Inspector Calls Characters

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still wants to assert power over her and punish Eva for hurting her pride- not very pro-equality!) Feels taking responsibility and feeling guilt for your actions is extremely important as you need to recognise that your actions do impact others and she faces the consequences- she's immediately repentant when made to see the impact of her behaviour. At the start, Sheila has a lot of respect for her mother, she is her role model yet as the play progresses Sheila realises Sybil's hypocritical tendencies and selfish outlook on life and begins to challenge her opinions more creating tension between the two characters Both her parents treat Sheila as a child, infantilising her by referring to her as a 'girl' (like they do with Eva), see her as weak and vulnerable Gerald doesn't really respect her and wants to stay shielded from the outside world, doesn't give her much freedom as he doesn't want her to be tainted by the unworldly truths as she is a woman (only meant to be there for his pleasure, to give him kids and maintain the household). Later in the play, Sheila sets aside her sibling quarrels with Eric to team with him to prove to their parents that they need t9 change their mindsets. At the start she is quite giddy, naïve and childish yet at the end she shifts to a more powerful, fierce, strong woman- this is because she has found her voice allowing her to become more assertive and confident as she has realised that society is unfair and change is needed She is initially angry with Gerald and aims to make him feel bad for disrespecting her, by saying hateful comments to him. HoweverAs the play progresses she grows in maturity and sets aside her own pride in order to encourage Gerald to tell the truth She progresses from doing only what benefits her to prioritising what is best for society as a whole and what is morally honest rather than prioritising her own pride Her development shows that we can amend our past naivety and selfishness if we accept we have done wrong and strive to improve, while encouraging others to do the same. 'But these girls aren't cheap labour- they're people' 'And I know I'm to blame- and I'm desperately sorry' '(With feeling) Mother, I think it was cruel and vile' 'It's you two who are being childish- trying not to face the facts' 'So there's nothing to be sorry for? Nothing to learn?' Function: What is Sheila's function in the play? How does Priestley use her character? Eric Birling Key moments: What are the most significant moments for Eric in the play? Attitude: How does Eric feel about key issues in the play (class, gender, wealth and responsibility)? Relationships with others: How would you describe Eric's relationships with the other characters in the play? Which of these relationships are most significant? Character development: To what extent does Eric change over the course of the play? Why? ● ● ● Voice for the younger generation to show the more open minded side of society who welcome change Catalyst for changes society, she is a future activist as we see these qualities emerge through the play as she realises the inequality- feminist (links to the Suffragette movement) Uses Sheila to encourage audience to understand the need for our actions and behaviour to align with our values instead of just saying them. Uses her to promote gender equality because her bravery standing up to her mum and dad was impressive, she turned a man down who was a 'good match' as he didn't have equal moral standards. Audience in 1945 would side with her and show respect to Sheila for speaking up and championing a positive cause. At the start of the play, her childish, materialistic characterisation is used to represent the failings of typical middle class girls back then, as Priestley sees them. For example, when Gerald presents her with a ring, she says, 'Oh, Gerald, is it the one you wanted me to have?' This use of the passive case, 'me', suggests that Sheila is lower-ranking to Gerald, as younger women of the day would be. Her emotion and focus on an item of jewellery, saying 'Now I really feel engaged', suggests that she is more obsessed with the material aspects of her relationship than her feelings for Gerald. Finally, she says, 'Look, mummy, isn't it a beauty?' The use of childish language, 'mummy', highlights her immaturity at this point in the play, while her focus on beauty foreshadows what we learn later: that she ruined Eva's career out of jealousy for her appearance. At the start where he lacks confidence, and is belittled by his parents, around the area where Sheila calls him 'squiffy' It is revealed he is an alcoholic and the extent to which he relies on drink for the comfort that his family doesn't supply him with When it revealed that Eric had an affair with Eva causing her to become pregnant with his baby and then steals money from his father in attempt to help the girl At the end where Eric becomes more assertive and makes an emotional attack on his parents and their views, he accepts that even if the Inspector was a fraud, they are all in the wrong He feels that taking responsibility for your actions is important, he accepts that he drunk too much and there were rightful consequences (e.g., baby) but he didn't just abandon Eva, he tried to help and make her life easier. With regards to gender, he challenges the fact that women are paid less and wants to know why they shouldn't deserve the same pay as men/ more than they have now- feminist tendencies, he could be a male activist in the suffragette movement in future Being of the upper class, he feels a sense of entitlement and abuses this by exploiting those with a lower social status as they arrogantly feel they can. His heavy drinking