an inspector calls

• "... for lower costs and higher prices"


  Mr Birling, Act One: the use of the nouns "costs" and "prices" shows how he is very concerned with business and how he's a capitalist and how he is only concerned with making the most profit for himself rather than improving the wages of his factory workers, which opposes the ideas of socialism that Priestley agrees with. This is shown through how he is cheering and making a toast over the fact that his workers are gaining lower prices due to the use of the preposition "for"
• "... just the kind of son-in-law I always wanted"


  Mr Birling, Act One: this shows how Mr Birling is almost arranging the marriage in order to satisfy his own needs. This portrays him as being selfish as it appears he is trying to meet the needs of his business, enforcing that he represents capitalism
• "... mixed up together like bees in a hive"


  Mr Birling, Act One: the simile can portray both socialism and capitalism. One is that each bee looks after themselves whereas the other more importantly conveys the idea that we are all apart of one hive
• "hard-headed business man, who has to take risks and know what he's about-"


  Mr Birling, Act one: throughout his monologue, there is repetition of the phrase "hard-headed", which could convey how he is trying to impress and educate Gerald (who is above him in social class) and makes it seem as if Mr Birling is trying to show his worth to Gerald. He also appears to be portentous in this part of the text, although the 1945 audience would view him as arrogant and naive
• "you'll hear some people say war is inevitable ... fiddlesticks!"


  Mr Birling, Act One: this uses dramatic irony as the audience watching this play take place may have already endured two world wars, which would make the audience already feel some slight resentment towards Mr Birling and view him as naive and narrow-minded. This quote also shows how Mr Birling has little concern over the worlds issues and the use of the "fiddlesticks" conveying how he takes the possibility of war as nonsense or stupidity, which suggests that he views his opinion as being superior, possibly due to his class and wealth. There is also the use of an exclamative sentence which shows that he is passionate and convinced about what he is saying
• "The Titanic [...] unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable."


  Mr Birling, Act One: despite Me Birling's arrogance and certainty, the titanic does sink even though he claims it to be "unsinkable". This use of dramatic irony signifies how the Birling family, a seemingly powerful and wealthy family, will fall and the Titanic acting as a metaphor of his own family and his claims about the Titanic are similar to his beliefs about his family and how they are superior, believing they are untouchable until the Inspector arrives giving them the news of Eva Smith's suicide and their involvement in her death. Not only this, but the sibilance between the adjectives "unsinkable" and the repetition of this adjective could portray how Mr Birling will be undermined and defeated due to the Inspector's superior views on "socialism", showing how people who are capitalist are wrong and are bigots, like mr Birling
• (rather impatiently) Yes, yes. Horrid business


  Mr Birling, Act One: first of all, the stage direction with the adverb "(rather)" and the adverb "(impatiently)" conveys how Mr Birling is trying to brush over the subject of the girl's death and the repetition of the adverb "yes" coinciding with the simple sentence with the phrase "horrid business" creates an idea as though Mr Birling is rushing over hearing about the gruesome suicide of Eva. This portrays him as insincere and only caring about what this has to do with him and not how distraught or shocked he should be after hearing the tragic death of Eva. Furthermore, this shows how Priestley uses Mr Birling as a metaphor for capitalism, which portrays capitalism as something emotionless and cruel due to Mr Birling's disregard and disrespect after hearing about Eva's suicide
• "... couldn't consider it. [...] they could go and work somewhere else."

  Mr Birling, Act One: this shows how he has little concern over his working ethics and how he is only concerned with the profit he makes compared to the money his workers make. This conveys how Mr Birling is a strong capitalist. This is highlighted through the alliteration of the "c" sound and through the ambiguity of the word "somewhere", which suggests that Mr Birling doesn't care where they go or what happens to them after they have left, showing how he only values them for what they can do for him
• "-she'd had a lot to say - far too much - she had to go"


  Mr Birling, Act one: shows how Me Birling didn't like other people/ his workers opposing his power, which could portray how he feels weak and insecure as a businessman and company owner and threatened when people oppose his authority. On the other hand, it also conveys how he doesn't care about what happens to his workers, which differentiates from the views of a socialist
• "... we've several hundred young women there y'know, and they keep changing."


