Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Act one quotes
1
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When the inspector arrives, his aim is to shine a light on their behaviour
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Analysis:
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The lighting is symbolic of how the Birlings live their lives, and what the inspector’s
role is in the play
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The
inspector brings a “brighter” light that foreshadows the fact that he intends to shine
a light on the way they behave
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The inspector plans to expose this with a “harder” light
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Birling – “I’m talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business
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Techniques: alliteration and language
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“hard” shows Birling has no caring, compassionate side, and “headed” suggests he
views things with his head, not heart – he has no sympathy
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His key role in
society is as a businessman, not a father
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3
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Act one quotes
Interpretation – Birling makes clear he knows that Lady Croft feels the Birlings are beneath
them socially – to their generation, marriage is about social status, not love
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Analysis:
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Birling refers to Shelia as “my girl”
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The phrase “done better” makes marriage seem like a competition Gerald has failed
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The hesitant sentence structure from Birling highlights how the upper classes don’t
talk openly and honestly – they prefer to keep things private
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4
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And I’ve always
been regarded as a sound, useful party man
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Interpretation – Birling is determined to show his value to Gerald and Lady Croft by
emphasising his movement through the establishment and up the social ranks
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Analysis:
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Birling doesn’t focus on Shelia’s value as a person – instead he lists words from the
semantic field of power and politics
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Being a “sound, useful party man” suggest that Birling believes in hierarchy and not
questioning those above you – when the “party” tell him to do or think something,
he does it
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Act one quotes
5
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Interpretation – Birling dismisses the idea of community
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Techniques – simile; tone
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“a hive” is an enclosed space with nowhere to his
from responsibilities
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Being “mixed up” would later the class system that protects the Birlings, hence his dismissive
and patronising tone when describing it as “nonsense”
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6
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Burnt her inside out, of course
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Techniques – adverbs; imagery; adjectives; tone
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The adverb “a lot” highlights the
desperate desire of Eva to die, and the adjective “strong” re-emphasises her
determination to kill herself
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The inspector’s tone when he says “of course” may seem casual, but e shows the
Birlings how their behaviour would “of course” lead to her death
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7
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Interpretation – for the first time, a Birling is beginning to show an understanding for
empathy for the working classes and recognises they have rights too
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Analysis:
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The image of “these girls” as “cheap labour” makes them seem like machines, simply
a tool for the upper classes to use
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For the first time, Shelia says they “aren’t” just that – she recognises they
have value as individual, and younger characters are beginning to see that all people
deserve to be treated fairly
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It is the exact opposite of what Birling was saying earlier in the play and
shows a growing generation gap between parents and children
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8
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Interpretation – yet again, the inspector deliberately understates the situation so that the
audience dwell on just how horrifically the Birlings have behaved
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The use of the word “a” suggests Eva is not the only young woman
destroyed by people like the Birlings
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Use in exams on – power; society; class
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Sheila – “how could I know what would happen afterwards? If she’d been some miserable
plain little creature, I don’t suppose I’d have done it
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It is a highly immature reaction
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Analysis:
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The noun “creature” has animalistic associations – until now, Sheila saw those
beneath her, such as Eva, as nothing more than animals
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Unlike
her parents, she begins to realise her behaviour has consequences
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Use in exams on – prejudice; age; power

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