could link to his class: his desire to consume could reflect on the reckless greed and irresponsibility of the upper classes like him. Unhappy young man as he feels uncomfortable around family due to lack of support from his parents and because he doesn't agree with their conservative views- we feel sympathy towards his unhappiness. His family provide him with little comfort meaning he drinks a lot to make up for this, he drinks to deal with the feeling of isolation and inability to open to his family. It helps him to escape the hardships of life and reality. Eric is closed off from his parents- he feels he can't talk to his dad perhaps due to his dad's strong opinions and his fear of judgement or being a disappointment, 'you're not the kind of father a chap could go to when he's in trouble. That's why.' His mum infantilises him and still treats him like a young boy, so he can't talk to her about his bigger issues as she doesn't view him as being old enough to understand how the real world works still- he shouts at his mother, 'you don't understand anything. You never did.' He doesn't know what a healthy relationship is, forces himself apon Eva while drunk and potentially rapes her. When finding out his dad exploited Eva, he expresses feelings of unfairness, yet he hypocritically exploits her too, later in the play- throughout, his actions and beliefs don't correlate- his ideas of what's right all through the play are disorderly probably due to his excessive alcohol intake His actions in the past were irresponsible- 'I didn't even remember- that's the hellish thing' but near the end of the play he accept responsibility for his actions and changes his mind set to be more thoughtful of others as he has realised, Five key quotations for Eric: Function: What is Eric's function in the play? How does Priestley use his character? Mr Arthur Birling Key moments: What are the most significant moments for Arthur in the play? Attitude: ● thanks to the lack of responsibility his family takes that he is better than them and shouldn't hide what he has done wrong, it's foolish. At start he irresponsibly thinks short-term enjoyment is a higher priority than long term consequences- he doesn't think about the tragic outcomes his behaviour could have for Eva. He feels that he is entitled to Eva and thinks he can have her regardless of her desires (this is a general criticism Priestley makes about the upper classes). He shifts from his reckless behaviour (drinking then having sex with Eva) to trying to help her and act more compassionate towards her, more respectful of Eva. At the start he is shy and has little dialogue, stays quiet due to the embarrassment of being shut down and belittlement from parents, towards end he is more confident and assertive- conflicts greatly with parents as he is finally standing up about his anger and disappointment in their inability to reflect and change. consequence. '(miserably) could I have a drink first?' There is a change from his initial irresponsible and selfish characterisation because it offers the idea that we can make amends for past wrings by altering our behaviour and encouraging others to do the same. He has guilt for how he treated Eva and internalises this guilt so that when the revelation unfolds that the Inspector was a fake, his remorse is unaffected by the removal of external 'Whoever that chap was, the fact remains that I did what I did.' 'in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive.' 'Why shouldn't they try for higher wages?' ● 'I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty.' ● ● He uses Eric (and Sheila) to suggest that the youth of post-war Britain are the answer to change and a hopeful future as they are shown to be more open minded With Eric, Priestley also shows the huge dangers of immoral behaviour-such as how he forced entry into Eva's house and drank far too much ● When he is making the engagement into more of a business arrangement When Priestley include dramatic irony about the war, labour trouble and the titanic in one of his speeches When his speech about his capitalist views on social responsibility is interrupted by the door bell He may use Eric to show how dangerous the mixture of drinking a lot and having casual relationships is and how it can have life-changing consequences He uses Eric to expose the difference between legality and morality but the difficulty of choosing whether it is more important that an action is illegal or that it helped someone out. This is shown in the case of the stolen money- Priestley doesn't criticise Eric for this as although he breaks the law it is in the interest of helping someone in need. When he is interrogated by the Inspector about how he fired Eva At the end where he is very adamant that the inspector was a fraud and it changes everything Near the end of act 3 when he receives a phone call from the police saying that there was a girl in the infirmary and an inspector was on his way Believes that it is not his problem how the working class feel, it is merely his job to keep labour costs low and make maximal profit for his business- only thinks about himself rather than how his actions are impacting his workers or people of a lower class than him, he is greedy How does Arthur feel about key issues in the play (class, gender, wealth and responsibility)? Relationships with others: How would you describe Arthur's relationships with the other characters in the play? Which of these relationships are most significant? Character development: To what extent does Arthur change over the course of the play? Why? ● ● ● ● . He feels that he should be a higher class than he is now and will take any opportunity to climb higher in the ranks- such as by marrying Mrs Birling and trying to hint a future