Act Quotation Person Inference Additional Notes
1 ‘The Germans don’t want war’ Arthur - Representative of upper class ignorance - Themes – Social Class
Birling - Mr Birling makes himself appear foolish and
complacent
- Dramatic Irony – The war would have been fresh
in the mind of the audience
1 ‘Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’ Arthur -Dramatic Irony – Considered a controversial - Themes – Social Class
Birling topic in 1946 considering what audiences would
have known at that point
- Adverb ‘Absolutely’ – Makes Mr Birling appear
foolish to modern audiences
- Verb ‘Unsinkable’ – Demonstrates typical
capitalist ignorance
1 ‘Seem to be a nice well – behaved Gerald - Foreshadows their collective downfall later on in - Themes - Lies &
family’ the play Secrecy
- Dramatic Irony – The Birlings have been
everything but well – behaved
- Verb ‘Seem’ – Gerald possible has reservations
about the Birlings
1 ‘A man has to make his own way – Arthur - Represents a radical form of capitalism, one - Themes – Social Class
has to look after himself’ Birling which is becoming harmful to society
- Mr Birling believes that hard work is sufficient
enough
- Showing a complete disregard to many of the
advantages that his family enjoys
, 1 ‘I can’t accept any responsibility’ Arthur - Highlights the stubborn behaviour of Mr Birling - Themes – Social
Birling - Dramatic Irony – Mr Birling now has to sit and Responsibility
endure all of the events and accusations that
follow
- Mr Birling’s reluctance to accept responsibility
brings a whole different perception to the
inspectors purpose, he now has a lesson to teach
- Pronoun ‘I’ – Mr Birling does not care about the
others opinions
1 ‘It’s my duty to keep labour costs Arthur - Mr Birling shows a great deal of pride that he has - Themes – Social
down’ Birling his own responsibilities Responsibility
- Highlights that Mr Birlings only priorities are
business and money related
- Shows that Mr Birling is extremely ignorant and
he is perfectly capable of accepting responsibility
when it suits him and his situation
- Noun ‘Duty’ – Synonym for responsibility
1 ‘A chain of events’ Inspector - Suggests that they all have a part to play in the - Themes -
Goole death of Eva Smith Responsibility
- Insistence that everyone is responsible for each -
other
- Metaphor – Long list of events interlocked
1 ‘So I’m really responsible?’ Sheila - Foreshadows a later chain of events – Not one - Themes -
person is truly responsible Responsibility
- Rhetorical Question – She begins to challenge
the doings of society and Mr Birling’s stubborn
behaviour
1 ‘The Germans don’t want war’ Arthur - Representative of upper class ignorance - Themes – Social Class
Birling - Mr Birling makes himself appear foolish and
complacent
- Dramatic Irony – The war would have been fresh
in the mind of the audience
1 ‘Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’ Arthur -Dramatic Irony – Considered a controversial - Themes – Social Class
Birling topic in 1946 considering what audiences would
have known at that point
- Adverb ‘Absolutely’ – Makes Mr Birling appear
foolish to modern audiences
- Verb ‘Unsinkable’ – Demonstrates typical
capitalist ignorance
1 ‘Seem to be a nice well – behaved Gerald - Foreshadows their collective downfall later on in - Themes - Lies &
family’ the play Secrecy
- Dramatic Irony – The Birlings have been
everything but well – behaved
- Verb ‘Seem’ – Gerald possible has reservations
about the Birlings
1 ‘A man has to make his own way – Arthur - Represents a radical form of capitalism, one - Themes – Social Class
has to look after himself’ Birling which is becoming harmful to society
- Mr Birling believes that hard work is sufficient
enough
- Showing a complete disregard to many of the
advantages that his family enjoys
, 1 ‘I can’t accept any responsibility’ Arthur - Highlights the stubborn behaviour of Mr Birling - Themes – Social
Birling - Dramatic Irony – Mr Birling now has to sit and Responsibility
endure all of the events and accusations that
follow
- Mr Birling’s reluctance to accept responsibility
brings a whole different perception to the
inspectors purpose, he now has a lesson to teach
- Pronoun ‘I’ – Mr Birling does not care about the
others opinions
1 ‘It’s my duty to keep labour costs Arthur - Mr Birling shows a great deal of pride that he has - Themes – Social
down’ Birling his own responsibilities Responsibility
- Highlights that Mr Birlings only priorities are
business and money related
- Shows that Mr Birling is extremely ignorant and
he is perfectly capable of accepting responsibility
when it suits him and his situation
- Noun ‘Duty’ – Synonym for responsibility
1 ‘A chain of events’ Inspector - Suggests that they all have a part to play in the - Themes -
Goole death of Eva Smith Responsibility
- Insistence that everyone is responsible for each -
other
- Metaphor – Long list of events interlocked
1 ‘So I’m really responsible?’ Sheila - Foreshadows a later chain of events – Not one - Themes -
person is truly responsible Responsibility
- Rhetorical Question – She begins to challenge
the doings of society and Mr Birling’s stubborn
behaviour