  Mr Birling, Act One: this shows how he views his workers as disposable and more as machine parts rather than actual human beings which portrays how he only cares for his own profit being made, enforcing how Mr Birling represents Capitalism
• "Ridiculous" "fancy" "elaborate"

  Mr Birling, Act One: These three adjectives are used by Mr Birling to describe Eva's demands for fair pay. Whilst Eva is presented as having a strong moral compass, striking and protesting for her and her fellow peers to have higher wages, Mr Birling views these claims as foolish, silly and fanciful. This shows how Mr Birling believes his is smarter and more sensible than Eva and the other lower class workers, suggesting how capitalists feel as if they are superior to others. This also makes it seem as if he is trying to humiliate her, suggesting how Mr Birling is a selfish heartless man as he is trying to shift the blame onto and humiliate a girl who killed herself because of his actions. This portrays Mr Birling as having no restraint or moral compass, making him a foil to Eva and appear more as a fool and an idiot
• Probably a socialist or some sort of crank'


  Mr Birling, Act Three: Mr. Birling thinks that anyone that isn't a capitalist is wrong, showing how he is a strong capitalist and is unwilling to change his ways, and the use of the adjective "crank" suggests that he is insulting anybody who has socialist views or different views to him. This represents the older generation and how they don't want to change
• "... come down sharply [...] on [...] these people, they'd soon be asking for the earth"

  Mr Birling, Act One: the phrase "these people" refers to the workers in his factory, which sounds dehumanising and backs up the idea of lower wages for higher prices. It also shows how he is afraid of socialism, which could furthermore entice him to lower the wages of his workers. Not only this, but this shows how he is afraid of the lower class workers gaining as much money as he does. This shows how it isn't the workers or Eva who are money-hungry but rather Mr Birling himself. This use of irony furthermore exemplifies Mr Birling to be oblivious to the truth and too idiotic to realise that he is one to blame for Eva's suicide alongside him being the one who is hungry for money
• "(furious, intervening) ... you hysterical young fool - get back - or I'll-"


  Mr Birling, Act Three: firstly, the stage direction conveys that he is cross with the way his children are treating the "possible" involvements of the Birling family, which could represent how the older generations were stubborn and refused to change their ways and adopt socialist ideas (unlike the younger generations which is symbolised through Eric and Sheila in the play). This quotation also tells us that Mr Birling still sees himself as an authoritative figure, and shows how he is attempting but failing to keep the family in order, unlike the Insoector who does it without threatening them but just instructing them with a few simple words. Overall, this shows us how Mr Birling and the Inspector are foils to each other
• "(angrily) You're the one I blame..." "... There'll be a public scandal."

  Mr Birling, Act Three: repetition of the stage direction "(angrily)" from these two quotations conveys how he is cross at his family members, and is trying to shift the blame away from him in order to make himself feel better and to retain his own public image. This tells us that Mr Birling may be insecure and is concerned with how people see him and how he views himself, possibly telling us that he has a low self esteem and that he takes out his anger and frustration into his family members in order to take the blame away from him
• "(unhappily) Look, Inspector - I'd give thousands - yes, thousands -"


  Mr Birling, act three: the use dramatic choices such as the stage direction with the adverb "(unhappily)" shows how mr Birling does recognise his involvement and realises that he may lose all social credibility and lose his wealth, despite not feeling ashamed for what he has done. Instead, the repetition of the plural noun "thousands" creates an idea as if he is trying to bribe the inspector, with the use of the dashes creating a sense that he is begging for the inspector to accept this offer. This shows how Mr Birling knows his reputation is ruined so is hoping that he can use his wealth to sway the inspector, despite the inspector refusing to accept
• "... the famous younger generation [...] they can't even take a joke-"


  Mr Birling, Act 3: here, it is hinted that Mr Birling is making fun of Eric and Sheila, mocking them by calling the pair the "famous" generation. He also remarks on how they cannot take a joke, showing how Mr Birling is making fun of his own children, presenting him as a fool. This shows how Priestley uses Mr Birling as a metaphor and representation of how capitalism is stupid
• "... Arthur, if you've got no more to say [...] leave you men -"

  Mrs Birling, Act One: shows how Mrs Birling has inferior power and control in the Birling household despite her being in the aristocracy. This conveys how men had more power and control over women in the Edwardian error, highlighting gender inequality
• "I don't suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class -"


  Mrs Birling, Act Two: this quotation shows how Mrs Birling feels disconnected to others due to her being in an "inferior" class to those like Eva, referring to her being of "that" social class. This shows how she correlates the suicide of Eva with her class and not due to any other factors. This shows how Mrs Birling doesn't take responsibility for her involvement with Eva's suicide and shows her prejudice for those in other social classes.
• "Yes, I think it was simply a piece of gross impertinence - quite deliberate - [...] one of the things that prejudiced me against her case."


