An Inspector Calls

Seite 1

Character: The Inspector

He is a characterised representation of J.B. Priestley, there to teach us a lesson - 'the embodiment of a collective conscience'.

Inspector Goole hence referencing a ghost or evil spirit - 'a figment of the imagination... but none the less just as real as the Birlings'.

He is God incarnate, an angel or the devil (some religious connotations) - in reference to the comment on 'fire and blood and anguish'.

He's the voice of reason within all of them, a glimmer of good conscience - their inner moral compass.

A forewarning of what the characters will face on judgement day - 'he steers the characters along their predetermined paths'.

Described as creating 'an impression of solidity, massiveness and purposefulness', he takes control of the situation and intervenes in the family's affairs. His ordinary appearance contrasts with the extraordinary manner in which he conducts his investigation although some believe that he is merely a dramatic device intended to move the play along, taking control only when necessary in order to keep the audience on track. He acts as a catalyst, he never directly comments on the revelations, and almost leaves it up Eva Smith's life despite remaining persuasive - in many ways, he is a confessor figure intended to bring the worst out of people. The Inspector criticises the Birling's views on society and the role that women play, particularly critical of Mr Birling who possesses opposing political views - 'your daughter isn't living on the moon... she's here in Brumley too', considers the distinct separation of classes as barbaric. The Inspector also believes that each member of the Birling family is equally responsible for the death of Eva.

General behaviour that is found suspicious:

The timing of his entry (noted by Eric)

His intimate knowledge of Eva's life and despite the fact that he never spoke to her

His method of working: 'one person and one line of enquiry at a time' (A policeman would not insist on this. A real policeman would interview people alone. This Inspector already knows; he wants the others to see what they have done.)

His concern for moral law not for criminal law.

His statement: 'some things are left to me. Inquiries of this sort, for instance'.

His final speech, which has nothing to do with criminal law, but which is a lecture on social responsibility and the perils of ignoring it.

The Birlings' discovery that no such officer is on the local police force.

His foreknowledge of Eva's death.

Seite 2

Character: Mr Birling

Birling is ignorant to the work around him and refuses to believe that he should take social responsibility.

'the Titanic... absolutely unsinkable' - demonstrates Priestley's use of dramatic irony to highlight the misconceptions of the Birling family.

'there isn't a chance of war' - play is set in 1912, the contemporary audience understands that WWI began only three years later, this proves quite provocative when considering the ages of those involved, Eric would soon be expected to fight in the war as part of his patriotic duty.

'The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war' -

Birling values social status above all else.

'there'll be a social scandal' - desperate to protect his family's social reputation before revealing the events of the evening.

'I was almost certain a knighthood' - this is mentioned nonchalantly in order to protest his position when discussing his business with Gerald.

Priestley presents Birling as self-interested, such that he feels he has great influence.

'I was an alderman for years... and I'm still on the bench' - protecting his family name and maintaining the façade that he is of a higher social standing within society.

'I've half a mind to report you' - threatening the Inspector as he believes he has greater social superiority.

Birling is presented as critical of socialist ideas which stress the importance of community within society.

'if we were responsible for everything that happened... it would be very awkward, wouldn't it?' - as a capitalist character he does not believe in social responsibility.

'the way some of these cranks talk' - use of the derogative term would suggest that he strongly opposes their ideas.

'a man has to make his own way – has to look after himself – and his family too, of course…' - Birling believes that everyone is only responsible for themselves.

Birling wishes to cover up his involvement with the death of Eva Smith, despite having fired her from his factory, Birling and Co.

'when this comes out in the inquest, it's not going to do us much good'

'you've allowed yourself to be bluffed' - persuasive towards evoking a passive response towards the Inspector's findings.

He wants to protect his reputation. As the Inspector's investigations continue, his selfishness gets the better of him: he is worried about how the press will view the story in Act II, and accuses Sheila of disloyalty at the start of Act III. He wants to hide the fact that Eric stole money: 'I've got to cover this up as soon as I can.'

