Powerpoint featuring two quotes from An Inspector Calls and related analysis
KS3, KS4
Years 7-11
These Mrs Birling quotes starter activities are perfect if you’re teaching or revising An Inspector Calls. The passages to analyse are:
“A rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior.”
[Triumphantly] “Didn’t I tell you? I couldn’t imagine a real police inspector talking like that to us?”
Students have to ‘blow up’ words and phrases from key quotations into smaller pieces and analyse them.
Questions to answer include:
- Does Mrs Birling’s social class contribute to her being a ‘cold woman’?
- What class does Mrs Birling belong to?
- How does Priestley portray Mrs Birling as a ‘cold woman’ in the play?
- Why would being her husband’s ‘social superior’ be suprising in the early 1900s?
- How and why does Mrs Birling try to regain her superiority within her family?
- How and why would the middle and upper class be treated differently by the police?
More Mrs Birling quotes
“I don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class—”
This quote reflects Mrs. Birling’s class prejudice and her initial dismissive attitude towards Eva Smith’s suicide.
“I used my influence to have it refused.”
Mrs. Birling speaks about using her social influence to deny help to Eva Smith, highlighting her lack of empathy and responsibility.
“He was only a boy, and this affects him a great deal. He’s at the age when silly things mean more to him than to us.”
Mrs. Birling tries to minimise her son’s responsibility for his actions, showing her maternal bias.
“If, as she said, he didn’t belong to her class, and was some drunken young idler, then that’s all the more reason why he shouldn’t escape. He should be made an example of. If the girl’s death is due to anybody, then it’s due to him.”
Mrs. Birling stubbornly refuses to accept any responsibility for the girl’s death and instead shifts the blame onto the father of Eva’s child.
“Go and look for the father of the child. It’s his responsibility.”
In this quote, Mrs. Birling continues to deflect responsibility away from her family and onto the father of Eva’s child.
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