Inspector calls quotes Flashcards
Mr Birling/dramatic irony
‘some people say that war’s inevitable’
dramatic irony
the audience knows that he is wrong, and so they lose trust in his character
shows how his character is flawed before it is even revealed what he has done
Sheila/jealousy
Eva was pretty and so Sheila feels that she ‘couldn’t feel sorry for her’
this is her initial reaction, but later she takes responsibility showing how her character changes while others do not
Priestley does this to highlight how our reactions influence the effect we have on others
Mrs Birling/social prejudice
‘a girl of that sort would ever refuse money’
she assumes things about Eva without even knowing her based on her class alone
her idea about her is wrong, showing how character should not be based on prejudices
Gerald/hypocrisy
‘Daisy knew it was coming to an end’
He denies that what he did was wrong, as he feels that he didn’t take advantage of her. However she had no choice but to go along with what he said
Gerald kept it secret from Sheila, and ended his relationship with Eva on the basis that he was going away, which is a weak idea.
He is hypocritical because he ‘saves’ her from ‘old-man Meggarty’, but thinks its ok for him to take advantage of her
Inspector/responsibility
‘we are all members of one body’
shows how we are equally important and must all work together to look after one another
direct message from Priestley to the audience of social responsibility
challenges idea of capitalism against socialism
inspector/symbolism
‘there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths’
represents how Eva Smith is just a symbol that other people can relate to
‘Smith’ is a common name, shows how she isn’t just one person
inspector/warning
‘they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish’
a warning both to the people in the play and the audience
reference to hell and the end of the world
reference to WW1, which happens after the time the play is set in, but before it was written
reference to the fate of Eva Smith and the painful way she died in order to teach the Birlings a lesson
Eric/responsibility
‘we all helped to kill her’
shows how he accepts responsibility for her death, and changes by the end of the play
he shows that by taking responsibility they can look after other people
inspector/guilt
‘if nothing else we’ll have to share our guilt’
message of how the burden of guilt can be lessened if they all work together to take repsonsibility
Mrs Birling/men vs women
‘men with important work to do’
implies that women don’t have important work, this idea is challenged in the play by Sheila who directly goes against her mother’s ideas
Eva
‘she only had herself to blame’
she has no lines in the play, showing how she is powerless and silent, and how easy it is for others to judge or say things about her which she can’t fight back against
brief plot
- birlings are happy
- inspector shows up
- we learn that a girl died
- was fired by Mr Birling
- we learn that Sheila got her fired from another shop
- Gerald had an affair with her
- Sybil refused to help her
- Eric got her pregnant
- the inspector leaves
- a girl then dies
What should you do when answering the question?
link to different parts of the play