business arrangement with Crofts Unlimited (who's owner is of a higher class- Gerald's mother and father). He is a desperate, social climber. He makes it clear that he believes that men are superior such as how he hushes Mrs Birling and Sheila away into the drawing room as he wanted to talk to the men of the family about important business. This proves that he doesn't think very highly of the women as he believes that they shouldn't be tainted by the real world and needs to shelter them from the truths of the world. He is sexist and has patronising and old-fashioned views on women such as how they view clothes and appearance. He suggests that clothes are so important to women-'clothe mean something quite different to a woman. Not just something to wear- and not only one thing to make 'em look prettier'. That fact that he thinks clothes 'make em look prettier' proves that he objectifies women. He is selfish and wants to be the richest so when he faces he idea that he would be earning less money (e.g. raising the workers wages to 25 shillings) or if someone takes his money- even if it is his own son in a time of need- he feels it is outrageous and unforgivable. He has capitalist beliefs about responsibility so thinks that men should be the ones to go out and work to provide for the family and should do what only benefits their family rather than helping others in society or sharing their earnings with the less fortunate. He ignores others needs which results in drastic wealth inequality and definitely doesn't promote equal opportunity in society. Mr Birling tries to get on Gerald's good side as he is the son of the owner of Crofts Unlimited, one of his rival companies which is more successful than his business. He shows lots of respect and is obedient to Gerald, agreeing with everything he says, so that in the future there is a business alliance on the cards for him, when Sheila and Gerald marry. He is intimidated by Gerald's class status and is fixated on his possible 'honour' and the status that this will afford him, makes it his mission to leet Gerald know all about this- he is preoccupied by power and class rather than compassion and understanding, Sheila's love for Gerald doesn't matter to him, its all about business. Despite his motivations to act in the interest of his family by making money and good social connections, he lacks compassion and understanding for his children. He is quick to blame his children and is not interested in listening to their more progressive ideas about equality and morality. It could be said that his ideals and parenting approach has led to Eric and Sheila's naïve and irresponsible behaviour at the start. His relationship with Eric is extremely significant. He acts as a terrible father figure to Eric, yet gets mad at him when he finds out that Eric has gotten into trouble. He constantly shuts down Erics ideas and laughs at his statement, causing Eric to feel uncomfortable around him and unable to speak to his father when in trouble. He is a dreadful role model for Eric, yet still gets so angry at him for getting Eva pregnant and stealing money-Eric didn't exactly have a good figure to follow/be like, so what did he expect. He cannot see that Eric did it to help the girl in need and worries more about what this will do for his business and his reputation if anyone find out about the situation. He shelters Sheila and Mrs Birling (despite his wife being his 'social superior' due to him marrying into her higher class) from the case by shutting them in the other room, likely due to them being women, this shows a lack of respect, but was exactly what was expected from men at the time. Women were inferior and were ordered around by their male counterparts. He is very possessive over Sybil, as if she is his possession rather than a person as he refers to her as 'his' or 'is there any reason why my wife hound answer questions from you, Inspector?'- he doesn't allow her to speak for herself. His relationship with the Inspector is complicated. Mr Birling tries to act hard and intimidating by showing off all of his achievements in the past and talking about all the times where he had power in the community yet this doesn't phase the Inspector which frustrates Mr Birling. Arthur has done this as he himself feels intimidated and that his authority and power has been threatened by the inspector. At the start of the play he comes across as quite arrogant and self-cantered and makes it his mission to force his capitalist ideologies onto others as well as presenting himself as a 'hard-headed business man'. He makes cowardly and over-confident predictions about the future and makes long speeches abut how a man should look out for only himself and not waste time on helping others. This is continued for most of the play as at the end he acts as if nothing has happened suggesting he had not learnt anything from the inspectors visit. Five key quotations for Arthur: Function: What is Arthur's function in the play? How does Priestley use his character? Mrs Sybil Birling Key moments: What are the most significant moments for Mrs Birling in the play? ● At points in the play, when around his wife, his more self conscious side I revealed as he remembers that he is socially inferior to her and comes from more of a working-class background than her. Despite this he still exploit and mistreats the working class by giving them little pay and no respect in the workplace, he doesn't listen to their problems (such as the unfair pay). Throughout the play he doesn't change in the fact that he is a capitalist with misaligned priorities who cares about his own individual profit and status without considering the morality of his actions and how they affect others. He continuously openly exploits