Generational divide: Key Quotations

• Priestley explores the idea of generational change in An Inspector Calls: younger characters are more open to social and economic change, and as a result are in conflict with their parent’s generation, who are stuck in their ways.
• Generational divide: “Everything’s all right now, Sheila” – Gerald Croft, Act III
• Meaning and context:

  • This quote is from the end of Act III and Gerald directs this line to Sheila in the hope that she will take back his engagement ring
• Analysis:

  • Offering the ring again to Sheila at the end of the play suggests Gerald has not learned anything from the Inspector
  • The use of the adverb ‘now’ shows that he believes that it is possible for everything to return to normal
  • When Gerald realises there are no consequences for his behaviour, he no longer cares 
  • As Gerald falls between the younger and older generations, the audience will have hoped that he would have redeemed himself, but by the end of the play he reverts to his original stance