an inspector calls - quotes (act i)

class

mr. birling’s factory was a success since he had created his factory during the second industrial revolution.

Mrs. Birling is described as Mr. Birling’s social superior as she had been born into the upper class, while he was from the middle class. While he was born into the middle class, he has worked very hard to built everything he has and as a result is a very proud man.

bro idk either

Refers to WWI that is going to take place two years after the year that the play is set in

this quotation shows racism when describing them as ‘half-civilised’ but it also refers back to WWI and how it was going to break out in the near future for

socialism

none that i can think of

quotation shows mr. birling’s capitalist beliefs and how everyone should take care of those in their family, but not everyone else

class

this reflects how the upper classes think about the younger classes

mr. birling shows how he doesn’t think of the girls working in his factory as actual people, but either as an extension of the machines they work for or just as a way for him to continue his business. he doesn’t care about the wellbeing of his employees and only actually care about whether or not his business ends up thriving

moral responsibility, class

mr. birling believes that he could not accept any responsibility as he had ‘only’ fired her from her job and that happened two years before her suicide. he stated that if everyone was responsible for each other, then everything would end up being awkward, showing his capitalist beliefs and how everyone is responsible for themselves.

inequality

mr. birling believes that the girls bad at managing money and as a result is why they’re broke and have to work in his factory

shows the selfishness and capitalism from the upper class in how they are unwilling to help the lower classes

class

birling is trying to point out that the inspector is not a businessman

the upper class do not believe that the working class would understand anything about business because they are ultimately do not own any businesses of their own

class

use of sarcasm

implying that golf is not in the inspector’s social class.

back in 1912, and still today, people from the lower classes would not play golf (regularly) since it is a costly sport.

hypocrisy

he had just stated that he could accept responsibility, but then immediately stated that he was justified in everything he did. this makes it seem like as if he was starting to accept the responsibility of his actions to some degree, but still would not admit it.

inequality, class

here he shows how his family dinner is more important than the death of a girl. however, the response mr. birling would have would be very different if eva smith was from a higher social class

links back to how the upper classes are shallow and the degree of which they would care about someone is linked to the persons social class

inequality

though mr. birling recognises that eva smith was a hard worker, but she caused trouble and had too much to say, so he had to fire her

inequality

eva smith had unfairly gotten fired from two of her jobs and she was unable to find another other steady jobs from then on. but since she had to make ends meet, she had to change her name and become a prostitute.

socialism

use of foreshadowing.

all the characters cause a chain of events that are all interlinked via. eva smith

i dunno bro

use of sarcasm

the awkwardness is what the inspector brings to the entire play and delivers to the birlings and gerald

inequality

implying capitalists are taking the world.

links to the ‘if you take an inch, you’ll take a mile’ idiom

class, inequality

in order to obtain a source of income, eva smith had to become a prostitute, and for that, she changed her name from eva smith to daisy renton. but this wouldn’t have had happened if mr. birling didn’t fire her, or if sheila didn’t get her fired from milward’s.

inequality

the inspector was listing to show just how desperate and helpless eva smith was

inequality

this sexist comment made by eric reflects the inequalities women had faced back in the 1910s, and how they were supposed to marry well. in addition to have little to no thoughts of their own and only caring about things like clothes.

dont ask me idk

use of foreshadowing.

this is said by gerald and is meant to be a joke, but it’s ironic but it’s because it’s the truth.

class

describing gerald as ‘well-bred’ links back to his social class and how he was born into the upper class

class

sheila shows how she has no say in what she wants in her relationship with gerald, as he is from a higher class and he is a man, in full control of the relationship

inequality

sheila is presented to be a character with shallow opinions and views. the first thing she asked the inspector about eva smith was if she looked pretty, which shows where her values lie. though, if the inspector had responded that she was ugly, it is likely that sheila wouldn’t have felt as bad for her since her values lie with someones physical attributes which is why she’s the physicality power in the play.

sheila is presented this way since she’s a woman from the upper class and is therefore not expected to have any thoughts of her own

generational divide, inequality

unlike mr. birling, sheila recognises that the girls working in his factory are actual human beings and not just his employees. while mr. birling doesn’t realise this, sheila does due to the generation gap between them. sheila believes that mr. birling was in the wrong for firing eva smith especially since that was her source of income.

inequality

linking back to when sheila asked the inspector if eva smith was pretty, this once again shows her shallow views that are a part of her personality. instead of referring to the personality as miserable, she is referring to the person’s looks. through the link of the two words ‘miserable’ and ‘plain’, it is like she merged the meanings together in that if you aren’t pretty and you look like the social norm, then you are automatically miserable.

inequality

links back to the ring gerald gave sheila, how women from that time period were meant to act. the reason for why she went to milward’s was to look pretty, but the only reason she had to look pretty was for a man. she had no reason to look pretty for herself, and she was living to be pretty to marry well.

inequality

links back to sheila’s obsession over how people look. since sheila recalls how eva smith was indeed pretty, she remembers how she thought that she would be able to take care of herself. and to add on the fact that she was pretty, sheila felt as if she was unable to feel bad for her, in a sort of attempt to justify how she got eva smith fired from her job at milward’s. the use of the modal verb “couldn’t” suggests that sheila is potentially not as nice as she might seem or that she is unable to feel bad for eva smith since she was never expected to feel bad for those from a lower social class than her and therefore never learnt

the upper class is mostly capitalist dominated, which makes them teach the younger generation to not feel bad for their actions towards the people from lower classes in comparison to their own social class.