  Mrs Birling, Act Two: Here Mrs Birling refers to the time the pregnant Eva Smith came to Mrs Birling's charity for help, but refused to help as she introduced herself as Mrs Birling. The adjective "impertinence" means to not show respect to those inferior to you, which connotes how Mrs Birling feels superior to Eva. This is also only "one of the things" that made Mrs Birling not want to help Eva, conveying that she also didn't want to help her because of their social class
• "(stung) ... I didn't like her manner. She'd impertinently made use of our name,"


  Mrs Birling, Act Two: the stage direction conveys how Mrs Birling feels attacked by the Inspector's accusations and believes that it was Eva's class and inferiority to her that caused her to end up in the situation she did and not her own attitude regarding her abandoning Eva's request for help. This could portray how the upper classes felt as if they saw themselves as being superior to the lower classes and that they had power over them. This shows how Mrs Birling sees herself as a figure of authority and power due to her class and position in the charity, whereas characters like the Inspector have authority naturally despite of what class he may be in
• I did my duty


  Mrs Birling, act two: the use of the noun "duty" shows how Mrs Birling believes it was her moral obligation to refuse help to the pregnant, suffering Eva Smith, showing how she couldn't consider helping someone of a lower class. This shows the prejudice upper classes had against lower classes
• "I'll tell you what I told her. Go and look for the father of the child. It's his responsibility"


  Mrs Birling, Act Two: this shows how Mrs Birling blames the father for Eva's suicide and denies her involvement in the death of Eva Smith, referring to how she shows a lack of remorse for the way in which she contributed to Eva's death. She also seems to try and shift the authority from the Inspector to herself through the declarative sentence, showing that she too like her husband feels insecure despite of her being in the aristocracy
• "(agitated now) [...] it wasn't I who had her turned out of her employment"

  Mrs Birling, Act Two: conveys how she is beginning to be distressed by the situation and how she is trying to even out the blame amongst her family members, portraying her as being rather selfish and possibly that she does feel some remorse but is refusing to show it and denies it
• "No - Eric - Please"

  Mrs Birling, Act Three: after she accused the father for being responsible and now knows that her son Eric is the father, the use of dashes shows how she is panicking and deteriorating.
• "... Eric, I'm absolutely ashamed of you"


  Mrs Birling, Act Three: this quotation tells us how (like Mr Birling) Mrs Birling is trying to get the accusation of her involvement away from her and trying to shift all of the blame onto her own son. This portrays her as being selfish
• "I did nothing I'm ashamed of"

  Mrs Birling, Act Three: presents how Mrs Birling shows no lack of remorse for turning down a helpless pregnant Eva Smith, showing how she is a dishonourable character when talking about the girl who was going to be the mother of her grandchild. Furthermore, this portrays Mrs Birling as being a displeasing and cruel, selfish character
• "(Triumphantly) Didn't I tell you? [...] talking like that to us?"


  Mrs Birling, act 3: the use of the interrogative and stage direction here shows how she believes she was right all along and that she knew more than the other characters, presenting her as naive and selfish. Secondly, the phrase "talking like that" suggests that she looked down on the Inspector, showing how she is very judgmental and critical of those in lower classes to her
• Why shouldn't they try for higher wages?

  Eric, act one: here, the use of the interrogative by Eric and the use of the verb "shouldn't" and adverb "why" shows how Eric is questioning his father's capitalist motives, showing signs of socialism like Sheila. This shows how the younger generation were more influenced by socialist ideals
• "(looking extremely pale and distressed [...] curtain falls quickly)"

  Eric description, end of Act 2: this leaves the audience on a cliffhanger which builds suspense and anticipation in the audience and in the scene. The descriptions of Eric being "pale" makes it seem as if he has fallen ill and the verb "distressed" shows how he is becoming concerned with his involvement in Eva's suicide and his own baby's death. These descriptions of Eric are also heightened through the use of the adverb "extremely".
• "... she was pretty and a good sport"


  Eric, Act Three: Eric is speaking about when he raped Eva, referring to her as this. This conveys how upper class men treated women (specifically in the lower classes) as being disposable and used them for their own pleasure due to the use of the noun "sport" alongside only using her for the way she looked due to the adjective of her being "pretty". This furthermore illustrates the ideas of gender/ class inequalities in the Edwardian era
• "... I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty - [...] that's the hellish thing. Oh - my God! - how stupid it all is!


