Class: Key Quotations

• Priestley uses the characters in An Inspector Calls to criticise the inequality and unfairness of the British class system and argues that the privilege of class blinds people to their immoral behaviour.
• Class: "Girls of that class" – Sybil Birling, Act II
• Meaning and context:

  • This quote is from Act II and Sybil Birling directs it toward the Inspector
• Analysis:

  • Sybil makes incorrect assertions about the working classes and views them as morally and socially inferior
  • She ignorantly links class with morality and cannot believe Eva, as a working-class girl, would refuse stolen money
  • Sybil’s hypocritical stance means she overlooks her own selfish and immoral actions and others belonging to her class