An Inspector Calls - Essay prompts

1. Compare and contrast the
reaction of Arthur Birling and
Sheila Birling to interrogation
by the Inspector

2. • Introduce the novel
• Talk about/ describe the characters of
Introduction Arthur and Sheila Birling
• Describe the reactions of Arthur and
Sheila Birling to the inspector’s
Main Body interrogation at different instances
• Compare the reactions
• Perhaps describe how the interrogation
Conclusion of the Inspector has changed them

3. Arthur Birling Sheila Birling
• Wealthy business man • Young
• Involved in local • Pretty
politics • Lively
• Pompous • Selfish
• Self-important • Later
• Unsophisticated sympathetic, repentant
• Bully and caring

4. • Birling’s relaxed and pompous manner
becomes aggressive as he finds himself having
to defend his actions
Page 13, Birling (somewhat
impatiently) “Look – there’s
Page 12, Birling (rather
nothing mysterious – or
impatiently) “Yes, yes. Horrid
scandalous – about this business
business. But I don’t understand
– at least not so far as I’m
why you should come
concerned... obviously it has
here, Inspector -”
nothing whatever to do with the
wretched girl’s suicide.”
Page 14, Birling “Still, I can’t
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, wouldn’t it.”

5. • Birling has no sense of loyalty towards his workers.
Birling admits that Eva Smith had good qualities, she
was lively and a good worker, but he disliked her
willingness to voice her opinions.
Page 14, Birling “Now –
about this girl, Eva Page 15, Birling “Well,
Smith. ... She was a it’s my duty to keep
lively good-looking girl ... labour costs down”
A good worker too.”
Page 15, Birling “If you
don’t come down sharply
on some of these
people, they’d soon be
asking for the earth”

6. • Birling tries to use his social status to
intimidate the inspector
Page 16, Birling “How
do you get on with our
Chief Constable/
Perhaps I ought to warn
you that he’s an old
friend of mine...”

7. • The Inspector begins to draw others into the tragedy of Eva
Smith’s life and death. He attracts the sympathy of Sheila
and of the audience by his clear and hard-hitting description
of the girl’s misery.
Page 17, Sheila (rather
distressed) Sorry! It’s
Page 17, Sheila “Oh- just that I can’t help
how horrible!” thinking about this girl –
destroying herself so
horribly”
Page 19, Sheila “But Page 20, Sheila’s stage
these girls aren’t cheap directions: (Staring at
labour – they’re him, agitated)
people.”

8. • Birling is more concerned that his daughter has been
upset than by any feelings of guilt or shame for what
they might have done to Eva Smith. He does not yet
realise the depth of the family’s involvement and still
feels able to be angry and outspoken towards the
Inspector.
Page21, Birling (staring
at the Inspector angrily)
Page 21, Birling (angrily)
“We were having a nice
“Why the devil do you
little celebration
want to go upsetting the
tonight, and a nasty
child like that?”
mess you’ve made of it
now”

9. • Sheila’s regret seems genuine. Although the
inspector will not accept belated regrets as an
excuse, Sheila has learnt a lesson and she is
determined never to act so unfairly again.
Page 23, Sheila “... I
Page 23, Sheila
felt rotten about it
(miserably) “So I’m
at the time and now
really responsible”
I feel a lot worse.”
Page 24, Sheila “...
I’ll never, never do it
again to anybody”

10. • Birling cannot see that his Priestly shows us
someone so blindly
actions towards the girl wrong and never as
were wrong really in control of
event as he would
• He feels sacking the girl is like to think he is.
the right attitude for a man Based on Birling’s
of business reactions, the
audience notes him
• He wants to protect Sheila to be a foolish, ill-
tempered character.
from the unpleasantness of We feel that if the
the girl’s life and death, yet events were
repeated he would
feels no guilt for not having act just the same
protected the girl herself
• After the inspector has
gone, he simply wants “You can’t teach an
things to return to normal old dog new tricks”

11. • When Sheila comes to Priestly shows us the
understand her spreading influence of
socialism on the younger
responsibility, she is more ‘impressionable’
genuinely sorry generation who begin to
condemn the prevalent
• Sheila grows stronger and ‘every man for himself’
more sympathetic as the attitude.
play goes on The audience
understands that the
• By the end of Act 1, Sheila Inspector’s interrogation
is very much aware of the has had a big influence
on Sheila and we begin
influence of the inspector to see how Sheila bears
• She understands what the much scope for change,
unlike her father who
Inspector is doing and remains somewhat
begins to look at the world unmoved by the whole
ordeal
through his values rather
than those of her families

12. Initial Reaction Long term impact
Birling Defensive, aggressive, None. When the episode
not willing to accept is declared to be a hoax,
responsibility. Believes he acts as if nothing has
that he made the right happened. Instantly
decision, and continues prepared to return to his
to defend this – no old ways.
loyalty towards workers
and was unmoved by the
inspector’s interrogation.
Sheila Shocked, accepts Remains moved by the
responsibility, interrogation of the
remorseful, guilty. inspector and by the
account of Eva Smith.
Seems to have matured
as person