These are my ‘An Inspector Calls’ character summaries/ revision notes that gained me an A* at GCSE. The characters covered are Inspector Goole, Sheila Birling, Eric Birling, Arthur Birling, Sybil Birling and Eva Smith. These notes contain detailed character analysis, contextual analysis, psycho...
Political play:
• Inspector is used as a proxy for Priestley's political views
• Represents/believes in socialism
• Staging never changes to show how Birlings are stuck in their ways
Inspector Goole:
• A dramatic catalyst through his interrogation of each character
• Hurries Birlings into confessing
• Moral subconscious particularly of Sheila and Eric
• Interrogator of Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald
• A moral teacher of Sheila and Eric
• Voice of JB Priestley
• Goole – ghoul – is he real? (supernatural haunts people in to changing)
• Omniscient
Morality:
• Interested in immorality as a crime
• Exposes the immoral behaviour of each character:
Mr Birling: greed/pride
Eric: lust/greed
Sheila: Jealousy/envy
Gerald: Lust
Mrs Birling: Greed/pride
• He places morality above manners – cuts off characters ('I don't play golf') and ignores their social position
• He outlines the idea that the way the Birlings treat Eva/Daisy is a crime against humanity and symbolically this
sends a potent message about Capitalism
• He acts as a moral teacher
Stage directions:
• Adverbs 'c arefully, weightily' show that he is selfless and uses forethought before he speaks – directly
juxtaposing the idol predictions of Mr Birling
• The lexical field of size: 'massiveness' and 'weightily' imply that his words carry deeper meaning and have the
ability to burden and affect the listener as displayed with Sheila and Eric.
• They can alleviate this heavy burden by confessing in guilt and empathy
• 'pink and intimate' to 'brighter and harder'
• Metaphorically acts to imply that they are in their own selfish bubble – rose tinted
• He will shine a light on terrible actions and behaviours of the family
• 'harder' - not broken easily
• Not going to be manipulated or intimidated by Mr Birling
• Try to change the moral and political beliefs of both the characters and the audience
• 'c utting' used a lot to show Birling's power loss
• Never loses temper unlike Birlings
Feminist?:
• 'Like a lot of these young women'
• 'we try to put ourselves in the place of these young women counting their pennies, in their dingy back bedrooms'
• Contrast youth and dingy
• Pennies emphasises the desperation and poverty – injustice of capitalism
• 'burnt her insides out' - detailed, grotesque, imagery used to shock audience
• Points out who is most vulnerable in society (Eva/Daisy)
• Treats Sheila equally to the others
, Capitalist exploitation:
• Becomes metaphorical when he says 'It is better to ask for the earth than to take it'
• Idea symbolically here is that capitalism is ruining the earth but also shows the idea that the Birlings are
incredibly greedy (taking the earth)
Omniscient power:
• 'He looks at Gerald, then at Eric, then at Sheila'
• Knows what each character has done
• Unfortunately, there is a undertone of an assumption here that all upper-class citizens will or have exploited the
poor (symbolic)
Criminals:
• 'Not criminals' - Gerald
• Inspector is sharp in his response to Gerald
• 'I wouldn't know where to draw the line' - suggestion that capitalism and the rich become criminals because of
exploitation
• Eric is a criminal
• Could link to 'you needn't give me any rope' foreshadowing a notion that eventually the upper class will reveal
their immoral, criminal behaviour or even this line could imply they are capable of murder (giving rope – causing suicide
or 'accidental' death by hanging')
Emotive language:
• Plays on emotions
• 'friendless, penniless and desperate'
• 'she needed not only money but advice, sympathy, friendliness'
• Solidifies Eva's desperation
• Heightens imagery earlier 'burnt her insides out'
• Ignorance of upper class
Time/catalyst:
• 'I haven't much time'
• Reference to looking at his watch
• Interpret this in many ways – he has to prevent the death of Eva through the phone call at the end of the play
(Eva isn't a person's death, it’s a regular occurrence)
• Is it about society changing quickly for the betterment of the poor and everyone because we need a new
government?
'Remember what you did'
• Repetition
• 'remember' becomes an imperative
• Clearly, the repetition of this shows that some of the Birlings and the upper class will not remember or accept
their actions and the consequences
• Forget that they are treating others badly
Structured around the Inspector:
• Catalyst
• Structures events of the play
• Each revelation moves the play one step for ward
• He heightens drama – his entrances and exits are timed in order to create maximum tension
'Fire, blood and anguish'
• Metaphor referring to war
• Two World wars – the ruling class did not learn their lessons from the first world war and therefore, there is a
second world war – parallels the death of Eva at the start of the play and at the end a second world
• Referring to hell – religious – eternal punishment
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