AIC Quote logger

• Name the quote from Gerald in Act 3 that shows how he mistakenly assumes Sheila will forget what happened and they can go like before

  "Everything's alright now, Sheila. What about this ring? "
• name the quote by Sheila in Act 2 that shows her change in confidence challenging and criticising her parents' selfishness. The powerful adjectives show her increasing independence and her parents ideology

  "Mother, i think that was cruel and vile"
• name the quote from Sheila from Act 1 that shows the first to adopt socialist views by having sympathy for the proletariat. She becomes a mouthpiece for Priestley

  "But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people"
• name the quote from Sheila in Act 2 that has a metaphor showing she is insightful and is the first to workout the inspectors method of interrogation

  "He's giving us the rope so we'll hang ourselves"
• name the quote from Eric in Act 1 that like Sheila, early in the play Eric demonstrates socialist sympathies towards the lower class

  "Why shouldn't they try for higher wages"
• name the quote from Eric in Act 3 that has a rhetorical question showing he is angry at his fathers desire to escape with his reputation intact

  "does it matter now whether they give you a knighthood or not"
• name the quote about Eric in the stage directions that shows Eric's drinking problem and how the quote has opposite characteristics; suggesting he is complicated, troubled who carries a two identities

  "half-shy, half-assertive"
• name the quote from Mr Birling in Act 2 that uses abrupt language to show he is dismissive and patronizing to his children. He is uninterested in what the younger generation have to say

  "Nothing to do with you, Sheila run along"
• name the quote from Mr Birling that shows how as a capitalist employer he wants to pay his workers as little as he can to increase his profits. He does not care for the proletariat/ his employees

  "lower the costs and higher prices "
• name the quote from Mr Birling that shows Mr. Birling’s speech that uses triadic listing reflects capitalist ideologies , prioritising individual success over collective responsibility. The phrase his own way suggests selfish ambition, while his family is an afterthought, revealing his narrow, self-centred worldview. Priestley criticises this lack of social responsibility, contrasting it with the Inspector’s socialist message.

  "A man has to make his own way – has to look after himself – and his family too."
• name the quote from the Inspector that shows The Inspector’s final moral lesson directly opposes Birling’s views. The short, declarative sentences emphasise his certainty, while a metaphor for society, implying unity and mutual dependence. The use of "we" reinforces the idea of collective responsibility, central to Priestley’s socialist message.

  "We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other."
• name the quote from Eric that shows Eric’s casual description of sexual assault reveals how upper-class men exploit women without real consequences. The phrase generalises this behaviour, normalising it, while "easily" implies a lack of control. Priestley exposes the dangers of toxic masculinity and privilege.


  "I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty."
• name the quote from the inspector that shows Eva symbolically represents all the working class she also represents the female workforce- women had the vote in 1945 but not in 1912 Women are therefore the ones who are most likely to reject the lack of power they have had and vote for a Labour government- socialist society. Through the repetition of "millions", Priestley seems to open up the play from the limited scope of one family's dining room to a international systematic concern

  'there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths'
• Name the quote from Mr Birling that uses dramatic irony to make him seen stupid because he is symbolic of rich capitalists he wants them to look stupid as well the Titanic could possibly represent the upper classes. Priestley wants to illustrate that their power and privilege will also be sunk by the peace and election which will follow the second world war- sink the 'titanic', of rich upper class privilege and capitalistic wealth

  Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable (Act 1)
• name the quote from the inspector that suggests that the Capitalist society represented by Birling is rapacious, revolutionary in 1945, the Earth is being stripped bear by a class of people who would sacrifice their own kids for war for money The metaphor of “the Earth” shows how much they feel entitled to take — not just profits, but lives. The juxtaposition paints the ruling class as destructive, while the working class is simply asking to live decently.

  "It is better to ask for the Earth than to take it" (Act 1)
• name the quote from the inspector that uses symbolism of Eva as a symbol of working-class women that is a reference to ww1 , WW2 marking the play out as anti-war, but also feminist, even in death Eva assumes feminine power like the suffragettes- Emily Davidson also committing suicide. It shows how Priestley is telling women to keep their jobs after WW2 and also vote a socialist society 


  "And now she'll pay the heavier price still" (Act 3)
• name the quote from the stage directions about Gerald that uses zoomorphism in the verb "bred" to show how Gerald was made the be the man he was almost crafted from a young age. It also shows how capitalism/patriarchy make men follow a certain "line", he is supposed to marry someone like Sheila but wants to marry a proletariat like Eva, Capitalism/patriarchy is controlling

  "Well bred young man" (Act 1)