“The Inspector enters, and Edna goes, closing the door after her. The Inspector need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefully… He speaks carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking.”
As soon as the Inspector enters the room, the other characters are immediately aware of this “impression of massiveness”. In the BBC video the Inspector was quite an old man and he looked feeble in a way, but he still created this effect when he spoke to the other characters. He seems to have a gift to be able to make people feel uncomfortable and guilty when he wants.
“INSPECTOR: ‘That’s more or less what I was thinking earlier tonight, when I was in the infirmary looking at what was left of Eva Smith. A nice little promising life there, I thought, and a nasty mess somebody’s made of it.’
BIRLING looks as if he is about to make some retort, then thinks better of it, and goes out, closing the door sharply behind him. GERALD and ERIC exchange uneasy glances. The INSPECTOR ignores them.”
This is a particularly good quote because it shows the Inspector’s way of speaking and the character’s reactions to him. It seems that Mr Birling cannot even confront the Inspector and has to leave the room, even though Mr Birling was Lord Mayor which gives him authority over a Police Inspector, and is of a higher class than the Inspector, which should give him confidence.
Mrs Birling is the quiet wife of the successful owner of Birling and Co. She is a very high-class lady who could be described as ‘posh’. Even when the Inspector is questioning her harshly she still manages to keep her dignity.
“INSPECTOR: It’s an organisation to which women in distress can appeal for help in various forms. Isn’t that so?
MRS BIRLING: (with dignity) Yes. We’ve done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases.
INSPECTOR: There was a meeting of the interviewing committee two weeks ago?
MRS BIRLING: I dare say there was.
INSPECTOR: You know very well there was, Mrs Birling. You were in the chair.
MRS BIRLING: And if I was, what business is it of yours?”
Mrs Birling is a woman who doesn’t take anything from anyone, and sticks up for herself and her family. She very firmly sticks to her beliefs, but she is too connected with her children. She thinks that they will never grow up.
