In depth English Lit (An Inspector Calls) notes; Latin literature (Germanicus and Piso) notes; GCSE AQA Geography case study Mumbai vs London knowledge organisers aesthetic
Mr (Arthur) Birling
Physical description
o Pg1 – a heavy looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties.
Social Standing
o Pg1 – Her husband’s social superior – Mrs Birling is of a high class than Mr Birling and
therefore he feels he has to compensate for this by showing off to Gerald and the
Inspector.
o Pg 2 – It’s exactly the same port your father gets from him – An example of Mr Birling
showing off to Gerald because he is socially insecure as Mrs Birling is of a higher class than
him.
o Pg2 – clearly relaxes – When Edna leaves the room he “clearly relaxes” showing that he is
not used to having servants around.
o Pg 10 – I was an alderman for years- and Lord Mayor two years ago – and I’m still on the
bench – An example of Mr Birling showing off to the Inspector and trying to make himself
look like a powerful figure in society to intimidate the inspector.
Personality
o Pg5 – Hard headed business man – Mr Birling puts business first and often even before his
family. We learn from Mrs Birling that she has to live with being second best because she
tells Sheila to get used to Gerald being busy at work.
o Pg13 – wretched girl’s suicide – He isn’t a very understanding or sympathetic person
because he still refers to Eva in these derogatory and impersonal terms despite the fact
that she is dead.
o Pg16 – I’ve half a mind to report you – He is quite threatening towards the inspector
because he wants to protect his dignity and family name.
o Pg19 - And she got herself into trouble there, I suppose – He is a bit of a snob and very
judgemental of the people in the lower classes as he gives them this stereotype that they
all are bad people out to cause mischief in society.
Views and attitudes
o Pg4 – Perhaps we may look forward to a time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer
competing but are working together for lower costs and higher prices – Represents his
business man nature and capitalist view point that he also shares with Gerald.
o Pg5 – We’re in for a time of steadily increasing prosperity – He has very blinkered vision
and often predicts events of the future wrong such as the Wall Street crash which caused a
huge recession meaning that Birlings predictions are completely wrong.
o Pg5 – Absolutely unsinkable – the words that Birling uses to describe the titanic which is
also an incorrect prediction because shortly after the Titanic did sink, reflecting his
blinkered vision.
o Pg5 – I say there isn’t a chance of war – Again his predictions are completely wrong
because there was a second world war.
o Pg9 – The way some of these cranks talk – He is referring to socialists like the Inspector
who he thinks are wrong to talk about social responsibility because he holds the opposing
capitalist view point.
o Pg13 – If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had
anything to do with, it would be very awkward wouldn’t it – This quote reflects his negative
view of socialists and that he that he doesn’t believe in social responsibility.
The play’s effects
, o P43 – When this comes out in the inquest, it isn’t going to do us much good – Even towards
the end of the play Birling can’t see that social standing is not important and that the loss
of Eva’s life is the more important thing.
o P54 – You’re the one I blame for this – Immediately after the Inspector leaves Birling starts
to blame Eric showing that he has been completely oblivious to everything the play is
supposed to have taught him about social responsibility.
o P55-Sheila: The point is that you don’t seem to have learnt anything – Sheila has leant from
the play and she can see that her father clearly hasn’t changed his strong and often harsh
capitalist ideas.
Language
o Pg1 – rather provincial in his speech – Shows that he is not of the area or class that the
other characters are from.
Mrs (Sybil) Birling
Unfeeling
o Pg3 – You’ll realise men with important work to do often have to spend all their time and
energy on their business – She was not very sympathetic or understanding towards Sheila
when Sheila was complaining about Gerald not spending enough time with her despite
knowing how it feels because she experiences the same thing with Mr Birling.
o Pg41 – She only had herself to blame – She can’t see that the way her family acted affected
Eva and thinks that it is all Eva’s fault so she isn’t prepared to show her any sympathy.
o Pg47 – I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it. – She isn’t coming to terms with the fact that
Eric might have had something to do with Eva’s death. The fact that “won’t” is in italics puts
stress onto the word and highlights Mrs Birling’s stubborn nature.
o Pg53 – No Eric please – I didn’t know- I didn’t understand – This is the only part of the play
where Mrs Birling shows some emotion and it is when she doubts that actually the family
were partly responsible for Eva’s death.
Lack of Understanding
o Pg29 – Girls of that class – She is very condescending towards the lower class and this
quote portrays her as a snob as she is stereotyping every working class girl. She clearly
doesn’t understand that Eva didn’t want to live like she did but she didn’t have a choice just
like many of the other working class girls.
o Pg30 – He’s only a boy – Mrs Birling is very naive and can’t even see that her own son has
drinking problems and that he has grown up or it may be that she doesn’t want to accept it.
o Pg33 – We are learning something tonight – She is learning about gossip and appears to be
completely oblivious to the inspector’s morals as she doesn’t understand the consequences
of her own actions on Eva.
o P46 – Then he’d be entirely responsible – She can’t see that she’s just blamed her own son.
Even if it wasn’t Eric she is still too naive to see that she could be talking about someone
else’s son and that her own son is completely capable of getting someone pregnant just like
any other man and she doesn’t expect Eric to be entirely responsible.
Self importance
o Pg28 – (enters briskly and self confidently) – From Priestly’s stage directions we can deduce
that Mrs Birling thinks she is important because she is entering “briskly” suggesting that
she thinks has an important task to carry out or that her presence is need urgently.
o Pg29 – (haughtily)- Mrs Birling’s speech is said in such a way that she thinks that she is
important. For example she speaks “haughtily” suggesting that she has an air of arrogance
and superiority about her as she is looking down on the people that she is talking to.
o Pg44 – A girl in her position – Mrs Birling looks down on Eva and thinks that she is better
than her because she has a higher social status.
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