| Quote |
Character |
Act |
| “a man has to make his own way” |
Mr Birling |
Act One |
| “But the way some of these cranks talk and write nowadays, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else” |
Mr Birling |
Act One |
| “as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense.” |
Mr Birling |
Act One |
| “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own” |
Mr Birling |
Act One |
| “what happened to her then may have determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act One |
| “If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn’t it?” |
Mr Birling |
Act One |
| “these young women counting their pennies in their dingy little back bedrooms.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act One |
| “A nice little promising life there, I thought, and a nasty mess somebody’s made of it.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act One |
| "Did it make much difference to her?” |
Sheila Birling |
Act Two |
| “No, not entirely... But you’re partly to blame.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act Two |
| “How could I know what would happen afterwards?” |
Sheila Birling |
Act Two |
| “You see, we have to share something. If there’s nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act Two |
| “You mustn’t try to build up any kind of wall between us and that girl.” |
Sheila Birling |
Act Two |
| “No, he’s giving us the rope – so that we’ll hang ourselves.” |
Sheila Birling |
Act Two |
| “I’ve done nothing wrong – and you know it.” |
Mrs Birling |
Act Two |
| “Mother, I think it was cruel and vile.” |
Sheila |
Act Two |
| “I blame the young man... He should be made an example of.” |
Mrs Birling |
Act Two |
| “So he’s the chief culprit anyhow.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act Two |
| “You’ll be able to divide the responsibility between you when I’ve gone.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act Three |
| “This girl killed herself – and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act Three |
| “You can’t do her any more harm. And you can’t do her any good now, either. You can’t even say ‘I’m sorry Eva Smith.’” |
Inspector Goole |
Act Three |
| “We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.” |
Inspector Goole |
Act Three |
| “You’re the one I blame for this.” |
Mr Birling |
Act Three |
| “Haven’t I already said there’ll be a public scandal – unless we’re lucky – and who here will suffer from that more than I will?” |
Mr Birling |
Act Three |
| “The point is, you don’t seem to have learnt anything.” |
Sheila Birling |
Act Three |
| “The money’s not the important thing. It’s what happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters.” |
Eric Birling |
Act Three |
| “You’re just beginning to pretend all over again.” |
Sheila Birling |
Act Three |
| “I don’t see much nonsense about it when a girl goes and kills herself. You may be letting yourselves out nicely, but I can’t.” |
Eric Birling |
Act Three |
| “But the whole thing’s different now.” |
Mr Birling |
Act Three |
| “Everything’s all right now, Sheila.” |
Gerald Croft |
Act Three |
| “As they stare guiltily and dumbfounded, the curtain falls.” |
Stage Directions |
Act Three |
