Inspector Goole

• (Act 3) "One Eva Smith is gone - but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us"

  Methods: Syntax (gender), tricolon (emphasis), nomenclature (common names - representation)
• (Act 3) "We are members of one body"

  Methods: first person (we - collective), religious imagery (bread=Jesus' body: we are one body in the eyes of God)
• (Act 3) "We are responsible for each other"

  Methods: juxtaposition (Mr B- "A man must care for his own..."), first person plural pronoun ("we"), link to war
• (Act 3) "And I tell you the time will soon come when if men don't learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish"

  Methods: tricolon, war imagery, imperatives
• (Act _) "Burnt her insides out, of course [...] she was in great agony" (describing Eva's death to Sheila)

  Methods: shocking imagery (manipulates Sheila's femininity and perspective), casual tone contrasts imagery (emphasises the horror of her death)
• (Act _) "After all, it is better to ask for the Earth than to take it"

  Method: juxtaposing verbs ("ask" vs "take")
• (Act_) G: "we are respectable citizens, not criminals"

  I: "Sometimes there isn't as much difference as you think"

  Methods: accusatory tone, juxtaposing adjective and collective noun ("respectable" vs "criminals"), irony (Eric is a thief, they are a morally corrupt family)
• (Act_) "to put ourselves in the place of these young women counting their pennies"

  Methods: noun "pennies" (emphasised low wage - guilt-tripping), verb "counting" (desperation), shows that there are more women than just Eva in this situation, which ended up killing her
• (Act_) "but you can't. It's too late. She's dead."

  Methods: short sentences (blunt + impactful)
• Supernatural: Goole is a homophone for Ghoul.

  "Goole. G: double O-L-E" (Act 1)
• (Act 3) "you're not even sorry now...Who is to blame then?"

  Methods: religious element (choosing good in the face of temptation - Adam and Eve), inspector is removed just as they have to make this choice and the older Birlings fail the test.

  Through socialism you will return to innocence and purity.
• (Act_) "And now [Eva] will make you pay a heavier price still"

  Methods: reference to war (millions of women got jobs, income, autonomy and a degree of power), socialist message - women should keep their jobs but also need to vote for a fairer (socialist) society so they aren't exploited
• Repetition of the verb "remember"


  • Delivering the main, poignant message - he knows they won't remember
• War reference (parallelism)


  Death of Eva Smith is equivalent to WW1. They don't learn their lesson so WW2 happens (another common person will die as a result of the Birlings)
• Priestley is suggesting Eric and Sheila have learnt their lesson, but have not been able to take action
• Patriarchy


  • Sheila doesn't HAVE the power to effect change
• Death


  • Eric would've been sent to war and may have died, like his whole generation, which is why control remained with the older generation and change did not happen
• Eric was drunk the entire play


  • He may not have truly learnt his lesson. He was drunk when taking responsibility, may have changed his thoughts when sober
• Capitalist society didn't learn their lesson - should turn to socialism to fix this
• "no, I'm on duty"