Notesale: Turn your study into money

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A​N​ I​NSPECTOR​ C​ALLS​ - C​HARACTERS​ ​AND​ ​THEMES
ARTHUR BIRLING
W​HAT​ I​ S​ T​ HIS​ ​CHARACTER​ ​LIKE​?
● Egotistical, Chauvinistic, Self-regarding, Disinclined, Capitalist, Intransigent,
Adamant, Avaricious, Mercenary, Rapacious, Sanctimonious, Polarised
● Mr Birling is Priestley’s socialist depiction of the vast majority of his class and
generation at the time and is a culmination of everything Priestley fought
against in society – the chauvinistic capitalists
...

● Arthur Birling’s significance is to represent the absurdity and shallowness of
capitalism and the evident need for revolutionary developments to be made to
society
...

● Priestley makes him the antithesis of the Inspector through the use of his
dictation and authority - Birling has artificial authority based on money and
social prestige, whereas the Inspector has authority deriving from morality and
justice and has the power to influence the mindset of many people
...

● ‘You ought to like this port, Gerald
...
Finchley told me
it's the same port your father gets from him’​ - socially insecure as Gerald
exceeds him in terms of social status, Priestley is using the port as a symbol to
reveal that Mr Birling is a materialistic character who cares about his status
and reputation above all else, uses it to ingratiate himself to his prospective
son-in-law
...
And after all I don’t often
make speeches at you-' ​– highlights his attempts to indoctrinate Sheila with
capitalist propaganda, the direct address to Sheila exhibits that Mr Birling
wants Shelia’s utmost attention as he expresses his materialistic ideologies
such, presenting Birling as manipulative and calculated
...

‘Clothes mean something quite different to a woman
...

‘I’m talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business’​ – doesn’t let
sentiment get in the way of whatever he needs to do to succeed, his prime
motive is to keep wages down and maximise profit, he has a high opinion of his
own importance, alliteration conveys a sense of aggression and forcefulness
...

Don't worry
...
They were joined by dockworkers, ironworkers, printers,
railwaymen, steelworkers and transport workers
...

‘I say there isn’t a chance of war’​ – sensitive topic, use of dramatic irony
allows the war-devastated 1945 audience to use hindsight to realise that
Birling’s confident predictions are foolish and injudicious, as the events turned
out in the opposite way he foresees them occurring, the First World War would
begin in July 1914, and last for over 4 years, killing 16 million soldiers and
civilians, and would be followed by WW2 in 1939 - global conflict was
imminent in 1912, undermining his credibility and reliability, further convinces
Priestley’s idea of socialism by presenting Capitalist Mr Birling, a
representative of capitalism, as short-sighted and making the audience resent
him and cast doubt over his capitalist ideas
...


● ‘​As if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive – community and
all that nonsense’ - ​Mr Birling’s referral to ‘community’ and the idea of ‘bees
in a hive’ as ‘nonsense’ indicates his lack of social awareness as once this simile
has been ruminated, the audience will realise that ‘bees in a hive’ bring about
beneficial things to society
...

● ‘I was an alderman for years – and Lord Mayor two years ago’ – ​Mr Birling
constantly attempts to assert his social class and status through reference to
his previous positions of power, as a defense mechanism, when he feels his
position being challenged by the Inspector’s authority
...
,
instinctive action requiring little consideration
...

● ‘There’ll be a public scandal’ ​–mercenary,​ ​sees his business interests and
public image as imperative to the obligations of others in society, shows a lack
of concern for the death of one of his former employees
...

● [Act 3] ‘​There’s every excuse for what both your mother and I did’​ – moral
standing is not resolved, lack of regret or remorse for his actions, doesn’t learn
from the Inspector’s words, unwilling to change, traditionalist
...

● ‘Look, you’d better ask Gerald for that ring you gave back to him, hadn’t
you? Then you’ll feel better'​ - attempting to re-build relationship between his
daughter and ex-fiancé, simply for his financial gain
...

