What are the key quotes in An Inspector Calls?

Which quotations show the characters?

Short enough to learn exactly, and each one useful for more than one question.

• Mr Birling: "a hard-headed, practical man of business" (Act 1), his view of himself; "unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable" (Act 1), the dramatic irony that makes him look foolish.
• The Inspector: "massiveness, solidity and purposefulness" (stage direction, Act 1), his authority; "It's better to ask for the earth than to take it." (Act 1), his defence of Eva.
• Sheila: "they're people" (Act 1), her sympathy; "never, never do it again to anybody" (Act 1), her remorse.
• Mrs Birling: "her husband's social superior" (stage direction, Act 1), her pride in class.

Which quotations show the themes?

These carry the play's big ideas: responsibility, class and the generations.

• Responsibility: "We are members of one body" (Act 3) against Mr Birling's "community and all that nonsense" (Act 1). Learn them as a pair.
• Class: "millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths" (Act 3), Eva as one of a whole class.
• Consequences: "fire and blood and anguish" (Act 3), the Inspector's warning of war.
• The generations: "the famous younger generation who know it all" (Act 3) against Sheila's "everything's just as it was before" (Act 3).

How many quotations should I learn?

Around 12, chosen so that each main character and each big theme has two or three. Short phrases are better than long lines: they are easier to remember exactly, and they leave you room to analyse single words. Because no extract is printed in the exam, every quotation you use has to come from memory.

How do I use quotations in an An Inspector Calls essay?

Embed them in your own sentences rather than dropping them in on their own lines, then say what a key word does. Link each one to Priestley's purpose, for example his socialist message for a 1945 audience, rather than treating the characters as real people. A quotation that works for several questions, like "We are members of one body", is worth more than one that only fits a single topic.

To learn them, write each on a card with the speaker on the back, test yourself in short bursts over several weeks, and practise writing a paragraph from a single quotation in five minutes.