  Eric, act 3: this quotation implies that Eric raped Eva against her own will, showing how he acted in a misogynistic and immoral way by taking advantage of her. However, he does seem to show a shed of remorse through how he describes his actions using the adjective "hellish" and due to the use of dashes and exclamations, showing how he is upset through what he has done.
• "(nearly at breaking point) [...] you killed her [...] - and the child she'd have had too - my child - your own grandchild - you killed them both - damn you, damn you -"


  Eric, Act Three: first of all, the stage direction tells us that Eric is undergoing extreme emotions, which could suggest how he is getting to terms with the death of Eva and the child he would've had alongside feeling troubled. The repetition of the phrases "you killed her" and "damn you" as well as the extensive use of dashes represents how he is taking breaths, which may tell us that he is becoming more frantic and is exasperating. The repetition of phrases however could show us how he is trying to alleviate part of the blame away from him, attempting to shift it onto his mother. Overall, this shows how troubled and how he is in a negative state of mind due to him blaming his own family members and could tell us that he feels grief for the child he could've had as well as for Eva
• "...don't forget I'm ashamed of you as well - yes both of you."

  Eric, Act Three: this shows how despite being young, he is becoming more confident and gaining more experience and authority (like Sheila) which could represent his coming of age as he is telling his family how he thinks they should be "ashamed". This also shows how in spite of his parents attempts to blame him as well as to try and get rid of the accusations on themselves, he is standing strong by his own beliefs, recognising his involvement alongside his parent's.
• "(quietly, bitterly) I don't give a damn now whether I stay here or not"

  Eric, Act Three: the stage direction conveys how he feels remorseful for what he has done, with the two adverbs making it appear as if he is distraught and impacted by the interrogations, suggesting how the younger generations are more impacted by socialism and are more likely to adopt socialist ideas about our society. This conveys how unlike his family members, he does feel guilt for what he has done
• "... I did what I did. [...] And the rest of you did what you did to her"

  Eric, Act Three: despite his father's attempts to push the interrogations and accusations away, Eric reminds the whole family of what happened that night shown through the emphasis of the pronouns "I", "you" and the noun "rest", showing how they all had a part to play in Eva's death. This could represent his coming of age and how he recognises how they all contributed to Eva's suicide. Overall, this could show us how Eric symbolises the younger generations becoming more open to adopt socialism
• "(Laughs bitterly) I didn't notice you told him that it's every man for himself"

  Eric, act 3: the use of the adverb "bitterly" in the stage direction shows how Eric resents his father, showing how the younger and older generations oppose each other, with the fact that he is laughing showing how he believes his father is wrong. Secondly, the phrase "every man for himself" links back to act one where Mr Birling gave a monologue about capitalism and looking out for a man's own interests, which shows how Mr Birling didn't try to talk to the Inspector like this. This could connote how the Inspector is an omnipotent figure in the play due to how a wealthy man like Mr Birling who uses his status and wealth to force authority over his workers like Eva or his children doesnt oppose him or try to educate him.
• "it doesn't alter the fact that we all helped to kill her."

  Eric, Act Three: this quotation tells us that Eric recognises their involvement in Eva's suicide through the use of the pronoun "we", showing how they all were involved in causing her death. This represents the moral message of the play in how every human action is interconnected with other people, and could have an impact on their lives which we may or may not have intended
• "(excited) Oh - Gerald - [...] is it the one you wanted me to have?"

  Sheila, Act one: the stage direction conveys how she is still young and naive with the use of dashes showing how enamoured she is by the ring. The also asks Gerald if it is the ring Gerald wanted her to have, portraying how women in the Edwardian error had much less power and control compared to men.
• "Oh - it's wonderful! Look - mummy - isn't it a beauty?"


  Sheila, Act one: portrays how Sheila is concerned only with beauty, which raises a thought on how women in the Edwardian era had standards and concerns over beauty and not other characteristics as she is enamoured by the ring, showing it of to her mother. Sheila's excitement over the ring can be seen through the exclamative sentences and how she show's the ring to her mum (which could indicate that Sheila is still very childlike)