● ‘Probably a socialist or some sort of crank’​ – negative view on Socialism,
however this would encourage the audience to show interest and appeal to
Socialism as they have been driven to resent Birling
...

● ‘A police inspector is on his way here – to ask some – questions-’​ – dashes
show shock and panic, struggling to articulate himself, cyclical structure –
Socialist message that if societal views do not change, it will be stuck in a
continual cycle of suffering
...
Sybil has had to overcome all the cruel mishappenings and potential
infidelity of her husband; she has had to suppress that knowledge because the
only way to achieve power was to marry someone wealthy with influence
...

● ‘Sheila! Really the things you do pick up these days!’​ – condescending, the
use of an exclamation mark emphasises her strong disapproval of Sheila’s
language and obsession with maintaining her social reputation
...


● ‘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
...

● [Act 2] ​‘As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!’ ‘Girls of that
class’ – ​diminutive language,​ ‘​ that’ creates a sense of distance,
dissociating/detaching herself from the proletariat and sees herself as socially
and morally superior to her culpable counterpoints, she demonstrates great
resilience to understanding, expresses typical aristocratical views of 1912
toward class and societal segregation, doesn’t see them as individuals,
stereotypes Eva – class is identity, chairs the Birling Women's Charity, but
shows appalling indifference to Eva Smith's difficulties
...

● ‘Trifle impertinent’ – ​use of colloquial language, tries to articulate her speech
in order to intimidate the Inspector and assert her social status, uses language
as a defense mechanism
...

● ‘I’m sorry she should have come to such a horrible end
...

● ‘(Haughtily) I beg your pardon!’ ​– reprimands the Inspector, exclamation
mark, offended that the Inspector is not acknowledging her class and high

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social status, sees herself as superior to the Inspector, fails to see that the
Inspector was merely enlightening her to the corruptness of the society
...

‘Go and look for the father of the child
...

‘(She stops and exchanges a frightened glance with her husband)’ –
terrified of her reputation being damaged, only shows concern for her public
image and disregards Eva’s plight
...

‘Don’t be childish, Sheila’​ – still treats Sheila as a child and monitors her
behaviour, uses language from Act 1, connotes her character has not developed
and she remains unchanged
...


SHEILA BIRLING
ADJECTIVES
● Compassionate, Sympathetic, Empathetic, Remorseful, Penitent,
Impressionable, Quick-witted, Strong-minded, Spiteful, Excitable, Privileged,
Immature, Playful, Naïve
...
Moreover, Sheila’s name
stems from the Gaelic form of ‘Cecilia’, which means ‘blind’, further reinforcing
her lack of knowledge about the harsh realities faced by the proletariat
...

QUOTES
● [Act 1]​ ‘(Very pleased with life and rather excited)’​ – privileged with an
easy life, suggests she is naive about the social culture around her, myopic

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view, has not been enlightened to the exploitative society that she identifies
herself with
...

‘(Looks attentive)’​ – signifies that she is currently alert and aware of the
topics of conversation, seemingly juxtaposes the expectations society had for
upper-class women In 1912, her responsibility within the household would
have been to remain muted during intellectual discussions
...

‘(She kisses Gerald hastily)’​ – The adverb ‘hastily’ connotes how she has
become very excited and how her entire mentality has been altered after
receiving an engagement ring, highlights her attitudes towards material gain,
appearance and other characteristics associated with stereotypical femininity
of the Edwardian era, heavily influenced by aesthetics
...

‘Oh - how horrible! Was it an accident?’​ –naïvely to think Eva Smith drank a
fatal amount of disinfectant by ‘accident’, connotes her innocence and lack of
knowledge, suggests her parents have indoctrinated her/attempted to shelter
her from the harsh realities of life to stop her from discovering the truth about
the bourgeois consumerism that takes over the entirety of the Edwardian
society, inability to digest Eva’s suicide solidifies how Sheila has been
conditioned by her family’s bourgeois regime
...

