Titanic could symbolise his family as he believes they are untouchable ( just as the society thought the titanic was ) until the inspector’s arrival gives them a rude awakening to reality. Dramatic irony is set to give a negative and unserious image of the character. Could foreshadow that an incoming iceberg ( the Inspector ) will break down portentous beliefs that mr birling upholds, fracturing the birlings tranquility and serenity.

Mr birling- “the titanic…unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”

 The alliteration in “hard- headed” suggests that Mr Briling is an  unfeeling character and so is the capitalist society at that time towards people like Eva smith. This quote is an allusion of the language of prime minister Stanley Baldwin, who criticised capitalist people by accusing them of profiting from war. The noun business suggests that he views  every concern as a business commitment, even Sheila’s marriage. this highlights the character is heartlessness and immorality. 

mr birling- “i’m talking as a hard headed practical man of business” 

  Here, Mr Burling criticises the younger generation in a rather immature manner. The noun joke signifies that he views Eva smith’s  is suffering and dreadful pain as a joke which emphasises the characters lack of morality and benevolence.

Mr birling- “the famous younger generation… they can’t even take a joke-“

 Mrs Burling is a dismissive character. Priestly uses her construct to attack the ideology of social hierarchies, and the wrongfulness behind such divide. Priestley does this by showing how selfish and immoral capitalist beliefs sustain a divide in society by incriminating even further separation from people due to their income. Priestley’s purpose is to show the need for a welfare state for those in need  who are criticised by capitalists, like Mrs Burling, who are supposed to help.

 Sybil was a Greek myth, famous for having a gift of prophecy and the ability to see the future, this is ironic as she refuses to understand the truth, this highlights her willful blindness. She also exhibits this blindness by expecting Sheila to turn a blind eye to Geralds infidelity. The quote “just as I had” expands on how she could also be a victim of the sexist, patriarchal society that forced her to get used to that kind of behaviour from men.

Mrs Briling- “ i don’t believe it, i won’t believe it” 

 This quote highlights Erics anticapitalist  ideology. Priestley uses Eric, who is the representative of the younger generation, to show there is still hope of change within the society. Furthermore, this emphasises the generational gap in the play that Priestly wants to change. The repetition of the adjective highest for both lower and upper classes gives a sense of equality from Eric’s perspective and it shows how he is less discriminatory and his parents.

Eric- “we try for the highest profits, why shouldn’t they try for the highest wages?”

 The phrase that states suggest everyone in the patriarchal society knows what he means, the phrase means abusing and exploiting the woman in the Victorian era, and this was normalised, as people were to understand what he meant. He uses this as self-justification as he refers to himself as “a chap” rather than  “I”  to avoid responsibility, just like his parents do who represent the older generation.

Eric- “in that state when a chap turns nasty”

 This highlights his attractiveness that many were misled by to believe he’s a good character in a play. However, he is cruel and a driven by capitalist views. The juxtaposition of this tells his views just how horrible capitalist men are towards women. He also views Eva as a prostitute and refers to her as “woman of the town” instead of calling her what he means, this is because of his status and lack of power at the moment.

 Gerald is kind, but deceitful, and is constructed to show that good men are still cruel if they are capitalist. This contrasts “wonderful fairly Prince” to highlight just how misleading that statement was as well as revealing just how horrible he is as he betrays Sheila.

Gerald- “Daisy knew it was coming to an end”

He did not attribute Eva Smith’s such importance as he saw her as a materialistic pleasure, the verb “allowed”  diminishes Eva and shows how he has a complex of superiority , which then expands to the patriarchal beliefs and shows his sexual exploitation that he did to Eva.

Gerald- “ she live very economically on what I’d allowed her”

 Hugo, Sheila refused to take Gerald‘s ring back. She uses phrases reminiscent to the inspector in her reply when Gerald asks if she wants the ring. This emphasises importance of timing as the phone ring straight after leaving the readers tensed and waiting for them to pick up the phone. 

Sheila- “not yet… it’s too soon” 

 Priestley uses irony as she is appalled by her parents attitudes to carrying on as before even after the lesson the inspector tried to teach them. This also emphasises how she completely disagrees with her parents and the capitalist views on instead understands  moral consequences of her actions. this highlights the tension between young and older generations at the time.

Sheila- “i suppose we’re all nice people now”

 Play starts with Sheila calling Mrs Birling “mommy”, the use of personal pronouns highlights a selfish and childlike attitude in the beginning. later on when Sheila changes her attitude, she refers to her as “mother” this reflects the change and it doesn’t feel as intimate; has lost respect for Mrs briling because of the way she is behaving. Priestley could deliberately have used the personal pronouns of  “mommy” in the beginning to emphasise the big change Sheila goes through. 

Sheila- “ Yes go on mommy” “Mother”

 Presley demonstrate Sheila’s recognition of the inspectors message as she rejects Mr Birling is the humanising capital is approach people and business. It could be that Priestly uses her as a model example to imply that the society could be just like her, and that they should be like her.

Sheila- “these girls aren’t cheap labour- they’re peopl”

 Violence of Eva Smith’s death is portrayed in a gruesome weight in order to shock the Birling‘s, but especially Sheila as she becomes his proxy. this emphasises to the audience how terrible the crime Birlings is have committed.  “of course” has a nonchalant tone, which implies how it has been normalised for work in classes to be oppressed.

Inspector Goole- “Burnt her insides out of course… she was in great agony”

 This metaphor suggest capitalist society presented by Briling and Gerald is rapacious, so thirsty for power that they will consume the Earth because of their greed. 

Inspectore Goole- “After all it is better to ask for the Earth than to take it”  

 Signals the audience that Eva represents the working class in a population who are being exploited by upper classes. The repition of the noun “millions” highlights how many people will end up like Eva Smith if no change happens. 

Inspector Goole- “ millions and millions and millions of Eva Smith and John Smith still left with us”

 The biblical imagery references to the last supper when Jesus shared his bread to his disciples and states that  they are all members of one body, the bread representing the body. This is effective as majority of the audience was Christian. Therefore connecting their religion to morality exhibits the socialism in their beliefs. He’s basically saying that if you’re Christian, you have to be socialist.

Inspector Goole- “ we are all members of one body” 

 These are his final words and a semantic field of violence, pain and hell is used in order to criticise capitalism as a cause of war. There is also biblical reference as hell links in religion, he emphasises that those who believe in capitalism will end up in hell if they don’t change and start taking responsibility as well as caring for each other. 

Inspector Goole- “ they will be taught in fire, blood and anguish” 

English (UK)

Flashcards for characters  to secure a grade 7 and above.

Flashcard

Aleksandra

United Kingdom

DEFAULT (England)

English Literature

An inspector calls quotes and analysis 

Cool flashcards for high grades! Find quotes for each character, Mr. Birling, and Inspector Goole. Get character analysis and themes in our PDF, perfect for GCSE and grade 9 essays. Use these to score high!

An Inspector Calls Quotes and Analysis PDF for Grade 7 and 9

Flashcards

An Inspector Calls Quotes and Analysis PDF for Grade 7 and 9

Flashcards