An Inspector Calls
Who agrees with Mr Birling's assessment that 'increasing prosperity' (p.6) is to come?
Gerald Croft
Who says 'there is nothing to gain by war'? (p.6)
Mr Birling
Why did Mr Birling refuse to increase his workers pay?
to keep labour costs down
Who tells us Eva Smith fond a job at Milwards shop?
The Inspector
What two characters in Act One are show to photograph of Eva Smith?
Mr Birling and Sheila
What does Sheila warn Gerald not to do at the end of Act One?
Not to hide anything from the Inspector
Who refers to Eva Smith as 'a girl of that class' (p.30) and what does she mean?
Mrs Birling; she means lower class
Who tells Mr Birling about Eric's drinking and who confirms it?
Sheila tells her mother and Gerald confirms it
When did Gerald meet Daisy Renton and when did the affair end?
He met her in spring/ 'sometime in March' (p.34) the previous year; the affair ended six months later/ 'the first week of September' (p.38)
How does the Inspector know Daisy Renton went to the seaside?
She kept a diary
What is the purpose of the Brumley Women's Charity Organization?
To offer spportto 'women in distress' (p.42)
Who does Mrs Birling think should be held responsible for Eva Smith's pregnancy?
The father of the unborn child
When did Eric meet 'this girl' (p.51) at the Palace Theatre bar?
November of the previous year
How much did Eric steal from Birling's office?
about fifty pounds
Who does the Inspector say helped to kill Eva Smith?
each of the Birling's and Gerald Croft
Who does Mr Birling ring to find out if there is an Inspector Goole?
Chief Constable Colonel Roberts
Who establishes that there was no recent suicide?
Gerald Croft
What image from the Inspector's speech sticks in Sheila's mind?
'fire, blood and anguish" (p.56, 71)
Who answers the final phone call and who else is present when it is answered?
Mr Birling answers; Mrs Birling, Sheila, Eric, and Gerald are also present
Who is described as 'half shy, half assertive'?
Eric (Act One)
Who is described as 'very pleased with life'?
Sheila (Act One)
Who is described as 'a young man-about-town'?
Gerald Croft
What impression do we get of Mrs Birling when we first meet her?
She is cold, reserved and prim
How would you describe Mr Birling when he finds out the Inspector is an imposter?
jubilant and victorious
What impression does the Inspector's physical apperance create?
It 'creates an impression of massiveness, solidarity and purposefulness' (p.11). He has a large, determined apperance.
What character has the fewest lines to speak in the play?
Edna, the maid
Who is the alderman who visited the Palace Theatre bar?
Alderman Meggarty
What servants do the Birlings employ?
A maid (Edna) and a cook
Who is absent from the engagement dinner?
Lord and Lady Croft (Gerald's parents)
Which charcters learn that they live in an unequal society?
Sheila and Eric
Who regards marraige as a means of climbing the social ladder?
Mr Birling
What twist occurs at the end of the play?
The play returns to where it started, as if through a shift in time
Who can be described as a self-made man?
Mr Birling
Whereis the lighting 'pink and intimate'?
at the celebratory dinner before the Inspector arrives
Name four kinds of love in the play.
Romantic, family love, universal love and lust
What is the name of the city in which the play takes place?
Brumley
What type of city is it and where is it?
'An industrial city in the North Midlands'
When is the play set?
'An evening in spring, 1912'
When does the lighting become brighter and harder and why?
When Inspector Goole enters, it tells us that the Inspector is an important figure who is about to bring a harsh reality to the Birlings and Gerald
What style of speaking does the Inspector us to convince others?
Rhetoric language
What do we call the linked episodes of Eva Smith's story?
'a chain of events' (p.14)
What era is the play set in?
The Edwardian Era
Why does J.B. Priestley decide that the dining room has 'good solid furniture' in his stage directions?
So the family's privileged lifestyle is clear. The champagne, port, cigars and furniture all reflect a very comfortable lifestyle where luxury is taken for granted.
What does Mrs Birling say when she defends Gerald's neglect of Sheila and what could this mean?