others to gain personal profit. His arrogance and overconfidence when talking about these things invites the audience to view him and his views as untrustworthy and absurd. In the play he keeps making himself appear foolish and cowardly, such as his blind faith in 'progress' and comments on technology becoming 'bigger and better' all the time. This could ultimately be connected to the vast slaughter of WW1 and the terror of the nuclear armament. I'm talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business. And I sat there isn't a chance of war.' Stage directions- 'confidently', 'laughs', 'laughs complacently', 'solemnly', 'impatiently' (to the Inspector), 'angrily', 'savagely' (regarding Eric) 'Man has to mind his own business and look after himself' 'I cant accept any responsibility. If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we'd had anything to do with, it would be very awkward' 'All mixed up together like bees in a hive- community and all that nonesense' ● He represents the capitalist ideology and all that is wrong with it. Priestley make Mr Birling seem like an unfavourable character so we side with the characters who portray his beliefs- more socialist qualities. In 1945, there was no form of welfare from the government for the poor and Priestley thought there should be common ownership and we shoulda take care of each other rather than being selfish like how he has presented Mr Birling. Mr Birling represents the greedy businessmen who only care for themselves. Priestley uses him to show that all the Eva smiths of the world (the working class) will continue to suffer if people like him remain in positions of authority and power. He uses dramatic irony in Arthur's speeches to show to the audience that he want society to take a more mindful attitude towards progress; consciously creating and building a society we see fit rather than uncritically praising progress at any cost. He uses Mr Birling to show the issues of always focusing on the idea of blame and legal consequences rather than thinking about what can meaningfully be learnt from tragedy. He is a model of how not to behave with his fixed mindset and reluctance to reflect on his mistakes and change. He only cares about the damage this situation will do to his reputation, instead of the moral implications of his behaviours and what these might reflect about his character. When she comes bursting into the dining room trying to scare off the Inspector/intimidate him Her constant belittle meant of Sheila and dismissive attitude towards Eric When she reveals that she refused Eva help mainly because she called herself Mrs Birling, which she took to be a mockery and lack of respect ● When she finds out that her 'perfect' son is an alcoholic Attitude: How does Mrs Birling feel about key issues in the play (class, gender, wealth and responsibility)? Relationships with others: How would you describe Mrs Birling's relationships with the other characters in the play? Which of these relationships are most significant? Character development: To what extent does Mrs Birling change over the course of the play? Why? Five key quotations for Mrs Birling: Function: ● ● Class is very important, she has little respect for lower classes especially the working class- 'girls of that class'. Mrs Birling is easily insulted highlighting the high sense of entitlement and high regard in which she holds herself, in terms of the respect she demands from others purely based on her class. This is the same with wealth, anyone with less money than her are irrelevant- peasants! She feels that in most relationships, the male is dominant and must take responsibility for his actions, this is evident when she is talking about how she refused to help Eva as the man must accept responsibility and deal with it himself. However, in her marriage, there are often moments where she speaks up to Mr Birling and appears superior. Mrs Birling views Sheila as her little girl and treats her just like this even though she is old enough to be getting married. Her constant belittlement of Sheila means that Sheila has been sheltered from the outside world and is very naïve/childish at the start. Mrs Birling is a hypocrite and criticises all members of her family even though she did wrong herself, this tells you a lot about the way she feels about the importance of trust and forgiveness in a family. She has snobbish opinions about how they should all speak and behave properly: even though she doesn't follow this herself, she looks down apron other family members if they don't abide by her expectations. Her relationship with Eric is not good, she treats him like a little boy and constantly shuts him down when he rightfully challenges her and Arthur's outdated views. She always tells him off for being 'impolite' yet she turns a blind eye on his excessive drinking, her priorities are messed up, when Eric needs help she is not there for him. This shows she is ignorant to the realities in her own family. Mrs Birling appears very confrontational to the Inspector, she wants to deter him from her home so that her sins are not revealed, becomes very defensive and passive aggressive. No respect for him despite his superiority by being a "member of the law enforcement team" and her being the one questioned, she still feels she is superior due to her higher class. She acts as a suck up to Gerald, trying to please him as he is of a higher class than her. When talking about Eva Smith's position, she is very unsympathetic and makes assumptions about the girl just because she is single and pregnant such as her being unable to have 'fine feeling'- Mrs Birling is cruel and cold towards Eva. Mrs Birling hardly changes at all as she is too ignorant and stuck in her ways, she is not open to change so doesn't change herself. Throughout the play she remains cold-hearted and snobbish, until she is made to look a fool when she is slightly more hesitant and quiet due to embarrassment. Despite this, still at these times she tries to defend herself and make out they are lying/she's innocent. Throughout the play her misalignment of priorities is continuous. She focuses on following social expectations and keeping her high reputation instead of what is moral and kind. Her haughtiness (arrogance) and pedantry (excessive concern with minor details) makes her always appear old-fashioned and ridiculous to us. 