An Inspector Calls: Characters

An Inspector Calls: Characters

1. Eric

2. Mr Birling

   • Capitalist
     • Has an antithetical view to Priestly
     • "A man has to mind his own business"
   • Oxymoronic Naivety
     • Dramatic Irony
       • "Titanic... absolutely unsinkable"
       • "Russia.. will always be behindhand"
   • 7 Deadly Sins
     • Greed
       • "Working together... for lower costs and higher prices"
     • Pride
       • "Just a knighthood of course"
   • Lack of change
     • Refuses to accept change
       • "But the whole thing's different now"

3. Mrs Birling

   • Snobbery
     • "Girls of that class"
   • 7 Deadly Sins
     • Pride
       • "Piece of gross impertinence"
   • Denial
     • Her own actions
       • Claims not to recognise the photograph
       • "I did nothing I'm ashamed of"
     • Actions of others
       • "There must be some mistake" (on Eric)
       • "Scruples that were absurd in a girl in her position" (on Eva)

4. Gerald

   • 7 Deadly Sins
     • Lust
       • Setting up Eva/Daisy as his mistress
   • Aristocracy
     • Similar to Mrs. Birling
       • Marrying 'beneath him'
     • "Old country family"
   • Conflict
     • Only one to feel for Eva
       • "I was sorry for her"
     • Attempts to rid his responsibility
       • Tries desperately to prove the Inspector's non-existence

5. Sheila

6. The Inspector

   • Socialism
     • "We are members of one body"
     • Mouthpiece for Priestly's views
     • Historical Context
       • General Strike 1964
       • WW2 dismantled old systems of class
   • Authority
     • Contrast against the Birlings
       • (Dryly) against (Distressed)
     • (Takes charge massively)
   • Identity
     • Time
       • Ouspensky's Theory
       • Dunne's Theory
     • Existence
       • Person
       • Supernatural
         • Goole - Ghoul
   • Revealer
     • Systematic Interrogation
       • "One line of enquiry at a time"
     • Dissection
       • (Cutting in)
       • Invagination
       • Uncomfortable exterior entering the interior