An Inspector calls - characters

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  • Created by: Tiaelan
  • Created on: 18-03-15 18:16
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  • Characters (An Inspector Calls)
    • Mr Birling
      • He is described at the start as a "heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties but rather provincial in his speech.
      • Extremely selfish
        • He wants to protect himself and his family. He believes that socialist ideas that stress the importance of the community are "nonsense" and that "a man has to make his own way.
    • Mrs Birling
      • She is described at the start as "about fifty, a rather cold woman and her husband's social superior."
      • She has the least respect for the Inspector of all the characters. She tries - unsuccessfully - to intimidate him and force him to leave, then lies to him when she claims that she does not recognise the photograph that he shows her.
      • She sees Sheila and Eric still as "children"and speaks patronisingly to them
    • Sheila
      • She is described at the start as "a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited.
      • Shows compassion;But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people
      • Childlike at the beginning of the play; mummy
      • More mature towards the end; says she respects Geralds honesty, accepts her responsibilities
    • Eric
      • He is described at the start as "in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive
      • Eric seems embarrassed and awkwardright from the start. The first mention of him in the script is "Eric suddenly guffaws," and then he is unable to explain his laughter, as if he is nervous about something
      • When he hears how his father sacked Eva Smith, he supports the worker's cause, like Sheila. "Why shouldn't they try for higher wages?
      • He feels guilt and frustration with himself over his relationship with the girl. He cries, "Oh - my God! - how stupid it all is!" as he tells his story. He is horrified that his thoughtless actions had such consequences
    • Gerald Croft
      • He is described as "an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred man-about-town
      • He did have some genuine feeling for Daisy Renton, however: he is very moved when he hears of her death. He tells Inspector Goole that he arranged for her to live in his friend's flat "because I was sorry for her;" she became his mistress because "She was young and pretty and warm-hearted - and intensely grateful
      • He seems to throw his energies into "protecting" himself rather than"changing" himself (unlike Sheila)
    • Inspector Goole
      • He is described on his entrance as creating "an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. He is a man in his fifties, dressed in a plain darkish suit. He speaks carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking
      • He works very systematically; he likes to deal with "one person and one line of enquiry at a time." His method is to confront a suspect with a piece of information and then make them talk - or, as Sheila puts it, "he's giving us the rope - so that we'll hang ourselves
      • He is a figure of authority. He deals with each member of the family very firmly and several times we see him "massively taking charge as disputes erupt between them
      • His final speech is like a sermon or a politician's. He leaves the family with the message "We are responsible for each other" and warns them of the "fire and blood and anguish" that will result if they do not pay attention to what he has taught them

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