'And in any case I don't suppose for a moment that we can begin to understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class.' ● 'She was giving herself ridiculous airs. She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position.' Stage directions- 'angrily', 'astounded', 'stung', 'triumphantly'... 'understanding now' 'I'm sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for it at all.' 'They're overtired. In the morning they will be as amused as we are' Her function is to show the older generations inability to change their opinions on society and how it should be run, from youth she would have been fed all this information about the patriarchy and refuses to accept any other ideas. What is Mrs Birling's function in the play? How does Priestley use her character? Gerald Croft Key moments: What are the most significant moments for Gerald in the play? Attitude: How does Gerald feel about key issues in the play (class, gender, wealth and responsibility)? Relationships with others: How would you describe Gerald's relationships with the other characters in the play? Which of these relationships are most significant? ● ● ● Her and Arthur are used to represent the middle-class snobbery that was present before the World Wars. Priestley hoped that her sort of attitude would die out and in the play he uses her to put an emphasis on how they can lead to unforgivable, thoughtless behaviour. She is used as a model of how not to behave, with her fixed mindset and stubborn reluctance to reflect on her mistakes and change. The way that Priestley chooses to present Mrs Birling's attitude towards Eva at the women's charity exposes the hypocrisy of the upper classes at the time, who 'help' only the people they feel 'deserve' it. He highlights the lack of interest in equality instead they just want to look good by being a noble superior who bestows generosity on the poor. He exposes the arrogance of believing one can judge who is deserving of need and who isn't- this isn't equality at all! . She shows that in most cases charity work was just a means of flattering the high opinions those in charge had of themselves- as a charitable, worthy person and of asserting her power over others. He uses her character to make us question the unwarranted and underserved privileges afforded to the upper classes. Giving Sheila the engagement ring and when Sheila jokes about him being very busy with work last summer ● At the end of the play when Gerald reveals that he has spoken to the police and there is no Inspector Google on the force He doesn't respect lower classes, including Sheila (his future wife) as he feels that they do not benefit him or help his reputation, they are not very important to him. When he keeps agreeing with Mr Birling about his capitalist views and outdated views on social and personal responsibility His obvious reaction to the name Daisy Renton When he is talking in secret to Sheila and trying to manipulate her into not saying anything to the Inspector about his involvement with Daisy/Eva When his affair with Eva is revealed His reputation and need to be seen as a hero (especially in the Eva case) is more important than how he treats others, he exploits Eva but doesn't see this as wrong because he views his actions as heroic and compassionate. Men are superior to him and women are merely there for their pleasure, he exploits Eva as she is a damsel in distress and in return he likely gets something sexual in response. Also, he wants women to not face the real world, maybe because he feels they are too vulnerable or not intelligent to experience reality. They cant be tainted by the horrible, unworldly truths. He doesn't take responsibility for his actions, he says that what happened between him and Eva was 'inevitable' as he was a man and she was a woman. He lacks control and feel little guilt for stringing her along. He has little sense of social and gender equality, which people in 1945 would feel uncomfortable about (e.g. about the factory workers- 'if I know them, they'd all be broke.'// to Mr Birling about firing women because they stand up for themselves- 'You couldn't have done anything else.'//Accepting the social idea that he couldn't marry/date Daisy as she was a lower status-'She knew it couldn't last'). He upholds the prejudice intrinsic to the upper classes and isn't experienced enough to realise the unfairness of his views. These views are absurd to contemporary audiences but back in 1912, these wouldn't have been questioned. His relationship with Mr Birling is interesting- they are very similar due to their hard-headed businessman capitalist mindset and successful jobs, there is a clear correlation- they both try to suck up to each other to please one another e.g. Gerald constantly agree with Mr Birling to respect him as he is older, and Mr Birling returns this with agreement as Gerald is a higher class who could benefit him as a social climber. They have the same amount of commitment to work, they agree on politics and women and support each other's decisions even if they are ridiculous e.g. about sacking Eva- 'you couldn't have done anything else'. He has the same