GCSE AQA An Inspector calls quotes deep and thorough analysis including methods, key words, language analysis.
Includes: 58 quotes with the stave, quote, analysis and theme it relates to.
An inspector calls quotes
Act 1 Quotation Analysis Themes
Act 1 “Substantial and heavily o The adjectives ‘cozy and homelike’ have connotations Class,
comfortable but not of family and warmth, however since the house is not appearance vs
cosy and homelike” ‘homelike’ it implies how the happy Birling family is a reality
façade and depicts how the family may be
unsupportive and there is tension within
o It foreshadows how Mr Birling is unwelcoming to the
inspector and how they treat the lower class
o This also helped Priestley insinuate that wealth does
not mean happiness which ties into his socialist beliefs
Act 1 “Heavy looking, rather o ‘Heavy-looking’ could suggest that Mr Birling is the Mr Birling
portentous man… epitome and personification of greed, a typical symbol
rather provincial in his of wealth
speech” o Adjective ‘portentous’ foreshadows Mr Birling’s sense
of self-importance
o ‘Provincial in his speech’ demonstrates the lack of
education reinforcing the idea that Mrs Birling is his
social superior
o ‘provincial’ also has connotations of being unwilling to
accept new ideas foreshadowing how his capitalist
ideology fails to waver throughout the play
Act 1 “His wife… a rather cold o ‘His wife’ presents how her identity was based on her Mrs Birling
woman and her husband, this links to how Priestley criticised the
husband’s social patriarchal society of 1912
superior” o Adjective ‘cold’ instantly introduces her to be quite icy,
aloof which could be a reflection of her class and
foreshadows her behaviour and attitudes
o ‘social superior’ explains why she constantly emits her
pride and degrades others and is also the reason why
she follows the rules of etiquette as having a good
reputation was highly important to people of upper
class
Act 1 “A pretty girl in her o The fact that her beauty is the first thing that is Sheila
early twenties, very mentioned about her demonstrates how during this
pleased with life and time, women were as objects and their value was
rather excited” highly based on their appearance.
o She is pleased with life could represent how fortunate
she is, contrasting with someone like Eva Smith, Sheila
has never had to work hard in her life as everything
was merely handed to her, she is blissfully unaware of
the hardship of other
Act 1 “Easy well-bred young o use of the rule of three with the adjectives "easy, well- Gerald
man about town” bred young" establishes him as a member of the elite
class, used to a life of leisure
o adjective "young" is used when he has been described
as roughly thirty years old suggests that his attitude to
life is immature and thoughtless, and this foreshadows
what we later learn about his irresponsible behaviour
towards Eva and Shelia
o The phrase "man-about-town" shows that he is a
fashionable socialite and implies experience in the
ways of the world. It also implies vanity in that he
priorities himself over helping others
Act 1 “Not quite at ease, half o Highlighting how he is a neurotic and an unstable Eric
shy, half assertive” character. The noun 'half' displays how he doesn't
know himself and is confused about his own character,
highlighting his immaturity and lack of self-
understanding.
o The contrast between 'shy', which has connotations of
apprehension, and 'assertive' which implicates
dominance emphasis his confusion and uneasiness,
, which could suggest that he is full of secrets and guilty
of something
o Asyndetic listing, creates the sense that he is
overwhelming and overbearing, which could allude to
the self-righteous superiority that his bourgeoisie
lifestyle has instilled in him
Act 1 “You’re just the kind of o The fact that Mr Birling is only happy with Gerald due Capitalism
son in law I’ve always to the business opportunities that he brings
wanted” because Crofts demonstrates how Mr Birling best interest at heart is
and Birling’s would be money, even if it costs his owns daughter’s happiness,
working together for which portrays him as opportunistic and materialistic
“lower costs and higher o “lower costs” implies how Mr birling is willing to pay
prices” – Mr Birling his workers little so he can have more profit which,
again, shows his how selfish and mercenary he is,
through this, Priestley is showing the unfairness of
capitalism
Act 1 “silly pessimistic talk” o The use of the adjective “silly” creates a Capitalism
“silly little war scares… condescending tone and implies that he thinks his
peace and prosperity word and beliefs are right and far more superior which
and rapid progress shows how arrogant of a person he is
everywhere” – Mr o His arrogance is further heightened by dismissing
Birling these political predictions as ‘talk’
o Dramatic irony = shows that we cannot trust his
beliefs, distrust in the audience towards him, Priestley
is getting the audience to disagree with him from the
start and therefore all his beliefs and opinions are
discredited. It also displays him as arrogant and
overconfident.
o The adjective “little” and the verb “scares” highlights
his disregarding attitude towards any negative in the
future whiles also harshly contrasting the scale of
destruction the Great War and WW2 caused in reality
o This is further juxtaposed by the use of dramatic irony
“peace and prosperity and rapid progress
everywhere”, shows his lack of awareness and
overconfidence
Act 1 “Fiddlesticks! The o Fiddlesticks is belittling, treating war as a ridiculous Capitalism
Germans don’t want notion, condescending
war” – Mr Birling o Dramatic irony represents the ignorance of capitalism
Act 1 “I’m talking a hard- o The fact that this repeated twice shows how Capitalism
headed, practical man passionate he is about business
of business” – Mr o Priestley uses Birling to show that capitalists are not to
Birling be trusted
o Also implies how he thinks that the success of his
business, entitles him to correct political views
mirroring the social expectations of the upper-class
being intelligent and knowledgeable around the
events happening in society
o Priestley uses Birling as a symbol of the callous and
heartlessness of capitalism. Through his character he is
criticizing the complacency of capitalist prosperity
Act 1 “Just a knighthood of o Sees sycophancy as a means of acquiring a Social class,
course” – Mr Birling “knighthood” instead of actually doing good in appearance vs
o society. Priestley demonstrates the selfish desires of a reality
capitalist through this
o Establishes his strong desire to social climb and
become part of the upper-class
o The fact that he is trying to please Gerald also shows it
desperation to make a good impression which could
serve as a reflection to how the upper class present
themselves as morally superior meanwhile they are
severely corrupt and take advantage of the lower class
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