line like this will be interpreted by most viewers as a big neon sign saying: Scandal to Come! Watch This Space! This kind of action in a play is referred to as an example of Chekov’s Gun - which is a law of narrative that states that if a gun appears in the opening, it is sure to be used by the end. In this case, the fact that Mr Birling has made it clear that all is well as long as he avoids a scandal, is a sure sign that a scandal is coming!

Question 39

“But the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up, together like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense.” – Mr Birling (Act 1)

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 39

He’s calling socialists cranks - a kind of patronising term for mad people - and denounces the very ideas of socialism, by saying that the entire system is weak, annoying and subhuman (insect like, like bees.) Capitalists also attack socialism as they say it degrades human individuality, suggesting that socialists require us all to live like one enormous machine with no individual rights. Mr Birling’s comparison to bees supports this - he’s saying that if we were to live collectively, as the inspector wants, we’d be no better than a hive of insects.

Question 40

“But take my word for it, you youngsters – and I’ve learnt in the good hard school of experience – that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own – and –“ – Mr Birling (Act 1)

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 40

This again shows how he thinks he knows it all, as he thinks of himself as an elder teaching the younger generation which will succeed his, evident by his use of the term ‘youngsters’, and portrays his arrogance and capitalist views, and he’s cut off right after by the sharp ring of the doorbell. This is Inspector Goole, who, like the doorbell, cuts off the assertions of Birling like a sharp ring, implying that it may somehow cause pain – to the Edwardian hubris, and is used by Priestly to show that Mr Birling is disreputable, as it abruptly cuts him off.

Question 41

“a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own – and…” We hear the sharp ring of a front doorbell

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 41

Mr Birling perfectly summarises his capitalist sentiment when he tells Gerald and Eric that “a man has to mind his own business.” Here, he is instilling in Gerald a set of masculine values that are, basically, just about being selfish. By adding the phrase “his own” he attempts to make it seem less selfish by bringing a family into it, but, fundamentally: he’s telling his son and soon to be son-in-law to look after themselves. It is at this point when the stage directions announce the arrival of the Inspector with a “sharp ring of a front doorbell” – the sharpness bringing about the man who will now correct Mr Birling’s attitudes. It’s also worth noting that the Inspector is described as imposing and powerful and that these are things that masculinity would have traditionally valued so it’s fair to say that the inspector, despite his care and compassion, is no less ‘traditionally masculine’ than Mr Birling!

Question 42

(impatiently) “Yes, yes. Horrid business.” – Mr Birling (Act 1)

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 42

The repetition of yes in the opening here betrays how annoying he finds this whole thing - he doesn’t care about lower class people at all, and shows no empathy; in fact, he’s clearly annoyed by the whole thing. Also, the way he refers to it as “business” reveals something about how he views everything, even the tragic death of a young girl: to him it is all business..

Question 43

I can’t accept any responsibility for everything that happens to everyone

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 43

At one point, Mr Birling claims that he “can’t” accept any responsibility for what happens to other people. Here the modal verb “can’t” suggests that doesn’t feel that he doesn’t want to do this, but that he simply isn’t capable of doing it. The use of the adjective “any” reinforces this, as it isn’t just this particular responsibility it is any responsibility at all. It’s interesting to propose that this is as a result of Mr Birling’s provincial roots – he worked his way out of possible poverty and has earned what he now has. It is understandable that many people who have worked hard from lowly beginnings end up with a more selfish and unsympathetic approach to life later on.

Question 44

“Well, it’s my duty to keep labour costs down”– Mr Birling (Act 1)

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 44

He makes it seem as if he has a moral obligation to be rich, and stay upper class, as if capitalism, or his purist view on it, is what keeps society together. This is a common view of capitalists, and right wing people in general: that they have a responsibility to work for their own ends; that it is their duty to compete for the best, as it is through competition that society advances. Socialists think progress is achieved through cooperation, capitalists believe that progress is achieved through competition.

Question 45

“Look, Inspector – I’d give thousands – yes, thousands-” – Mr Birling (Act 3)

Staging (MR Birling)

Answer 45

Still as capitalist as he was before, as he thinks money can cover for a dead girl. He, like Scrooge, only sees things in terms of their material worth. Also, depending on how this line is delivered it could be seen as a bribe to the inspector?

Question 46

“Everything’s all right now, Sheila” – Gerald (Act 3)

Staging (Mr Birling)

Answer 46

He’s reverted back to his former patronising tone with Sheila – so long as he wasn’t to blame for any suicides, he’s happy. Gerald goes on to find out that Inspector Goole isn’t even part of the police force, and that Eva Smith/Daisy Renton doesn’t exist and seems more at ease than before, and doesn’t seem ‘shaken’ at all by the events that had taken place, and he seems to form an ‘alliance’ with the older Birlings, by confirming the Inspector wasn’t real, and shows that he was unable to change. Over the course of the play, he changed to a more moral and humanistic person, but changed back to his former self, at the very chance of possibly being let off this crime. Though it shows he expresses regret if it did happen, it shows that he doesn’t care if he wasn’t involved. In a nutshell: he thinks he got away with it, so he’s happy now.