exploitative attitude. Gerald tries to shelter Sheila from the outside world and protect her from life's hardship this shows his lack of respect for her as an individual and his selfishness as he refuses to give her freedom. When alone, he tries to manipulate Sheila into hiding his secret even though it is so obvious what he did to Eva, emphasises his stupidity and ignorance. Character development: To what extent does Gerald change over the course of the play? Why? Five key quotations for Gerald: Function: What is Gerald's function in the play? How does Priestley use his character? ● ● ● With Eva, Gerald deems himself a hero ('a magical fairy prince') as he provided Eva with food, money and shelter when she was vulnerable, yet he clearly did this to get something from her- affair. He doesn't respect Eva or her body, he pretends that his compassion is because he wants to be kind, instead it is to fulfil his sexual desires. At the start of the play Gerald acts charming and confident. He acts very comfortable around the Birling's, making himself at home and acting like one of the family (to the extent that he makes fun of Eric e.g 'sure to be, unless Eric's been up to something', he confidently makes a joke at Eric's expense after Mr Birling says he is in line for a knighthood) This changes when his involvement with Eva is revealed, he initially acts evasive and tries to disregard everything about it with abrupt dialogue- 'All right. I knew her. Let's leave it at that.' Here the audience feels frustration towards him. Quickly, we, along with Sheila, gain more respect for him when he realises he is getting nowhere and just needs to be open and honest about the whole ordeal, he takes responsibility. He tells the story of how he met Eva and says that he was wrong to have an affair and then abandon Eva, but we also see some emotion from him and sorrow when he states 'a glance that was nothing les than a cry for help', he did at leat at the start want to help Eva and felt sorry for her (showed through the use of emotive language). Throughout he is more resistant to change than Sheila and Eric, it's may be because he has been entrenched in the rigid class system, he is a product of an archaic system of social division because he comes from an aristocratic family. Maybe this is because people in his position have more to lose are therefore less receptive to change- more likely to act to maintain the status quo. '(With an effort) Inspector, I think Miss Birling ought to be excused any more of this questioning. She'd nothing more to tell you. She's had a long exciting and tiring day- we are celebrating our engagement, you know- and now she's obviously had about as much as she can stand. You heard her.' Despite this, his repentance for his actions may be because he has hurt people he cares about, rather than his sense of social responsibility being awakened. (He is 'distressed when speaking of Eva's death but is excited by the idea that if the Inspector is fake he is "innocent" and none of this matter.) he would rather absolve himself of guilt rather than accept the need for change. In the last act however, his cowardly behaviour returns when he tries to get the Birling's out of trouble and acts as if nothing had happened- he learnt nothing from the Inspector coming, much to the frustration of Sheila and Eric. He is the fist one to declare the inspector as a 'hoax' and is keen to clean everyone's names. ● He is a complex character as he often means well but makes decisions that are irresponsible and harmful to others 'Did we? Who says so? Because I say- there's no more real evidence we did than there was that the chap was a police officer.' When Eric and Sheila insist that they were responsible. ● 'Everything's all right now Sheila... What about this ring?' 'You couldn't have done anything else'- To Mr Birling father finding out about him firing Eva after the strike. 'She was young and pretty and warm-hearted- and intensely grateful' He uses Gerald's character to attack the upper-classes of post-war Britain. He hows Gerald that despite outward appearance 'attractive chap' and 'well-bred' they are not innocent and can be capable of questionable behaviour. He wants to make a statement about how upper classes saw themselves as superior and above the problems of the working class, they are irrelevant to upper classes. Gerald is portrayed as a complex character-Priestley often presents him as a more perceptive character e.g. in act 2, Gerald tries to warn Mrs Birling against intimidating the Inspector as it will make the situation worse. This makes us judge him even more we know that he has the intelligence to understand what the Inspector is saying but he chooses to ignore it. This highlights the upper classes unbelievable level of ignorance. Inspector Goole Key moments: What are the most significant moments for the Inspector in the play? Attitude: How does the Inspector feel about key issues in the play (class, gender, wealth and responsibility)? Relationships with others: How would you describe the Inspector's relationships with the other characters in the play? Which of these relationships are most significant? Character development: To what extent does the Inspector change over the course of the play? Why? Five key quotations for the Inspector: ● Priestley uses Gerald's flaw to show that having compassion and care for those close to you is not enough, you must take responsibility towards those not in your inner circle or beyond your social status. Function: What is the Inspector's function in the play? How does Priestley use his character? Eva Smith Five key quotations for Eva: Function: What is Arthur's function in the play? How does Priestley use her character? Why does she not ever appear directly onstage?