AQA GCSE English Literature · 3.2.1

An Inspector Calls

50 revision questions with answers for 3.2.1 An Inspector Calls in AQA GCSE English Literature (spec 8702). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1
When was An Inspector Calls written and when is it set?
Answer:
Priestley wrote it in 1945, just after the Second World War, but set it in 1912 in the Birling family home. The gap lets the audience see what the characters cannot.
Question 2
Who is J. B. Priestley and what were his political views?
Answer:
An English writer and socialist who believed in collective responsibility and a fairer society. He was influenced by the war and used the play to promote these views.
Question 3
Why is the 1912 setting important?
Answer:
It is before the First World War and the Titanic disaster, so characters make confident, wrong predictions. Priestley uses dramatic irony to expose the arrogance of the older generation.
Question 4
What is dramatic irony in An Inspector Calls?
Answer:
The audience knows that Arthur Birling's confident claims, such as the Titanic being 'unsinkable' and no chance of war, are wrong. It makes him seem foolish and shows capitalism's blindness.
Question 5
What are the three unities and how does Priestley use them?
Answer:
Unity of time, place and action: the play takes place in one evening, in one room, following one main plot. It creates a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere and puts the characters under pressure.
Question 6
How is Arthur Birling presented at the start of the play?
Answer:
As a confident, self-satisfied businessman and 'hard-headed man of business'. He is pompous and full of self-interest, and his speeches show capitalist views and a lack of social conscience.
Question 7
What does Birling say about community?
Answer:
He says that 'a man has to mind his own business'. It sets up the play's central conflict between individual selfishness and collective responsibility.
Question 8
How is Sybil Birling presented?
Answer:
As a cold, snobby, upper-class woman who looks down on the lower classes. She refuses to accept blame and shows no compassion, which emphasises class prejudice.
Question 9
How is Sheila Birling presented at the start?
Answer:
As a young, spoilt and excited woman who is pleased with her engagement. She changes during the play, becoming more mature and sympathetic.
Question 10
How does Sheila change?
Answer:
She feels guilty for getting Eva Smith sacked and learns to take responsibility. By the end she challenges her parents and warns them to listen, showing hope in the younger generation.
Question 11
How is Eric Birling presented?
Answer:
As awkward, nervous and sometimes drunk, hiding a troubled side. He is revealed as the father of Eva's unborn child, and his guilt shows his conscience.
Question 12
How is Gerald Croft presented?
Answer:
As charming, confident and from a wealthy family. He had an affair with Daisy Renton, which shows the exploitation of working-class women, and at the end he tries to dismiss what he learned.
Question 13
Who is Inspector Goole and what is his role?
Answer:
A mysterious police inspector who questions the Birlings and reveals their roles in Eva Smith's death. He acts as Priestley's mouthpiece and challenges their selfishness.
Question 14
What might the name 'Goole' suggest?
Answer:
It sounds like 'ghoul', suggesting a ghostly or supernatural figure. It adds to the idea that he is not a real police officer but a moral force or conscience.
Question 15
Who is Eva Smith, and why is she important?
Answer:
A young working-class woman whose life ends in suicide. She represents the many poor and vulnerable people who are exploited, and she is never seen on stage.
Question 16
Why does Priestley never show Eva Smith on stage?
Answer:
She stands for all the working-class people who suffer, so she is an absent presence whose fate each character influences. It keeps the focus on the Birlings' behaviour.
Question 17
How did Arthur Birling contribute to Eva Smith's death?
Answer:
He sacked her from his factory in 1910 for leading a strike for higher wages. He sees it as good business, which shows capitalist exploitation.
Question 18
How did Sheila contribute to Eva's death?
Answer:
Out of jealousy, she had Eva sacked from Milwards shop when she thought Eva had laughed at her. It shows how cruelty and snobbery can ruin a life.
Question 19
How did Gerald contribute to Eva's death?
Answer:
He had an affair with her and set her up in a flat, then ended it. He treated her as a possession and left her with nothing.
Question 20
How did Mrs Birling contribute to Eva's death?
Answer:
As a member of a charity committee, she refused Eva help when she asked for it. She blames the father of the child, not realising it is her own son.
Question 21
How did Eric contribute to Eva's death?
Answer:
He got Eva pregnant and stole money from his father's firm to support her. His behaviour shows irresponsibility and entitlement.
Question 22
What is the effect of the lighting change when the Inspector arrives?
Answer:
The lighting changes from 'pink and intimate' to 'brighter and harder'. It signals that the Inspector brings truth and exposes hidden secrets.
Question 23
How does the stage setting at the opening reflect the Birlings?
Answer:
They sit around a dining table, celebrating with port and a comfortable, wealthy home. The setting shows privilege and comfort that contrasts with Eva's poverty.
Question 24
What does Birling's speech about the Titanic and war reveal?
Answer:
He says the Titanic is 'unsinkable' and war is impossible. The audience knows he is wrong, which undermines his authority and his belief in capitalism.
Question 25
How is the theme of social class presented?
Answer:
Through the Birlings' wealth and their treatment of working-class Eva. Priestley shows the upper classes using their status to exploit and ignore the poor.
Question 26
