An Inspector Calls Flashcards
All 100 cards in this deck
Where and when is the whole play set?
The Birlings’ dining room in Brumley, an industrial city in the North Midlands, one spring evening in 1912.
What are the Birlings celebrating at the start of Act 1?
Sheila’s engagement to Gerald Croft.
What does Gerald give Sheila during the dinner in Act 1?
An engagement ring.
What interrupts Birling’s speech to Gerald and Eric in Act 1?
The doorbell: Inspector Goole has arrived.
What news does the Inspector bring in Act 1?
A young woman, Eva Smith, has died in the Infirmary after swallowing strong disinfectant.
Why did Birling sack Eva Smith from his works?
She was one of the leaders of a strike for higher wages (1910).
Why did Sheila have Eva sacked from Milwards?
She thought Eva smiled at her rudely, and was jealous that a dress suited Eva better.
What did Sheila threaten Milwards with unless they sacked Eva?
Closing her family’s account there.
What new name did Eva take after leaving Milwards?
Daisy Renton.
Whose reaction to the name ‘Daisy Renton’ gives him away at the end of Act 1?
Gerald’s.
Where did Gerald first meet Daisy Renton?
In the bar of the Palace Variety Theatre, in spring 1911 (Act 2).
Where did Gerald let Daisy Renton live?
In a friend’s empty rooms in Morgan Terrace.
What does Sheila do after Gerald’s confession in Act 2?
Hands back the engagement ring.
What does Gerald do once he has confessed in Act 2?
Goes out for a walk.
What did Eva call herself when she asked Mrs Birling’s charity for help?
Mrs Birling.
Whom does Mrs Birling say is most to blame for Eva’s death, in Act 2?
The father of the child, who turns out to be her son, Eric.
How does Act 2 end?
Eric walks in, and his mother realises he is the father.
Where did Eric get the money he gave Eva?
He stole about £50 from his father’s office (Act 3).
Why did Eva refuse to marry Eric?
She knew he didn’t love her.
What does Gerald learn from a police sergeant in Act 3?
There is no Inspector Goole on the force.
Whom does Birling phone to check on the Inspector?
The Chief Constable, who confirms there is no Inspector Goole.
What does Gerald find out when he phones the Infirmary?
No girl has been brought in after a suicide for months.
What news does the final phone call bring?
A girl has just died on the way to the Infirmary, and a police inspector is on his way.
What is Mr Birling’s first name?
Arthur.
What is Mrs Birling’s first name?
Sybil.
What is Mr Birling’s job?
A wealthy factory owner (Birling and Co.) and local magistrate.
Which civic post did Birling hold two years before the play?
Lord Mayor of Brumley.
Which honour does Birling hope to receive?
A knighthood.
What does the opening stage direction say Mrs Birling is to her husband?
His social superior.
Which charity does Mrs Birling help run?
The Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation.
Who is Sheila?
The Birlings’ daughter, in her twenties, engaged to Gerald.
Who is Eric?
The Birlings’ son, in his early twenties, who drinks too much.
Who is Gerald Croft?
Sheila’s fiancé, son of Sir George and Lady Croft.
What is the name of Gerald’s father’s firm?
Crofts Limited, an older and bigger rival of Birling’s.
About how old is Gerald?
About thirty.
Who is Edna?
The Birlings’ parlourmaid.
What is the Inspector’s surname?
Goole.
What name does Eva Smith use after leaving Milwards?
Daisy Renton.
Which three family members does the Inspector show the photograph to?
Birling, Sheila and Mrs Birling, one at a time.
Which character already knew Eric drank heavily, besides Gerald?
Sheila; Mrs Birling refuses to believe it.
Which character first finds out there is no Inspector Goole?
Gerald, in Act 3.
Which character refuses to take back the ring at the end?
Sheila.
Which character is never seen on stage, though the play centres on her?
Eva Smith.
Responsibility: which two characters accept responsibility by the end?
Sheila and Eric.
Responsibility: which three characters want to forget it all once the Inspector seems a hoax?
Mr Birling, Mrs Birling and Gerald.
Responsibility: how many members of the dinner party helped to drive Eva to her death?
All five: each one in a separate step.
Social class: which character speaks for selfish capitalism?
Mr Birling.
Social class: which character speaks for Priestley’s socialist views?