Question 47

“Arthur, you shouldn’t be saying such things” –Mrs Birling (Act 1)

Staging (Mrs Birling)

Answer 47

Mrs Birling is a woman of higher class who has married Mr Birling, for his wealth. We have to assume that although she is aristocracy she is no longer wealthy - she represents the large number of aristocrats who, by Edwardian England, had lost their wealth. He was complementing the chef, and she is reprimanding him because he complimented a person of a lower class. This highlights how she is ‘stuck-up’ and sees herself as the better of Mr Birling.

Question 48

Mrs Birling: When you’re married you’ll realise 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. - Mrs Birling (Act 1)

Staging (Mrs Birling)

Answer 48

Mrs Birling reminds Sheila of her place. As a quote this emphasises just how engrained the patriarchy was (the patriarchy is the social system that kept men in power) because in it we can see Mrs Birling almost teaching her daughter that she will have to accept being ignored in favour of business. However, at the end of the quote Mrs Birling does express some dissatisfaction, admitting that she had to “get used” to it, something which at least makes it clear that she didn’t like the situation. The quote also, however, reminds us how hard men like Birling had to work in order to build and maintain their businesses, suggesting that the system didn’t entirely help them either.

Question 49

“absurd business” – Mrs Birling (Act 2)

Staging (Mrs Birling)

Answer 49

She calls the entire case concerning Eva Smith ‘absurd’, which is euphemism, which she is using to downplay the scenario, and therefore any responsibility that any of them bare in it, and highlights her aristocratic uncaring nature concerning the lower classes – she doesn’t care at all, she thinks it’s stupid. Also, like Mr Birling, she refers to the death of Eva as a business - suggesting that she sees a connection between financial reward and human life.

Question 50

“Girls of that class-“ – Mrs Birling (Act 2)

Staging (Mrs Birling)

Answer 50

Again, a demonstration of Mrs Birling’s snobbery, in which she first said ‘we can’t understand why the girl committed suicide’, and with the pronoun “that,” it is suggested that she thinks of them as completely separate from her, and the ‘that’ makes it seem as if she is denouncing them, as if they are vulgar or “other.”

Question 51

“You know of course that my husband was Lord Mayor only two years ago, and that he’s still a magistrate-“ – Mrs Birling (Act 2)

Staging (Mrs Birling)

Answer 51

Mrs Birling is trying to reinstate the fact that her husband bares great power, and tries to use this to stop him from ‘offending’ them, and make him go – she’s trying to use wealth and influence to undermine the law, which further highlights how she sees herself as above the common person, just due to the wealth and influence, despite supposedly being the same sort of citizen as them, of a country.

Question 52

“Women of the town?” – Mrs Birling (Act 2)

Mrs Birling

Answer 52

Again, Mrs Birling is using euphemisms to talk of people of a lower class than herself, as she is referring to prostitutes, and again separating them from herself. This extreme self-centeredness and disdain for the lower classes is what Priestly is arguing against, by using such a snobby character to present those views, we dislike the character, and we get that we should also dislike those views. This is especially telling in Mrs Birling as she runs the charitable institute. We have to ask why a woman who holds the views she does would run an institute for desperate women, if not solely to wallow in the power it gives her.

Question 53

(shocked) “Eric! You stole money?” – Mrs Birling (Act 3)

Mrs Birling

Answer 53

More shocked at Eric stealing money than at the entire case concerning Eva Smith, including the actions they’d done, again highlights how she doesn’t care at all for Eva Smith, as anything that happened to her doesn’t concern her that much. This also shows the lack of change that Mrs Birling has undergone, contrasting the younger generation, and paralleling Mr Birling. It also highlights just how little she understands of her son!

Question 54

Mrs Birling

Question 55

(half serious, half playful) “Yes – except for last summer, when you never came near me” –Sheila (Act 1)

Shiela

Answer 55

Suggesting that she doesn’t fully trust him, despite the fact that they’re going to be married soon, but again shows how she is childish, and relatively light-hearted, as she is still ‘half playful’ even in something which could be seen as quite serious.

Question 56

“You’re squiffy” –Sheila, to Eric (Act 1)

Shiela

Answer 56

Colloquial language, she is saying that Eric is drunk, and highlights their casual brother / sister relationship, a childish one at that, despite them both being over 18 years old. Also shows that Eric drinks too much, so is quite immature and doesn’t really know self-restraint.

Question 57

Oh – Gerald – you’ve got it – is it the one you wanted me to have?

Shiela

Answer 57

When Sheila is given the ring, she asks Gerald if it’s the one “you wanted me to have.” Here, she completely removes the idea that she might have feelings about which ring she gets. This reflects both her position as a woman in a patriarchal society, and how, as a young girl, she still needs to have decisions made for her. It’s as if she wants to please other people so much that her own opinions don’t matter – this will change once her conscience is awakened by the arrival of the inspector.