“I meant what I said”
In this quote she tries to make the Inspector feel out of place and trying to back him off. However, the inspector knows exactly what she’s doing so he takes no notice of this comment. The audience may find this part funny because she’s trying to back out of the whole situation but she can’t because the Inspector knows more than she does.
At the point where The Inspector questions Mrs. Birling about the organization, she gets worried. At first Mrs. Birling did not answer the question because obviously she is scared. When the Inspector asks her and tells her what he knows about the organization, Mrs. Birling speaks up then:
“Yes. We’ve done a great deal of useful work helping deserving cases”
In this quote she tries to bring herself up to the level at which she’s happy about all the work which she’s done. She tries to put on a sweet and innocent act to show the Inspector that she’s a hard working woman and she would never hurt anyone. The audience may start to feel sorry for Mrs. Birling now; because she’s trying to get out of the situation but really she’s getting dragged in to it even more than she was before.
The Inspector then asks about a meeting that took place not long ago. Mrs. Birling admits to this straight away but not in a straight forward attitude:
“I dare say there was”
This shows that Mrs. Birling isn’t admitting to it straight away because she doesn’t want to dig the hole any deeper than she already has. This is also probably because she’s hesitating on what to say at the same time as getting deeper and deeper into the whole situation. The Inspector then corrects Mrs. Birling and tells her that she knows very well that she was there, and not only was she there but she was in the chair of the meeting! Her response:
“And if I was, what business is it of yours?”
Now Mrs. Birling knows she’s been found out she tries to make the Inspector feel out of place and that he doesn’t need to know this because it has nothing to do with the death. However, Mrs. Birling knows that it has got something to do with the death but obviously doesn’t want the Inspector to know.
While this was all happening, the Inspector, Mrs. Birling and Mr. Birling all heard the front door bang. They all assumed it was Eric (son of Mr and Mrs. Birling) who went out the front door. Mr. Birling thought it would be a good idea if he just went to make sure. When he arrived back, just after the argument about the organization, Mrs. Birling asked him if it was Eric who went out the front door. Mr. Birling said it must have been him, because when he called out for him on both landings he did not reply. Mrs. Birling makes a comment forgetting what had just happened:
“Silly boy!”
In this comment Mrs. Birling is trying to change the subject, so Mr. Birling does not find out what has just happened about the organization. Also she is acting like Eric is only a little boy and he needs to be looked after all the time. The audience may start to get even more annoyed with Mrs. Birling because she’s now acting like the whole world is on her shoulders and no one else is suffering as much as she is.
Mr. Birling
Mr Birling is not as dramatic in this scene as Mrs. Birling. There are a few parts where he acts like he’s higher than everyone else!
I this quote it shows that he think he’s higher than everyone:
“Look here, I’m not going to have this, inspector. You’ll apologize at once”
In this quote Mr. Birling is sticking up for Mrs. Birling. He’s trying to put the Inspector straight and tell him that he can just go around being rude to his family. I think this quote will make the audience think that Mr. Birling is nothing but a big headed person, and he won’t tolerate people being rude to his family. The audience may start to feel angry that Mr. Birling is acting in this way.
Mr. Birling then makes a comment that he’s a public man. The Inspector then says that public men should have responsibilities as well as privileges. Mr. Birling then strikes back with a comment that puts the inspector back to where he was:
“Possibly. But you weren’t asked to come here to talk about my responsibilities”
In this quote Mr. Birling is being cheeky to the Inspector and telling him what he should and shouldn’t do. He tries to back fire at the Inspector and make the Inspector feel like his duty here is done, but this only the beginning! This is wrong in a way, because it should be the inspector telling them what they should be doing and how they are doing it. The audience may start to feel frustrated because Mr. Birling again thinks he’s above everyone else and no one can talk to him rudely.
Earlier in the play Mr. Birling was shocked to find out that it wasn’t just him who the inspector came to see, it was the rest of the family too! By the rest of family to Mr. Birling, this meant Mrs. Birling and maybe Sheila too. However, he didn’t know that this also meant Eric, because he thought that Eric was much too young to be involved in a crime, such as death. So, when Eric did go out of the front door, Mr. Birling wasn’t too bothered because he wasn’t needed in the situation:
“And even though we don’t need him here!”
In this quote Mr .Birling is trying not to get Eric involved as well as Sheila and Gerald, he wants this kind of trouble to stay out of his reach. Nevertheless, the inspector proves Mr. Birling wrong and says he does need Eric here. The audience may be shocked by this comment that the Inspector makes about needing Eric, because the audience wouldn’t have thought twice about Eric being involved, but this statement obviously proves them wrong!
