An Inspector Calls Flashcards
(17 cards)
MR Birling at the start of the extract (before Inspector arrives)
“community and all that nonsense […] A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.”
MR Birling is presented as self-centered and selfish, mocking the very idea of assisting others or of concerning one’s self about their welfare.
MR Birling in the middle of the play (during Inspector’s visit)
“It’s my duty to keep labour costs down.”
He is selfish, materialistic and cannot conceive of doing anything that would lesson his profits - duty shows just how seriously he takes this principle; he sees it as vital to accumulate as much as possible.
MR Birling at the end of the play (when Inspect has left)
“(jovially) But the whole thing’s different now”
This reveals an immoral value system in that he cannot see that - despite the girl not being dead - his actions were still deplorable.
Mrs Birling at the start of the play (before the arrival of the Inspector)
“[Mrs Birling] is about fifty, a rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior.”
She is socially arrogant and exudes elitism. she is also presented as callous and cold-hearted.
Mrs Birling in the middle of the play (during the inspector’s visit)
“I don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that sort […] As if a girl of that class would ever refuse money.”
Mrs Birling’s elitist, judgemental and dismissive attitude towards the working class is seen in her unwillingness to consider why the girl died. She shows contempt towards Eva and girls of a lower class.
Mrs Birling at the end of the play (after the Inspector leaves)
(agitated) I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it…
She is presented as obstinate/stubborn and is unwilling to accept that everybody in society is connected; her elitist views are too entrenched.
Sheila at the start of the play (before the inspector’s arrival)
“Mummy” / “Don’t be an ass Eric”
She appears to be immature and childlike.
Sheila in the middle of the play (during Inspector’s visit)
“But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people” / “You mustn’t try to build up a wall between us and that girl.”
She has a moral conscience and she bravely battles to try and eradicate her mother’s class bias/blindness. She understands the connection between the classes in society.
Sheila at the end of the play (after the Inspector leaves)
“Everything we said had happened really had happened. if it didn’t end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done […] You’re pretending everything’s just as it was before!”
Sheila, again, shows her moral compass and is embarrassed that her family seem willing to disregard their appalling behaviour as long as it doesn’t affect them.
Eric at the start of the play (before the Inspector’s arrival)
‘Eric suddenly guffaws. His parents look at him […] “I suddenly felt I just had to laugh”.
He appears to be childish, impulsive and impetuous.
Eric during the play (during the Inspector’s visit)
“well, I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty - and I threatened to make a row.”
he has a lack of self-control and there is an unpleasant sense of aggression/impulsive behaviour. Also, again childish in his threats to make a row.
Eric at the end of the play (after the inspector’s visit)
“I’m ashamed of you as well. Yes, both of you […] I did what I did. And mother did what she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her […] It’s what happened to the girl and what we did to her that matters.”
He is more mature, remorseful and aware of how his actions impact others.
Gerald at the end of Act 1
“all right, I knew her. let’s leave it at that.”
This suggests he is evasive and also dismissive - he believes he can always set the agenda.
Gerald during the play (during the visit of the Inspector)
“The girl… gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for help […] I insisted on Daisy moving into those rooms and I made her take some money to keep her going there.”
Gerald assumes the patriarchal role of the dominant male viewing females as weak and in need of guidance/rescuing.
He exploits her poverty and creates a situation where she is in his debt and feels like she owes him.
Gerald at the end of the play (after the Inspector has left)
“Everything’s all right now, Sheila. (Holds up the ring.) What about this ring?”
This could present him as manipulative and as someone who feels he can use his intellect and background to excuse anything.
Immoral – willing to overlook his indiscretions/unpleasant behaviour.
Inspector Goole
“So that after two months, with no work, no money coming in, and living in lodgings, with no relatives to help her, few friends, lonely, half-starved, she was feeling desperate […] It would do us all a bit of good if sometimes we tried to put ourselves in the place of these young women counting their pennies in their dingy little back bedrooms.”
Priestley conveys the message that the selfish, immoral behaviour of the upper classes creates an underclass of vulnerable, impoverished individuals.
hhh
