Inspector Calls Character Analysis
Mr Birling
Key Characteristics
Key Quotations
Priestley's intentions
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“I’m talking as a hard-headed practical man of business”
‘you’ll hear some people say war is Inevitable … fiddlesticks!’ Dramatic irony is used to belittle ideas, however this is ironic as there was a world war 2 years from the time the play was set.
‘The Titanic – she sails next week…and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.’ This is ironic because the titanic had sunk, and this was a very big and known event.
“I gather there’s a very good chance of a knighthood” . Selfish, Arrogant, generally self centred and egotistical
“A man has to make his own way – has to look after himself" Once again we can see his selfish aspect, and believes that the world was created for him and him only
“(rather impatiently) Horrid business. But I don’t understand why you should come here" . Once the inspector arrives, his language changes, as he begins to use shorter, and snappier sentences with more pauses.
“you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense.”
“I was an alderman for years – and Lord Mayor two years ago – and I’m still on the Bench – so I know the Brumley police offers pretty well”
“there’s every excuse for what your mother and I did” - Instead of saying "we", he uses "I" to once again convey his selfish attitude.
“Probably a Socialist or some sort of crank” . - The word "crank" means for a person to hold a belief that the majority of people believe is false, so here, Birling links the idea of a crank with a socialist, both having a negative attitude.
Mr Birling is seen as a capitalist in the play. This is because he is a businessman and making money is his priority. For example, he sees his daughter's engagement as a chance for 'lower costs and higher prices', which shows how greedy and selfish he is.
"We may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together - for lower costs and higher prices."
Mr Birling is also seen as arrogant in the play. For example, he would make speeches about things like war and the titanic which the audience knew were not true. "And I'm talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business. And I say there isn’t a chance of war. The world's developing so fast that it'll make war impossible." Due to this, the audience begin to lose trust in him, as the audience know that there would be a world war 2 years later.
Mr Birling is seen as sexist in the play. This is because he objectifies women, and suggests clothes are more important to women than men. For example, he says "Clothes mean something quite different to a woman. Not just something to wear - and not only something to make 'em look prettier.'"
Priestley uses mr Birling as a symbol of capitalism. Through the character, he is showing the capitalist voices and ideas of the time. Moreover, he represents the older generation who were unwilling of change. However, Priestley makes Mr Birling realistic through the use of colloquial language, where he uses terms more familiar to the time, and is more relaxed in his language.
Inspector Goole
Key Characteristics
Inspector Goole is seen as prophetic in the play. He does this by delivering a terrible description of the future at the end of his speech. "And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night." Here, it is evident that the inspector predicted a horrible future, through the ideas of "blood, fire and anguish" Priestley manages to express his own experiences through this, as you can find a link between Goole's final speech and Priestley's experiences in war.
Moreover, Inspector Goole has an emotive characteristic, which is shown when he leaves gruesome details of Eva Smith's death, and he manages to guilt trip most characters throughout the play. "Her position now is that she lies with a burnt out inside on a slab." This language is used in order to make the other characters of the play more likely to confess, as they are hit more deeply about the death of Eva Smith. Moreover, a shocking image is presented by Goole, although he manages to say this completely casually with no change in emotion.
Moreover, due to the stage directions, we are able to understand that Goole is imposing. For example, the stage directions say "he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness." Here, we are able to understand that Goole should be viewed as a stronger character.
Priestley's intentions
Key Quotations
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“Need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.” Imposing
“He is a man in his fifties, dressed in a plain darkish suit of the period. He speaks carefully, weightily and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking” . Basic description of Goole
“Two hours ago a young woman died in the Infirmary. She’d been this afternoon because she’d swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant. Burnt her inside out, of course” . Filterless in his language, straight to his point and reason why he's doing whatever he's doing
“A chain of events” (may have driven her to suicide) . He uses chain imagery to show how we are all responsible for the death of Eva Smith
“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 in their dingy little back bedroom” . Here, Priestley manages to show his socialist ideas in the perspective of Goole, where he attempts to make the characters feel sympathy for the lower classes.
Gerald Croft
Key Characteristics
To begin with, Gerald Croft is presented as confident, first shown when he makes himself comfortbale, and behaves like a member of the Birling family, even mocking Eric at points. "Sure to be, unless Eric's up to something" Here, Birling suggests that he is suitable for knighthood, and Gerald makes a joke of this at Eric's expense, which is very ironic.
Moreover, Gerald is viewed as quite evasive. For example, when the truth about Eva Smith first comes out he attempts to avoid confrontation, and begins to become more and more quiet. "All right. I knew her. Let's leave it at that." Here, we can see that Gerald wants to close down the topic as quickly as possible.
Gerald is also viewed as quite honest. He receives respect from Sheila and the audience as he is honest about his affair. "The girl saw me looking at her and then gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for help." Gerald honestly tells teh story about how he met Eva, but also uses emotive language to show the sympathy and sorrow he felt for Eva, where he says "cry for help."
Key quotations
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“An attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town” . Basic description of Gerald
“Well, it came just at the right moment. That was clever of you, Gerald.” Birling's admiration for Gerald's clverness is shown at the end of the play.
“You couldn’t have done anything else” (sacking Eva Smith) . Is on Birling's side, and attempts to make a good impression on him.
“After all, y’know, we’re respectable citizens and not criminals” . Once again tries to remove the guilt, and make a good impression on Birling, evasive of reality
(about Sheila): “She’s obviously had about as much as she can stand”
“Why should you [stay]? It’s bound to be unpleasant and disturbing”
“Everything’s all right now Sheila. What about this ring?” Repeats what happened at the start of the play (echoes)
Priestley's intentions
Priestley uses the character of Gerald Croft to throw light both on the Birling parents who are too set in their social ways to be changed by the Inspector’s visit, and on the Birling children who are certainly very responsive to the Inspector’s message, but possibly in a slightly naïve and hysterical way. Gerald acts as a bridge between the two generations.
Priestley is used very effectively by Priestley. First of all, he is used to highlight the corruption and selfish attitudes of the higher classes of the 20th century. Moreover, the Inspector's name makes us question whether he really exists. The name Goole is similar to ghoul, making the audience question whether or not he is a ghost, and his presence is only due to the death of Eva Smith. Moreover, the inspector acts as the storyteller of the play, where he links all the separate incidents together into one big story. He also acts similar to a priest, where he makes everybody confess to their sins.