Birling is quite dismissive of Mrs Birling and Sheila (even though we hear Mrs Birling is his social superior). Neither are allowed to have anything to do with the family business. Birling also patronises Sheila and talks to her as if she were a child. Inspector: ‘what happened to her then may have determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events.’ Birling: ‘In twenty or thirty years’ time – let’s say 1940 – you may be giving a little party like this… and I tell you by that time you’ll be living in a world that’ll have forgotten all these Capital versus Labour agitations and all these silly little war scares. There’ll be peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere’ You will be asked a question that asks you to analyse and write in detail about an aspect of An Inspector Calls

For a much more detailed guide on answering the An Inspector Calls question, please see our revision notes on How to Answer the Modern Prose and Drama Essay Question . Mr Birling suggests that he is in line for a knighthood so long as the family have behaved themselves. Gerald confidently makes a joke at Eric's expense which is full of irony.

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Sheila: ‘it was anything but a joke. You knew it then. You began to learn something. And now you’ve stopped. You’re ready to go on in the same old way.’ To ensure your students can handle anything that an exam or assessment might throw at them, our guide includes a range of An Inspector Calls GCSE exam questions and answers to help hone exam technique. Focusing on the components of a strong answer, with annotated exam responses, as well as both “good” and “great” exemplar material, students will benefit from insider tips and knowledge with our An Inspector Calls GCSE exam questions and answers. 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?’

The younger generation (Sheila and Eric) is more easily influenced by the inspector (and therefore Priestley). Sheila and Eric accept responsibility for their mistakes and offer the possibility of a brighter future.

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Mrs Birling is very unsympathetic when describing Eva Smith's position. Sybil assumes instantly that because Eva is pregnant and single she is a bad person.