Key Quotations
MR BIRLING:
o Birlings’ ‘ large surburban house’ – contrast with Eva’s ‘dingy little back bedroom’ (described by
the Inspector)
o Birling’s first line: ‘Giving us the port, Edna? That’s right.’ Structurally the play opens with Birling’s
focus on consumerism, his wealth and attempts to impress Gerald Croft
o Birling, celebrates the engagement of Sheila and Gerald: ‘It’s one of the happiest nights of my life’
(he’s happy that the Croft and Birling firms may work together in the future!)
o “nobody wants war”
o “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” (about the Titanic) o Describes himself repeatedly as ‘a hard-
headed practical man of business”
o “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own-and -(door bell rings)” o
“It’s my duty to keep labour costs down”
o Describes Eva’s death as a ‘horrid business’ (uses the language of business rather than
understanding the true horror of Eva’s death)
o ‘I was quite justified’ in sacking Eva Smith o His main concern is to avoid a “public scandal”
o When worried his family is responsible for Eva’s death: ‘Look, Inspector - I’d give thousands – yes,
thousands –’ This reveals Birling’s hypocrisy – he has money to spare for a bribe, to avoid a scandal,
but he won’t pay his workers a penny more than they currently earn.
o After the Inspector leaves: ‘You allowed yourself to be bluffed. Yes – bluffed.’
o After the Inspector leaves: repeatedly described in the stage directions as speaking ‘triumphantly’
SHEILA:
o At the start of the play, when Gerald gives her the ring: ‘Oh – it’s wonderful! Look Mummy – isn’t it
a beauty?’
o “But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people”
o When she had Eva Smith fired, she uses the power she has as a good customer of the store: “I’d
persuade mother to close our account with them”
o ‘(Miserably) So I’m really responsible?’
o “I’ll never, never do it again to anybody.”
o When she hears about Gerald’s affair with Eva: ‘You were the wonderful Fairy Prince. You must
have adored it, Gerald.’
MR BIRLING:
o Birlings’ ‘ large surburban house’ – contrast with Eva’s ‘dingy little back bedroom’ (described by
the Inspector)
o Birling’s first line: ‘Giving us the port, Edna? That’s right.’ Structurally the play opens with Birling’s
focus on consumerism, his wealth and attempts to impress Gerald Croft
o Birling, celebrates the engagement of Sheila and Gerald: ‘It’s one of the happiest nights of my life’
(he’s happy that the Croft and Birling firms may work together in the future!)
o “nobody wants war”
o “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” (about the Titanic) o Describes himself repeatedly as ‘a hard-
headed practical man of business”
o “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own-and -(door bell rings)” o
“It’s my duty to keep labour costs down”
o Describes Eva’s death as a ‘horrid business’ (uses the language of business rather than
understanding the true horror of Eva’s death)
o ‘I was quite justified’ in sacking Eva Smith o His main concern is to avoid a “public scandal”
o When worried his family is responsible for Eva’s death: ‘Look, Inspector - I’d give thousands – yes,
thousands –’ This reveals Birling’s hypocrisy – he has money to spare for a bribe, to avoid a scandal,
but he won’t pay his workers a penny more than they currently earn.
o After the Inspector leaves: ‘You allowed yourself to be bluffed. Yes – bluffed.’
o After the Inspector leaves: repeatedly described in the stage directions as speaking ‘triumphantly’
SHEILA:
o At the start of the play, when Gerald gives her the ring: ‘Oh – it’s wonderful! Look Mummy – isn’t it
a beauty?’
o “But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people”
o When she had Eva Smith fired, she uses the power she has as a good customer of the store: “I’d
persuade mother to close our account with them”
o ‘(Miserably) So I’m really responsible?’
o “I’ll never, never do it again to anybody.”
o When she hears about Gerald’s affair with Eva: ‘You were the wonderful Fairy Prince. You must
have adored it, Gerald.’