How is the theme of responsibility presented?
Answer:
The Inspector claims that everyone is connected: 'We are members of one body'. The younger characters accept responsibility but the older ones refuse, which divides the generations.
Question 27
How is the theme of age and generation presented?
Answer:
Sheila and Eric are willing to learn, while Arthur and Sybil refuse to change. Priestley suggests that hope lies with the younger generation.
Question 28
How is gender presented?
Answer:
Women like Eva have little power and are exploited by men and by other women. Sheila rejects the Birlings' attitudes, while Sybil shows that class can divide women.
Question 29
What is the Inspector's final speech and its message?
Answer:
He warns that if people do not learn to take responsibility they will 'be taught it in fire and blood and anguish'. It looks forward to the world wars and urges listeners to change.
Question 30
What happens at the end of the play?
Answer:
The Birlings find out that the Inspector might not have been real and that perhaps no girl died. Then a phone call announces that a girl has died and an inspector is coming, which leaves the audience unsettled.
Question 31
What is the effect of the final phone call?
Answer:
It is a cliff-hanger that suggests the Birlings' guilt is real, and that they may face consequences. It leaves the audience to decide whether the family will change.
Question 32
How does Gerald react to the discovery that the Inspector might be a fraud?
Answer:
He tries to argue that the Birlings are safe and no girl has died. It shows his wish to escape responsibility, contrasting with Sheila and Eric.
Question 33
How does Mr Birling react at the end?
Answer:
He is relieved when he thinks the Inspector was a hoax and laughs about the scare. His inability to learn shows he is unchanged and unwilling to accept responsibility.
Question 34
How does Priestley use stage directions?
Answer:
They describe lighting, entrances and tone, such as the Inspector speaking 'carefully'. They guide actors and create mood and tension.
Question 35
How does Priestley build tension?
Answer:
By revealing each character's role one at a time and using sharp, short exchanges and interruptions. The pressure on the family builds to the climax with Eric's confession.
Question 36
What is the structure of the play?
Answer:
A three-act play with each act ending on a cliff-hanger. The Inspector's questioning forms a chain of confessions, and the final twist reopens the question of guilt.
Question 37
Which contextual idea about the 1945 audience is useful?
Answer:
Audiences had lived through two world wars and the Depression, and Labour was promising the welfare state. They were ready to hear Priestley's message about shared responsibility.
Question 38
What is the effect of the line 'Public men, Inspector, have responsibilities'?
Answer:
Birling uses it to defend himself but ironically shows he cares about reputation, not the harm he caused. It exposes his hypocrisy.
Question 39
What is the role of the 'Daisy Renton' name?
Answer:
Eva Smith used the name Daisy Renton when she moved, which shows a new identity and an attempt to start again. The two names suggest she could be several different women.
Question 40
Why does the Inspector say there are 'millions and millions' of people like Eva Smith and John Smith?
Answer:
He means that countless ordinary people suffer because of the selfishness of others. It broadens the play from one family to all of society.
Question 41
How does Priestley present capitalism?
Answer:
Through Birling's focus on profit and 'lower costs and higher prices'. The play criticises capitalism for putting money before people.
Question 42
How does Priestley present socialism?
Answer:
Through the Inspector's emphasis on community and shared responsibility. His final speech sets out a vision of a fairer society.
Question 43
Why is the play called a morality play?
Answer:
It teaches a moral lesson about responsibility, with characters representing different attitudes (the Inspector as a judge). The audience is meant to learn from the Birlings' mistakes.
Question 44
What does the play suggest about guilt and conscience?
Answer:
Some characters feel real guilt (Sheila, Eric) while others try to avoid it (Mr and Mrs Birling, Gerald). It shows that conscience can produce change if people let it.
Question 45
What is the significance of the engagement ring?
Answer:
Gerald gives Sheila a ring at the start, a symbol of wealth and a 'good match'. Sheila later returns it after learning about his affair, showing she is changing.
Question 46
How does the dining table setting support the theme of exclusion?
Answer:
The family eats well in comfort while Eva starves. The meal is a symbol of the divide between rich and poor and of the Birlings' complacency.
Question 47
How does Priestley use language to differentiate the characters?
Answer:
Birling uses blustering, self-important phrases, Sheila speaks emotionally, and the Inspector speaks calmly and with authority. This contrast shows their status and values.
Question 48
Which key quotation sums up the Inspector's message?
Answer:
'We are members of one body.' It captures Priestley's socialist belief that people depend on one another and must care for society.
Question 49
What is the role of the audience's reaction in the play's meaning?
Answer:
Priestley wants the audience to recognise the Birlings' mistakes and to ask how they treat others. The play aims to change attitudes rather than just entertain.
Question 50
What does Sheila say when her parents want to forget the Inspector's visit?
Answer:
She is frightened that they will forget the lesson as soon as they feel safe. She insists that what the family did is true whether or not the Inspector was real, which shows that she has learned.

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An Inspector Calls

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