● ‘What was she like? Quite young?’​ –inquisitive and interested in Eva’s plight,
empathetic, Sheila’s dialogue is predominated with a plethora of questions,
displaying her naturally analytical nature, however she fails to ask about her
disposition but rather chooses to superficially ask questions about her
appearance; this presents her as superficial as she is unable to look past a
skin-deep level, for a child, questioning the world is an integral part of
maturing and this suggests that Sheila is still trapped in this childish,
developmental stage
...

● ‘I’ll never, never do it again to anybody’ ​– repentant of her sins, repetition of
‘never’ connotes she has learnt from her mistakes, makes a conscious decision
to accept responsibility and perform moral duties to other members of society,
her social conscience has been awakened and she is aware of her
responsibilities, structural shift to the future tense highlights how she
understands she cannot look retrospectively and change the past because it is
fixed, and must be focused on the present
...

● ‘You’ll see
...

‘I rather respect you more than I’ve every done before’​ – instead of getting
in a ‘furious temper’ about Gerald’s affair, she displays emotional maturity and
respect for his honesty, understands that conflict is not the solution to their
problems
‘​Mother, I think it was cruel and vile’​ - synonymous adjectives ‘cruel and vile’
emphasises the animosity Sheila feels towards her mother, no euphemisms
have been used to alleviate her mother’s actions, her reference to Sybil as
‘Mother’ juxtaposes her initial childish colloquialism of ‘mummy’ and
demonstrates her maturity
...

‘Everything we said had happened really had happened’ – ​accepting
responsibility, attempts to encourage her parents to recognise their
wrongdoings
...

‘Fire and blood and anguish’ ​– repeats the Inspector’s words, has learnt from
his presence and words, impressionable, symbolises hope for a future
generation with changed views, and a society absent from segregation and
discrimination, she supports Priestley’s criticism of the other characters,
becoming his mouthpiece when he has left the stage

ERIC BIRLING
ADJECTIVES
● Distant, Withdrawn, Sympathetic, Compassionate, Irresponsible, Isolated,
Sensitive, Remorseful, Unsupported, Uncomfortable
...

‘(His whole manner of handling the decanter and then the drink shows
his familiarity with
quick heavy drinking)’​ - Eric has been suffering, alone, isolated, without
anyone to sympathise or acknowledge him, parents fail to recognise that he is
an alcoholic, in a society where the upper-class diligently strive to maintain
social hierarchy, the focus is not on Eric, it is on gaining power
‘I don’t know – really
...

‘(Eric downstage)’​ ‘​Yes, I remember – “ ‘Yes I know – but still –​ ‘ - Priestley
demonstrates Eric’s alienation in the stage direction as Eric is ‘downstage’
whereas the rest of his family are seated up, suggests that Eric is detached from
the rest of his family, Eric is inferior in the hierarchy where he is not respected
within his family, his family members interrupt him as demonstrated by the
use of hyphens, punctuational device reflects the low esteem that his family
holds for him as they see his dialogue as insignificant
...

‘My God!’​ – he is the first character to reply to the Inspector’s graphic
description of Eva Smith’s death, immediately shows his empathetic nature,
exclamation mark emphasises compassion
...

[Act 2] ​‘(Looking extremely pale and distressed)’ ​– shows his anxiety about
the inquiry and about his responsibility in Eva Smith’s suicide, aware of his
wrongdoings, guilt
...

'I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty'​ - Eric uses a euphemism
to mask the harsh reality of him raping Eva, demonstrates a lack of regard for
her welfare/wellbeing as he prioritises his sexual desires
...

‘​She was pretty and a good sport’ – ​objectification of women, adjective
‘pretty’ demonstrates the desire for beautiful exterior features instead of ‘fat
old tarts’, the noun ‘sport’ dehumanises Eva and shows how Eric used her fo

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