An Inspector Calls: Inspector Goole and Mr. Birling

An Inspector Calls – Inspector Goole

• The metaphor "one body" alludes to a socialist ideal of interconnectedness.
• The allusion to 1 Corinthians 12:12 positions the Inspector as a prophetic figure.
• "Responsible" contrasts with the Birlings’ rejection of blame, emphasizing their moral failure.
• "Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges" attacks capitalist entitlement through juxtaposition.
• The Edwardian elite who wielded power without accountability are challenged.
• The Inspector implies justice must hold the powerful accountable through the suggestion of scrutiny.
• "Fire and blood and anguish" creates apocalyptic imagery foreshadowing World Wars and social destruction.
• The triplet intensifies the warning, depicting ignorance as a path to devastation.
• Priestley forces the audience to acknowledge history’s mistakes by implying education through suffering.

An Inspector Calls – Mr. Birling

• The repetition of "unsinkable" emphasizes overconfidence in an unstable system.
• The Titanic symbolizes capitalist failure, built by the wealthy but destroyed by nature.
• His certainty is intensified, making his ignorance more tragic through the use of "absolutely".
• "A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own" reinforces a selfish philosophy.
• This philosophy contradicts the Inspector’s plea for unity, portraying capitalism as isolating.
• "Mind" proposes self-interest as an intellectual virtue, when it instead leads to moral blindness.
• Birling prioritizes personal gain over morality, viewing status as a currency to be acquired.
• His humiliation is foreshadowed, as the knighthood becomes meaningless as scandal taints his reputation.
• His desperation for validation from the aristocracy is exposed through his excitement.

An Inspector Calls – Sheila Birling

• "Cheap labour" reflects capitalist dehumanization of the working class.
• There is a pivotal moment where Sheila breaks from her father’s ideology.
• "People" restores Eva’s humanity in a world that denied her dignity through the use of a short, powerful statement.
• "Frightens me the way you talk" conveys genuine horror, as she sees the moral decay her parents ignore.
• The shift from naivety to moral awareness separates Sheila from her parents.
• Language shapes attitudes; her parents use words to deflect blame.
• Her parents' failure to learn is underscored through sarcasm.
• Sheila becomes Priestley’s mouthpiece, condemning their superficial remorse.
• "Nice" becomes an empty word as her family clings to appearances rather than true accountability.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Dr. Jekyll

• The repetition of "truly" emphasizes that duality is fundamental, not incidental.
• The challenge to the Victorian belief in moral absolutes, portrays Jekyll as proof that evil lurks within all.
• "Two" suggests both division and balance—raises the question of whether one can exist without the other.
• Jekyll’s delusion of control foreshadows his downfall.
• Jekyll’s arrogance links to Faustian themes, he believes he can play God without consequence.
• "Choose" is ironic; addiction strips him of choice, proving Hyde controls him.
• Jekyll becomes trapped within his own psyche.
• "Disconsolate" implies a soul beyond hope—his fate is sealed.
• "Prisoner" suggests self-imposed punishment; science became his cell.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Mr. Hyde

• The oxymoron "trampled calmly" distorts human morality—Hyde enjoys suffering without emotion.
• The child symbolizes innocence—Hyde’s attack corrupts purity.
• Hyde exists beyond normal human reaction, highlighted through "Screaming" vs. Hyde’s silence.
• "Ape-like fury" evokes Victorian fears of evolutionary regression—Hyde is a primitive horror.
• Hyde’s lack of refinement contrasts with Jekyll’s respectability.
• "Ape" degrades Hyde, but also suggests repressed human instincts surfacing.
• "Troglodytic" links Hyde to cavemen—a relic of humanity’s brutal past.
• His very existence unsettles rational men, hinting at hidden savagery.
• "Something" is ambiguous, reflecting that Hyde defies categorization, is the embodiment of fear itself.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Mr. Utterson

• The pun highlights his dogged pursuit of truth.
• Utterson ultimately fails—his rational mind cannot comprehend the supernatural horror unfolding.
• "Seek" implies relentless pursuit, but he never fully unearths Jekyll’s secret.
• Jekyll’s descent into madness is framed as both psychological and moral collapse.
• The repetition of "wrong" reinforces the idea that science overstepping morality leads to destruction.
• "Mind" distances it from the physical—Jekyll’s greatest battle is internal.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Quotes

• "The fog rolled over the city" personifies the fog, linking to the Gothic genre.
• The fog represents the sin of society and how evil will take over.
• "I the animal within me licking the chops of memory" utilizes Zoomorphism and shows Hyde is eager to emerge.
• It is foreshadowed that evil will win and the licking shows the pleasure and enjoyment of partaking in evil acts.
• Links to Freud and the ID as the ID will win since man is a slave to evil urges.