An Inspector Calls Quotes and Notes

Class and Society:

 Mr Birling (pg 10) ‘You’d think everybody has to look after everybody else… community
and all that nonsense.’
 Mr Birling (pg 11) his 4 lines after the Inspector arrives.
 Mr Birling (pg 16) ‘Perhaps I ought to warn you that he’s an old friend of mine, and that
I see him fairly frequently.’ Reminding the Inspector of his status and authority.
 Mrs Birling (pg 30) ‘…Girls of that class.’ She takes a very stereotypical view of the different classes.

Women and Gender:

 Mr Birling (pg 9) ‘Yes, but you’ve got to remember, my boy, that clothes mean
something quite different to a woman.’
 Mr Birling (pg 15) ‘She’d had a lot to say – far too much – she had to go.’
 Sheila (pg 5) ‘Is it the one you wanted me to have?’ Girls are very passive and submissive.
 Mr Birling (pg 17) ‘Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along.’ She is a woman and ‘doesn’t
understand’ politics.
 Inspector (pg 27) ‘And you think young women ought to be protected against
unpleasant and disturbing things?’ He is trying to back up women in society.

Guilt and Responsibility:

 Mr Birling (pg 9) ‘A man has to make his own way – has to look after himself – and his
family too.’
 Mr Birling (pg 14) ‘Still, I can’t accept any responsibility.’ He denies that anything was his fault.
 Gerald (pg 28) ‘I suppose I asked for that.’ Gerald accepts responsibility compared to Birling.
 Inspector (pg 29) ‘You see, we have to share something…share our guilt’
 Inspector (pg 56) ‘We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’
 The way the Inspector orchestrates the play and interrogates the family individually but still
reminds them that they are all collectively responsible for Eva Smith’s death.

Generational Conflict:

 Mr Birling (pg 9) ‘But this is the point. I don’t want to lecture you two young fellows
again. But what so many of you don’t seem to understand.’
 Eric and Mr Birling conflict between each other because Eric shows awareness of the working
class state which Birling doesn’t.
  Mrs Birling (pg 30) ‘You seem to have made quite an impression on this child,
Inspector.’ Inspector (pg 30) ‘We often do on the young ones. They’re more
impressionable.’
 Mrs Birling (pg 32) ‘He’s only a boy.’ Inspector (pg 32) ‘No, he’s a young man.’
 Mr Birling (pg 60) ‘The fact is, you allowed yourself to be bluffed.’

The Inspector:

 He is very argumentative and has a strong political view point. (pg 15) ‘It’s better to ask
for the earth than to take it.’
 He wants to exercise empathy. (pg 19-20) ‘I’ve thought that 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 an their dingy little back bedrooms.’
 He uses very strong imagery and emotive language. ‘slammed in her face’ and a tricolon
in his final speech, ‘fire, blood and anguish’
 He believes young people should be empowered and listened to, hence why he then
leaves when the family’s emotions are running incredibly high and he thinks Sheila and
Eric can carry on his argument with out him. Because he has empowered them.

Mr Birling:

 He might be quite pushy. (pg 2) ‘(noticing that his wife was not taken away) Now then,
Sybil, you must take a little tonight.’
 He shows off and is very boastful. (pg 2) ‘Finchley told me it’s exactly the same port
your father gets from him.’
 He is trying to show off his social prowess to Gerald, but he knows that he is not
Gerald’s social equal. This makes him insecure.
 He is very much capitalist and can be portrayed as insensitive and selfish. For instance in
his speech on page 4 he only cares about the wealth Gerald brings but not his daughter
Sheila.
 He is pragmatic and only believes in facts. (pg 6) ‘And I’m talking as a hard headed,
practical man of business.’
 Even after the Inspector comes he cannot accept responsibility. (pg 57) ‘There’s every
excuse for what both your mother and I did – it turned out unfortunately, that’s all.’
Mrs Birling:

 She seems very loyal to Mr Birling and the system. Conservative and traditional.
 She likes the class standards and divisions. For example, Mr Birling gave compliments to
the chef but Mrs Birling said, (pg 2) ‘Arthur, you’re not supposed to say such things-‘
 She is stubborn towards the Inspector because she is the person with the highest class
(except for Gerald).
 She, like Mr Birling, denies all responsibility, (pg 43) ‘But I think she had only herself to
blame.’
 She isn’t as intelligent as Sheila and tries to keep up with her intellect. (pg 58) ‘I know
what you’re going to say. Because I’ve been wondering myself.’
 She is also very stereotypical towards the younger generation. (pg 59) ‘Don’t be
childish, Sheila.’

Sheila Birling:

 Possibly quite cautious and more intelligent. She thinks over some of the things the
Inspector says.
 She is quite liberal a different to her mothers generation. (pg 3) Mrs Birling: ‘You’ll have
to get used to that, just as I had.’ (pg 3) Sheila: ‘I don’t believe I will. (Half playful, half
serious to Gerald) So you be careful.’
 She shows compassion and empathy. (pg 17) ‘Sorry! It’s just…Oh I wish you hadn’t told
me.’
 She shows initiative and perspective because she realises that the Inspector knows a lot
more than they think. ‘Why – you fool – he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to
think how much he knows that we don’t know yet. You’ll see. You’ll see.’
 After only half of the play, Sheila has taken over the Inspectors role as the interrogator
because she is more intelligent that the rest of her family.

Eric Birling:

 He seems rather clumsy and socially inadequate. He tends to say the wrong things at the
wrong time.
 He was honest which shows he is not like his parents.
 (pg 59) ‘He was our police inspector all right.’ This shows he has learnt that he has done
wrong and that they’re all to blame.

Gerald Croft:

 He is very polite and courteous. He always says the right thing.

 (pg 4) ‘Hear, Hear! And I think my father would agree to that.’ He agrees with Birling.