Scene Essay

• '(Jovially) But the whole thing's different now. Come, come, you can see that, can't you.'


  Mr Birling thinks that the inspector being a fake changes the whole situation. The word 'jovially' shows that he is cheerful and happy. He is glad that there will be no scandal and he could still receive his knighthood even though this doesn't change what he did. Mr Birling is a man who only cares about his public image and not the truth, he has learned nothing and has not changed since the start of the play. This calms the audience down before an unexpected ending.
• The stage directions say '(As they stare guilty and dumbfounded, the curtain falls. The End.)'


  The Birlings find out that the real inspector is on his way to ask questions about the suicide of a young girl. This is a very effective ending. The Birlings and Gerald are stunned, especially Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald who just a minute ago had been sure they were in the clear. The audience is shocked and left with lots of unanswered questions. The cliffhanger creates tension.
• 'I want to get out of this. It frightens me the way you talk.'


  This shows that she gets infuriated with her parents since they refuse to admit mistakes and simply return to the narrow-minded attitude they held before. By juxtaposing these contradicting viewpoints in their conversation at the end of the play, Priestley enhances how strongly the older generation clings to their beliefs and ignores everything else.
• 'I'm sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for it at all.'


  Mrs Birling doesn't admit she was wrong and refuses to take any responsibility for what she has done. She doesn't have any sympathy for what she did to Eva Smith and lacks emotion.
• 'One Eva Smith has gone - but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us.... We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.'


  Repetition of "Millions and millions" shows that Eva Smith represents all poor, disadvantaged people. The repetition of the word 'we' and the use of the word choice 'responsible' shows that, in a good society, it is our collective duty to make sure we provide enough for everyone.
• 'Fire and blood and anguish.'


  The inspector is saying that if we do not provide for the poor and sick we are storing up trouble for ourselves.