This topic summary covers Knowledge Organiser: Responsibility & Social Class within Theme: Responsibility & Social Class for GCSE English Literature. Revise Theme: Responsibility & Social Class in An Inspector Calls for GCSE English Literature with 12 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 16 of 16 in this topic. Use this topic summary to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Knowledge Organiser: Responsibility & Social Class
Key Terms
- Collective responsibility: all share duty for each other's welfare
- Didactic: designed to teach a moral lesson
- Dramatic irony: audience knows what characters don't
- Parable: story carrying a moral truth
Trajectory
- DENIAL: "A man has to mind his own business"
- REVELATION: "Public men have responsibilities as well as privileges"
- CHOICE: "I burned my boats" (Sheila accepts) vs Birlings evade
Must-Know Quotes
- "We are responsible for each other" — Inspector, Act 3
- "A man has to mind his own business" — Birling, Act 1
- "Public men have responsibilities as well as privileges" — Inspector, Act 1
- "I burned my boats" — Sheila, Act 2
Must-Know Facts
- Eva Smith never appears on stage
- Five-link chain of complicity — each link class-based
- Young Birlings accept; old Birlings refuse
- Play ends on the verge of repetition — choice returns to the audience
Practice questions for Theme: Responsibility & Social Class
Which of the following is Mr Birling's view of responsibility in Act 1?
How does Priestley use structure to present the theme of responsibility in **An Inspector Calls**? (2 marks)
Quick recall flashcards
Mnemonic for the responsibility trajectory in An Inspector Calls
<strong>DENIAL → REVELATION → CHOICE</strong><br><br>D — Denial: 'A man has to mind his own business' (Birling holds power, acknowledges nothing)<br>R — Revelation: 'Public men have responsibilities as well as privileges' (Inspector shows the chain)<br>C — Choice: 'I burned my boats' (Sheila accepts; Birlings evade; audience decides)<br><br>The trajectory doesn't resolve — it repeats with the final phone call, extending the CHOICE to the audience.
Why does Eva Smith never appear on stage?
Priestley makes her absence structural. Eva Smith is invisible to the Birlings — she is working-class, and people like her do not exist in the Birlings' social world. Her physical absence from the stage enacts this invisibility while making her the moral centre the Inspector forces everyone to confront. She is the play's argument: those with power cannot afford to ignore those without it.