Sheila
Sheila is also dramatic in ways but again not as much as Mrs. Birling in this extract. Sheila also thinks that she is above everyone else. Not only does she think she’s higher above everyone else but, she also speaks to her mother and father rudely. The following two quotes show this:
1. “Don’t interfere, please, father. Gerald knows what I mean, and you apparently don’t”
In this quote she is speaking rather impolitely to her father. She’s trying to knock her dad out of the situation between her and Gerald, and all Mr Birling wants to do, is help. Sheila puts her father down by doing this and is making her father feel bad because he now thinks that he wasn’t there for her when she needed him the most. The audience may feel sorry for Mr Birling because of the situation he is in! As for Sheila they may start to feel that tiny bit disgusted because of the way she is talking to her Father!
2. “Go on, Mother. You might as well admit it. (To inspector). Yes, she is. Why?
In this quote Sheila again is talking very impolitely to her Mother. She’s talking for her, in a way, trying to say that her mother is too scared to admit to things so therefore Sheila has to butt in and speak for her. In the last part of the quote:
“Yes, she is. Why?”
The word “She” is a harsh word, when talking about someone older than you, especially her Mother. It is disrespecting her Mother and most of all making the Inspector get the impression that the family is not well mannered. In this case the Inspector and the family can do with out this manner! The audience may start to get a little bit more frustrated and angry with Sheila, again because of the way she is talking to her Mother and about her Mother to the Inspector. As for Mrs. Birling, they may start to get rid of that anger which has already been built up in last quotes and maybe start to feel that little bit sorry for her because of the way Sheila is reacting towards her business!
Sheila is also reacting to the Inspector’s actions in an odd manner. She tries to question the Inspector to show him that in some way or another he is wrong in his actions. This does not work, the Inspector always has a follow up of what he is going to say, to prove Sheila and the rest of the family wrong. This quote shows Sheila questioning the inspector about his actions:
“You know, you never showed him the photograph of her”
In this quote Sheila is getting just that little bit curious about the Inspector and why he’s here. She tries to prove the Inspector wrong, but this does not work. The audience may also start to get a little bit curious about the inspector now that Sheila has made that point. The audience may start to wonder, that the Inspector may just be getting at only a few of the family members.
Inspector
Even though the Inspector is here because of the murder, he still has the right to be dramatic in some cases. When he asks the family questions he expects an honest reply back. However, in some cases this does not happen, so he has to be that little bit pushy and dramatic to get the information out of the family that he needs!
In this quote it shows the inspector being pushy:
“You mean you don’t choose to do, Mrs. Birling”
In this quote the Inspector is trying to put Mrs. Birling straight and back into her position. When Mrs. Birling acts like she doesn’t know what’s going on and she doesn’t know what the Inspector is talking about, the inspector just has to push her to get the information out of her. The audience may start to feel happy now because of the way the Inspector is talking and reacting to Mrs. Birling. They may feel that this is what Mrs. Birling deserves after all the talking back she did to the Inspector before!
When Mr Birling gets a bit annoyed with how the Inspector is talking to the family, he tells the Inspector that he can not talk to his family in this way and he must apologize at once. The Inspector gets annoyed about the comment that Mr Birling has made and then stands up for him self:
“Apologize for what – doing my duty?”
In this quote the Inspector puts Mr. Birling back down to where he was. He kind of stands up for himself to make Mr. Birling and the rest of the family know why he’s here and all the things he is doing is for his duty and nothing else. So in this case they should respect all the hard work he has to do! The audience may start to feel glad that the Inspector has finally showed his roots to the family, so they now know why he’s here and what he’s doing!
When Mrs. Birling tries to hide her profile about the organization she tries to make out that it has nothing to do with the Inspector. When she says that it has nothing to do with him and he shouldn’t be putting his nose where it’s not wanted, the Inspector gets provoked and makes his voice heard:
“Do you want me to tell you – in plain words?”
In this quote you can tell that the Inspector is raring with anger, due to the hold up in Mrs. Birling’s answers. The fact that Mr. Birling has just entered and Mrs. Birling changes the subject also may make the Inspector even angrier, because now she is ignoring the argument all together! The audience may feel remorseful towards the Inspector because of Mrs. Birling’s actions and comments towards the argument.
Conclusion
Overall, I think that every character in the play is dramatic in their own way. They have different ways of showing it and different ways of handling it. I think we can all agree that Mrs. Birling was the most
dramatic in this extract! The audience may get the impression that the Inspector was only trying to do his job, and each family member made it even worse for him! They also may think that Mrs. Birling was the worst of them all because of all the silly comments she made and the fact that she just wouldn’t admit to any of the questions that the Inspector asked!