The Inspector.
Social class: what does Eva Smith represent?
Ordinary working-class people, especially working women.
Social class: which couple are the Birlings’ social superiors?
Gerald’s parents, Sir George and Lady Croft.
Gender: whom does Gerald rescue Daisy Renton from at the Palace bar?
Alderman Joe Meggarty.
Gender: which two men both met Eva at the Palace bar?
Gerald and Eric.
Gender: could women vote in general elections in 1912?
No.
Generations: which generation learns from the Inspector?
The younger generation: Sheila and Eric.
Generations: which parent does Eric say he could not go to for help?
His father.
Hypocrisy: which character turns Eva away from a charity?
Mrs Birling.
Wealth and power: what does Birling offer the Inspector in Act 3?
Money: thousands of pounds, if it would help.
Guilt: which character shows his distress by drinking?
Eric.
When did J. B. Priestley write An Inspector Calls?
In 1945, at the end of the Second World War.
Where was An Inspector Calls first performed?
In Moscow, in the Soviet Union, in 1945.
When and where was the first London production?
1946, at the New Theatre.
Where and when was Priestley born?
Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1894.
In which war did Priestley fight as a soldier?
The First World War, where he was wounded.
What were Priestley’s popular 1940 BBC radio talks called?
Postscripts.
Which political party did Priestley help found in 1942?
The Common Wealth Party.
Which party won the 1945 general election by a landslide?
Labour, led by Clement Attlee.
Which ship, sunk in April 1912, does Birling call unsinkable?
The Titanic.
When did the First World War begin?
1914, two years after the play is set.
When did some women first get the vote in Britain?
1918, for women over thirty with property qualifications.
Who was king in 1912?
George V.
When did Priestley die?
1984.
Complete the quotation: “We are members of one body. We are …”
“… responsible for each other.” The Inspector’s final speech (Act 3).
Who warns that men will learn their lesson in “fire and blood and anguish”?
The Inspector, in his final speech (Act 3).
Which ship does Birling call “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”?
The Titanic (Act 1).
Who calls himself “a hard-headed, practical man of business”?
Mr Birling (Act 1).
Who dismisses the idea of “community and all that nonsense”?
Mr Birling, just before the Inspector arrives (Act 1).
Who wants Gerald’s firm and his own to work together for “lower costs and higher prices”?
Mr Birling, at the engagement dinner (Act 1).
Who tells Birling “Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges”?
The Inspector.
Who says “Girls of that class”, dismissing Eva?
Mrs Birling (Act 2).
Who says “these girls aren’t cheap labour — they’re people”?
Sheila (Act 1).
Who says “He’s giving us the rope — so that we’ll hang ourselves”?
Sheila, about the Inspector.
Which character calls Gerald “the wonderful Fairy Prince”?
Sheila (Act 2).
Who says of the young, “They’re more impressionable”?
The Inspector, to Mrs Birling (Act 2).
Who says “each of you helped to kill her”?
The Inspector, before he leaves (Act 3).
Who tells his father “You’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble”?
Eric (Act 3).
Who mocks “the famous younger generation who know it all”?
Mr Birling (Act 3).
Who calls the Inspector “some sort of crank”?
Mr Birling, after the Inspector has gone (Act 3).
What kind of play is An Inspector Calls often called, for its moral lesson?
A morality play.
Which tightly plotted 19th-century play form does it follow?
The well-made play.
Which popular genre does the Inspector’s questioning borrow from?
The detective thriller (a ‘whodunnit’).
How many acts and how many settings does the play have?
Three acts, all in one setting: the Birlings’ dining room.
How does each act begin?
At the exact moment the last one ended: the action is continuous.
What device is Birling’s claim that the Titanic is unsinkable?
Dramatic irony.
How should the lighting change when the Inspector arrives?
From “pink and intimate” to “brighter and harder”.
What impression does the stage direction say the Inspector creates at once?
“massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”.
Which word does the name ‘Goole’ sound like?
Ghoul: a ghost or spirit.
Whose views does the Inspector voice?
Priestley’s: he is the playwright’s mouthpiece.
How does the Inspector question the family?
One person and one line of enquiry at a time.
What structural device ends Act 2?
A cliffhanger: Eric’s entrance.
What final twist ends the play?
A phone call announcing a dead girl and an inspector on his way.