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How important is dialogue in a play?

An Inspector Calls - Dialogue

Explore how Priestley’s dialogue in An Inspector Calls reveals secrets, shifts power on stage and keeps responsibility at the centre of every confrontation.

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Fascinating Fact:

Repetition builds pressure. The Inspector returns to key words like responsibility and duty until they bite.

In GCSE English Literature, you study how Priestley’s dialogue in An Inspector Calls creates tension, reveals character and carries his message about shared responsibility through questions, interruptions and repeated phrases.

Key Terms

Dialogue: The spoken exchanges between characters that reveal their attitudes, conflicts and relationships.
Interrogation: A question-and-answer style of dialogue used to uncover information and increase pressure on a character.
Repetition: The deliberate reuse of words or phrases to highlight key ideas and influence the audience.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How does Priestley use dialogue in An Inspector Calls?

Priestley uses sharp, often interrupted dialogue to show power shifting between the Inspector and the Birlings. Short questions, quick replies and sudden pauses reveal guilt, denial and growing tension.

How do I write about dialogue in my GCSE An Inspector Calls essay?

Choose brief quotations from the dialogue and link them directly to the question. Comment on who is speaking, how they say it, and what the exchange shows about power, guilt or responsibility.

What is the effect of the Inspector’s repeated words and phrases?

The Inspector’s repeated words, such as “responsibility” and “duty”, make his moral message impossible to ignore. This repetition builds intensity and encourages the audience to examine their own attitudes.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"You mustn't try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do, then the Inspector will just break it down. And it'll be all the worse when he does"

Mr Birling

Gerald

Sheila

Eric

Sheila is the first in the family to understand the implications of the Inspector's visit and the first to feel the full horror of the consequences of the family's behaviour to 'Eva Smith'

2 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Yes, he didn't keep you on the run as he did the rest of us. I'll admit now he gave me a bit of a scare at the time. But I'd a special reason for not wanting any public scandal just now"

Mr Birling

Gerald

Sheila

Mrs Birling

With this remark, Mr Birling reverts to his former selfish concerns

3 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Unless you brighten your ideas, you'll never be in a position to let anybody stay or to tell anybody to go. It's about time you learnt to face a few responsibilities"

The Inspector

Mrs Birling

Gerald

Mr Birling

Mr Birling frequently reminds Eric of his responsibilities, especially when he feels that his son does not seem to understand the hard-headed business world

4 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone - but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering, and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, with what we think and say and do"

The Inspector

Sheila

Gerald

Eric

The Inspector leaves the Birling household with this speech, making his moral message to the family clear

5 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"I wish I'd been here when that man first arrived. I'd have asked him a few questions before I allowed him to ask us any"

Mr Birling

Mrs Birling

Gerald

Eric

Mrs Birling reacts with indignation, returning to the haughty manner she exhibits before the Inspector's arrival

6 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"I remember what he said, how he looked, and what he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish. And it frightens me the way you talk, and I can't listen to any more of it"

Eric

The Inspector

Mrs Birling

Sheila

Sheila's statement demonstrates the profound effect which the encounter with the Inspector has had on her

7 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Well, I'm old enough to be married, aren't I, and I'm not married, and I hate these fat old tarts round the town - the ones I see some of your respectable friends with - "

Sheila

Eric

Gerald

Mr Birling

This quotation captures both Eric's frequent tone of petulance as well as his keen awareness of his father's hypocrisy

8 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"And if you'd take some steps to find this young man and then make sure that he's compelled to confess in public his responsibility - instead of staying here asking quite unnecessary questions - then you really would be doing your duty"

Mrs Birling

Mr Birling

Gerald

Sheila

Mrs Birling does not realise that she is talking about her own son

9 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"It's what happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters. And I still feel the same about it, and that's why I don't feel like sitting down and having a nice cosy talk"

Gerald

Sheila

Eric

Mrs Birling

Eric's statement demonstrates his changed attitude. Like his sister, he has taken in the Inspector's moral lesson

10 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"I happened to look in, one night, after a rather long dull day, and as the show wasn't very bright, I went down into the bar for a drink. It's a favourite haunt of women of the town - "

Eric

Mrs Birling

Mr Birling

Gerald

Gerald explains how he first met 'Daisy Renton' during the summer when he was often too busy to see Sheila. He makes a weak attempt to disguise his behaviour by employing the euphemism 'women of the town'

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - An Inspector Calls

Author: Sheri Smith (PhD English Literature, English Teacher & Quiz Writer)