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What do you know about An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley?

An Inspector Calls - Extract 1

Revisit the Birling dining room as Inspector Goole unravels secrets. This extract tests your close reading, quotation skills, and awareness of dramatic tension.

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(quiz starts below)

Fascinating Fact:

Sheila’s voice shifts from bitterness to alarm, “Mother, stop, stop,” proving her moral growth and insight versus her parents.

In GCSE English Literature, you study extracts from An Inspector Calls to show how Priestley shapes character, mood, and theme. This quiz helps you practise selecting quotations and explaining how language, structure, and stage directions reveal power, guilt, and responsibility in the Birling family.

Key Terms

Dramatic tension: A feeling of suspense or worry on stage as the audience waits to see what will happen next.
Stage direction: Instructions in the script that show how characters move, speak, or react to events.
Characterisation: The methods a writer uses to present a character, including speech, actions, and how others respond to them.

Frequently Asked Questions (click to see answers)

How do I analyse an extract from An Inspector Calls for GCSE?

Start by reading the extract closely, then choose key quotations. Comment on what the language, stage directions, and reactions show about character, relationships, and Priestley’s message about responsibility.

What should I write about Sheila in An Inspector Calls GCSE essays?

You should show how Sheila changes from a shallow, excited young woman to a more thoughtful and guilty character. Use quotations to prove her growing awareness and contrast her with her parents.

How can this An Inspector Calls extract quiz help my GCSE revision?

This quiz lets you test your memory of key moments, practise matching quotations to effects, and check how well you understand character, tension, and Priestley’s themes before your exam.

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INSPECTOR: You’re not even sorry now, when you know what happened to the girl?
MRS BIRLING: I’m sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for it at all.
INSPECTOR: Who is to blame then?
MRS BIRLING: First, the girl herself.
SHEILA [bitterly]: For letting Father and me have her chucked out of her jobs!
MRS BIRLING: Secondly, I blame the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have. If, as she said, he didn’t belong to her class, and was some drunken young idler, then that’s all the more reason he shouldn’t escape. He should be made an example of. If the girl’s death is due to anybody, then it’s due to him.
INSPECTOR: And if her story is true — that he was stealing money —
MRS BIRLING [rather agitated now]: There’s no point in assuming that —
INSPECTOR: But suppose we do, what then?
MRS BIRLING: Then he’d be entirely responsible — because the girl wouldn’t have come to us, and have been refused assistance, if it hadn’t been for him —
INSPECTOR: So he’s the chief culprit anyhow.
MRS BIRLING: Certainly. And he ought to be dealt with very severely —
SHEILA [with sudden alarm]: Mother — stop — stop!
BIRLING: Be quiet, Sheila!
SHEILA: But don’t you see —–
MRS BIRLING [severely]: You’re behaving like an hysterical child tonight. [SHEILA begins crying quietly. MRS BIRLING turns to INSPECTOR.] And if you’d take 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.
INSPECTOR [grimly]: Don’t worry, Mrs Birling. I shall do my duty. [He looks at his watch.]

J. B. Priestley, An Inspector Calls and Other Plays (Penguin Books, 1969)

1 .

What is the immediate context for this passage?

Sheila has just recognised her own guilt in getting Eva Smith fired

Mrs Birling has just been confronted by the Inspector with her own involvement in Eva Smith's death

Gerald has just returned from his walk

Mr Birling has been angrily denying any involvement in the young woman's death

Mrs Birling has been justifying her decision not to help the young woman and easily slides into insisting that the man who got Eva pregnant should be forced to face the consequences of his actions

2 .

What immediately follows this passage?

Eric returns and Act Two ends

Gerald returns and Act Three ends

Mr Birling phones the local police

Mrs Birling faints

The family realise that Eric is the young man responsible for Eva Smith's pregnancy just as Eric returns home. Act Two ends dramatically with a curtain fall after Eric opens the door

3 .

Who is the first to realise the implications of the Inspector's line of questioning?

Mr Birling

Mrs Birling

Sheila

None of the above

Sheila is the first to realise that her mother is condemning Eric without knowing it

4 .

Which word best describes the mood of this passage?

Hopeful

Melancholic

Light-hearted

Foreboding

The audience, along with Sheila, understands exactly whom Mrs Birling has condemned and can foresee the unpleasant scene when Eric will be confronted by the Inspector

5 .

Unlike the rest of her family, Sheila understands their responsibility for Eva Smith's death. Which of the following lines does NOT help create this impression?

"But don't you see — "

"Mother — stop — stop!"

"So he's the chief culprit anyhow."

"For letting Father and me have her chucked out of her jobs!"

Sheila understands her father's guilt and then her own. She is the first of the family, besides Eric himself, to see her brother's guilt

6 .

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the Inspector's questioning style in this passage?

He leads Mrs Birling into stating her honest opinions through a series of questions and through appearing to agree with her

He tricks Mrs Birling into admitting to beliefs which she does not really hold

He persuades Mrs Birling to be illogical

He makes Mrs Birling appear to hold prejudices which she does not really hold

Mrs Birling would not be so quick to condemn her own son to anyone outside the family. She is more honest about her opinions because she thinks they apply to 'some drunken young idler' unknown to her

7 .

What is the significance of the Inspector's statement, "Don’t worry, Mrs Birling. I shall do my duty"?

The Inspector is avoiding his duty which Mrs Birling has tried to prompt him to do

The Inspector's next duty is to question Eric, although Mrs Birling does not yet understand this

The Inspector misunderstands Mrs Birling's concerns

This line demonstrates the Inspector's involvement in matters which do not concern him

Mrs Birling tries to dismiss the Inspector by implying that he should be looking for the culprit responsible for Eva Smith's pregnancy

8 .

Which stage direction emphasises that the Inspector must wait for Eric to return?

Sheila begins crying quietly

Mrs Birling turns to the Inspector

The Inspector looks at his watch

All of the above

Even when the Inspector looks at his watch, Mrs Birling still does not understand the implications of his continuing presence in her house

9 .

What does Sheila's crying reveal?

She is sorry for her brother and for the tragic fate of Eva Smith

She is behaving childishly, as her parents suggest

She does not yet realise how important the situation is

She is young and silly

Eric was the only member of the family not yet implicated in Eva Smith's death

10 .

Which language choices demonstrate Mrs Birling's firm convictions while also ironically displaying her own hypocrisy?

Blame, escape, idler

Girl, child, example

Blame, confess, responsibility

Duty, assistance, culprit

Mrs Birling refuses to acknowledge her own responsibility, does not confess except when forced to face the facts, and does not accept blame for her behaviour

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

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