Judgement

Question 1

True or False? Sybil is the first to accept the Inspector’s moral judgement.

Answer 1

False. It is Sheila who first accepts that her actions towards Eva / Daisy were wromg.

Question 2

Morality plays are about:
A. saints and angels
B. being a good person
C. breaking the rules of
society

Answer 2

B. Morality plays are usually about rejecting sin and being a good person.

Question 3

Give one way the Inspector seems omniscient (all-knowing)

Answer 3

The Inspector already knows what has happened before the characters confess. For example, he knows that Sybil saw Eva / Daisy “only two weeks ago”.

Question 4

Morality play often focus on the seven deadly sins — pride, greed, lust envy, gluttony (excessive eating), anger and sloth (laziness).
Do the Birlings or Gerald commit any of these sins?
Give examples to support your ideas.

Answer 4

• Arthur commits the sin of
  greed — money matters
  more to him than the
  welfare of his workers,
  which is shown when he
  fires Eva / Daisy for asking
  to be paid more.
• Sheila commits the sin of
  envy when she has Eva /
  Daisy dismissed out of
  jealousy.
• Sybil commits the sin of
  pride — she is too proud to
  admit her mistakes to the
  Inspector, which leads to
  her condemning her own
  son.
• Both Eric and Gerald
  commit the sin of lust by
  getting involved with Eva /
  Daisy while she is working
  as a prostitute.

Question 5

‘The Inspector is unfair towards the Birlings — they didn’t know Eva / Daisy was going to die.’
Do you agree? Explain your answer.

Answer 5

The Inspector isn’t unfair, because even though the Birlings didn’t even know Eva / Daisy was going to die, their treatment of her was selfish and cruel. Their actions were still morally wrong regardless of whether or not there were any further consequences.