She comments that 'men with important work to do... have to spend... their time and energy on their business' (p.3). This hints that Mrs Birling is used to her husband neglecting their marraige and reinforces the idea that there was a reason Gerald neglected Sheila (Priestley is foreshadowing his affair with Eva Smith)
What does Mr Birling mean when he says he has been 'a sound useful party man' (p.8)?
He means a political party man. In the past, wealthy people made donations to the party in power, which could ensure a knighthood which is something Mr Birling dreams about
Evaluate the quote 'You seem to be a nice well-behaved family' (p.8) and who says it?
Gerald comments this Mr Birling. It allows the audience to percieve the possibility that the Birlings are no such thing, Priestley intentionally creates this effect using dramatic irony
Mr Birling has distinctive views. How would you describe him?
- He is a self-important man
- He has a strong belief in his own position of power
- He has a narrow view of the world
- He prefers to believe what suits his purpose
In the course of the play, how does Priestley develop the idea of events in time like links in a chain? Where is Mr Birling placed in this chain?
- The Inspector uses the expression a 'chain of events' quite early on in the play; on page 14
- The deliberate mention of the time of each event links what one character has done to what the next character has done\
- Mr Birling's sacking of Eva Smith makes him the first link in the chain
What examples are there in Act One that show how the Inspector contols the other charcters?
- The Inspector controls the flow of information
- He contradicts Mr Birling and overrules his wish that Sheila should leave the room
- His method of questioning draws confessions from Mr Birling and Sheila
- He makes it clear that he will not leave until he knows 'all that happened' (p25)
Give context around adultery in the play
It was not uncommon for wealthy Edwardian men to have mistresses or to meet women (as Gerald, Eric and Alderman Meggarty do) providing it did not become public and there was no scandal.
Evaluate the Inspector's comment, 'And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things' (p.27) and Gerald's reply.
Gerald replied that he does. Aside from not wanting Sheila to find out about his affair, he adopts the Edwardian view that women are not to be tainted with worldly truths, or are not capable of dealing with them. Whereas, the Inspector hold a more modern view and also points to class hypocrisy in the treatment of Eva Smith
What does Priestly use the diary of Eva Smith to explain?
It explains how the Inspector knows so much about the events of Eva's life. His knowledge also adds to his power over the other character.
What class was Inspector Goole?
He would be regarded as lower-middle class, the Birlings would see themselves very much as a social superior which highlights the Inspector's skill even more through the contrast that even though he was of a lower class than the family, he gained control over them
Evaluate the Inspector's comment, 'We often do [make an impression] on the young ones. They're more impressionable" (p.30) he said in answer to Mrs Birling's haughty observation that he made an impression on Sheila.
Priestley is suggesting that the young are more open-minded than the older generation about the kind of society they want to live in. We are shown this through how Sheila is influenced by the Inspector's words and mystified by him aswell as through when Eric showed that he does not agree with his father's attitude to his work force
Evaluate the Inspector's comment, 'As soon asI mentioned the name Daisy Renton, it was obvious you'd known her' (p.33)
This not only reinforces Sheila's comment recognising the same thing, it is foreshadowing the reveal of Gerald's relationship. Through the Inspector, Priestly is introducing the next chain of events aswell as highlighting the Inspector's increasing control of the situation
How did Gerald's confession affect Sheila's feelings about him?
- Sheila admits she disliked Gerald afffter his reactions to her own confessions and her realisation that he has a relationship with Eva Smith
- She says that she now respects him more and acknowledges that he has been honest
- She recognises that by revealing their secrets each now sees each other in a new light
How does Priestley uses stage directions in Act Two to give the Inspector authority and lessen the Birling's power?
- The stage directions for Mr and Mrs Birling indicate that they should respond 'angrily' showing that neither of them is able to control the Inspector's actions
- By contrast, the Inspector either cuts across Mr Birling's dialouge 'massively', or questions Mrs Birling 'calmly' or 'severly'
- They reveal that the Inspector is in charge and is paying little regard to the Birling's demands