Who is Gerald?
He is of a high social standing, a young capitalist and supported by Mr Birling due to his interest in potential business ventures.
Gerald seems intolerant of the lower classes but had genuine feelings for Daisy Renton.
He is one if the first to revert back to his original views and beliefs.
He tries to give the ring back to Sheila as he wants things to go back to normal.
Who is Eva Smith?
She is presented as a victim of social injustice, she symbolises the vulnerability of the poor and the suffering of the working class.
The audience feels sympathetic towards Eva Smith and disgust at the Birlings.
She has a common surname to show that many people are living in a similar situation.
She became Daisy Renton, the flower daisy represents innocence and naivety.
Who is Mrs Birling?
She’s unapproachable and unsympathetic.
She’s presented as unlikeable, so the audience side with the younger generation and socialism.
She changes very little by the end of the play.
Her sense of superiority returns at the end and she learns very little throughout.
She lacks empathy and remains ignorant, judgmental and seemingly pious.
She regards people as beneath her.
Who is Sheila?
At the beginning, she’s quite silly and pampered; she’s ignorant to the reality of society.
She is wanted to conform to a traditional role of an early 1900s woman.
Later, she accepts responsibility for her role in the death, rejecting the capitalist ways of life.
She feels remorse for Eva Smith’s death and feels regret to what she’s done, she’s concerned about her parents views in the end.
Who is Eric?
Initially, he’s presented as being very immature.
Priestley highlights his and Sheila’s immaturity and lack of seriousness as the have childlike conversations.
He’s mischievous, spoilt and has no sense of responsibility, despite his age.
He undertakes a journey of responsibility as he is no longer laughing at the end, as he was at the beginning.
Who is Mr Birling?
He’s seen as unlikable to encourage the audience to dislike the idea of capitalism.
Priestley uses dramatic irony to show that Mr Birling doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
When the Inspector enters; it shows the arrival of socialism; the Birling’s household is a microcosm for a capitalist society.
He feels that he’s important and should be respected, so tries to intimidate the Inspector.
Who is the Inspector?
He’s Priestley’s mouthpiece and spreads the message of socialism and shows the power of it.
He ensures his presence is felt once he leaves.
He warns the Birling’s to change their ways or face the catastrophic consequences.
Omniscient could be used to describe him, he’s an all knowing character championing the lower classes, who don’t have a voice.
He’s imposing and dominant always.
What is context about political and working life in 1912?
The Labour Party is becoming more popular, as women’s votes are wanted and coal miners strike.
Employers don’t take trade unions seriously, Eva Smith’s strike wasn’t led by one making it unsuccessful.
Women were paid less than men for the same jobs.
There’s no job security for workers and no benefits for those looking for work, so people went hungry.
What is the context about social rank and Priestley?
Priestley: he was a middle-class boy and was influenced by his dad’s friends about socialism, which came up in his writing and after WW1, he became a writer and did broadcasts for the BBC during WW2, preaching socialism and a fairer society.
Social rank: Mr and Mrs Birling find their class very important and the money they had made them more accepted with Birling’s knighthood would make Sheila more accepted by the Croft family.
How do the themes love and marriage and time link to AIC?
Love and marriage: Mr Birling uses it to climb the social ladder, Gerald and Sheila love each other but she questions whether Gerald is who he says he is, as he had an affair with Daisy Renton.
Time: we know that Sheila and Eric, if given a second chance, would change their behaviour and understand what they did but Mr and Mrs Birling would always deny responsibility, no matter how many times they’re questioned.
How do the themes responsibility and equality link to AIC?
Equality: the Inspector highlights the inequalities in society; the different lifestyles of the upper and working class and Sheila and Eric are fearful of what happens if there’s no change.
Responsibility: Mr Birling feels he must make a profit, no matter the costs, Mrs Birling uses her responsibility to give help only to the deserving, Sheila used her power to fire Eva Smith and Eric and Gerald used their status to use Eva Smith.
What are key Gerald quotes?
‘Easy well-bred young man-about-town’
‘You couldn’t have done anything else’
‘We’re respectable citizens and not criminals’
‘We can keep it from him’
‘I didn’t ask for anything in return’
‘We’ve been had’
‘That may have all been nonsense’
‘Everything’s all right now Sheila. What about this ring?’
What are key Mrs Birling quotes?
‘A rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior’
‘Girls of that class’
‘(staggered) It isn’t true’ (about Eric’s drinking)
‘What business is it of yours?’
‘Piece of gross impertinence- quite deliberate’
‘She had only herself to blame’
‘I did nothing I’m ashamed of’
‘I’ve done nothing wrong’
‘I think I was justified’
What are key Sheila quotes from Act 1?
‘Yes, go on Mummy’
‘(half serious, half playful)’
‘Is it the one you wanted me to have?’
‘Oh- how horrible’
‘I can’t help thinking about this girl- destroying herself’
‘These girls aren’t cheap labour- they’re people’
‘If I could help her now, I would’
‘I’ll never, never do it again to anybody’
What are key Sheila quotes from Act 2 and 3?
‘Now at least you’ve been honest’
‘You’re beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened’
‘You don’t seem to have learnt anything’
‘But it doesn’t make any real difference’
‘You’re pretending everything’s just as it was before’
‘Oh- horrible- horrible!’
‘Mother, I think it was cruel and vile’
What are key Eric quotes?
‘You’re squiffy’
‘Could I have a drink first?’
‘You’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble’
‘(nearly at breaking point) Then- you killed her’
‘No, Shelia’s right- it doesn’t’ (make a difference)
‘The fact remains that I did what I did’
‘What happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters’
‘It frightens me too’
What are key Mr Birling quotes from Act 1?
‘A hard-headed business man’
‘In for a time of steadily increasing prosperity’
‘I say there isn’t a chance of war’
(about titanic) ‘absolutely unsinkable’
‘A man has to mind his own business and look after himself’
‘I knew the Brumley police officers pretty well’
‘I consider this uncalled for and officious’
‘I was quite justified’
‘Perhaps I ought to warn you’
What are key Mr Birling quotes from Act 2 and 3?
‘The press might easily take it up’
‘I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can’
‘Most of this is bound to come out. There’ll be a public scandal’
‘I was almost certain for a knighthood’
‘Well, if he wasn’t, it matters a deal of a lot’
‘There’s every excuse for what both your mother and I did- it turned out unfortunately, that’s all’
What are key Inspector quotes from Act 1?
‘Massiveness, solidity and purposefulness’
‘(Cutting through massively)’
‘There are a lot of young women living that sort of existence in every city’
‘A nice little promising life there, I thought, and a nasty mess somebody’s made of it’
‘One line of inquiry at a time’
‘He knows. Of course he knows’
‘All in good time’
What are key Inspector quotes from Act 2 and 3?
‘They’re more impressionable’
‘It was you who turned the girl out in the first place’
‘(sternly) And I’ll be obliged if you’ll let us get on without any further interruptions’
‘You can’t do her any more harm’
‘There are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths’
‘We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’
‘Taught it in fire and blood and anguish’