Example paragraph:

Priestley uses dramatic irony to highlight the ignorance of the older generation, particularly Mr Birling who shows very little interest in the world around him. In Act One, Birling comments on their hopes for the Titanic and the development of such technologies as 'absolutely unsinkable' but Priestley uses hindsight to emphasise the passive manner to which Birling addresses the issues found within the society of pre-World War One Britain. Some may argue that the Titanic represents Birling in a number of ways, one of which being that the unsinkable ship is referred to as 'luxury' much like the life of Mr Birling before the Inspector's visit. Similarly, Birling's social demise is unexpected like the sinking of the Titanic which also saw the deaths of those less fortunate who were not able to get aboard a life boat - Mr Birling's ill-considered actions resulted in the tragic death of Eva Smith.

Seite 3

Character: Mrs Birling

Judgemental and prejudiced woman who believes that her role as 'a prominent member of the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation' makes her somewhat socially superior to 'girls of that sort', hence demonstrating that members of the upper middle class are often inconsiderate and unsympathetic towards the members of the lower class who are faced with poverty and discrimination.

Immorally uses her social power and influence as she is overly concerned with her social reputation and matters of propriety, such that she censors what her own daughter says on the matter in order to avoid altering what the public believe of her - 'careful what you say, dear'. When Eva uses her name she instantly despises her as it was 'naturally one of the things that prejudiced me against her case', she believes that there should be a very clear distinction between the classes. She admits she was 'prejudiced' against the girl who applied to her committee for help and saw it as her 'duty' to refuse to help her. Her narrow sense of morality dictates that the father of a child should be responsible for its welfare, regardless of circumstances.

As a member of the older generation she denies all responsibility for her own actions by scapegoating the blame and changing the subject, therefore denying the possibility of social responsibility, examples of this include: 'I think we've just about come to an end of this wretched business-' in fear that the Inspector will reveal further links between her family and the death of Eva Smith.

Mrs Birling's sense of duty in her society is warped - 'we've done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases', she is prejudiced and only helps those cases which seem most suitable to her.

Sybil shows a complete lack of sympathy with regards to the lower class, individual members of the class are often overlooks and referred to derogatively, she often passes judgement without consulting the members of that class which it may affect although this does not alter her opinions.

She tries to deny things that she doesn't want to believe: Eric's drinking, Gerald's affair with Eva, and the fact that a working class girl would refuse money even if it was stolen, claiming 'she was giving herself ridiculous airs.'

Seite 4

Character: Gerald Croft

Adopts similar views to the older generation, such that they should not take responsibility for the death of Eva Smith as it is a matter of maintaining social reputation and propriety, it is suggested that he feels some remorse for his actions however he has clearly not learned from the night's events as he intends to keep the chain of events a secret.

He is unsympathetic towards the lower class and takes advantage of Eva when she is in need of help - he may be influenced by his parent's aristocracy thereby using his social power immorally.

Uses and acknowledges gender stereotypes - 'I hate those hard-eyed, dough-faced women... she (Eva) was pretty - soft hair and big dark eyes', she did not comply with the typical prostitute stereotypes. Eva became Gerald's mistress because 'she was young and pretty and warm hearted - and intensely grateful', there are some particularly sinister connotations to the comments he makes about Eva, such as 'I became at once the most important person in her life', he feels the need to be appreciated as women were expected to become solely dependent on a man for they could not provide for themselves.

The presentation of Gerald should evoke a sympathetic response, however the audience is prompted to feel disgust at what he used Eva for during the summer.

Saddened by Eva’s death – 'I’m rather more – upset – by this business than I probably appear to be –', and he shows some sympathy for towards Daisy - 'I was sorry for her'.

Seite 5

Character: Sheila

What were the expectations for women of Sheila's class and background in1912?

Well mannered young women, hoping to marry into a wealthy family.

High expectations for them to be obedient and completely reliant on men.

No job and to work at home for their family.

Have children, hence making heirs.

Their patriarchal society made women inferior to men within society.

Act 1:

'very pleased with life and rather excited' - content with her lifestyle, perhaps materialistic and selfish

About her engagement ring, 'oh - it's wonderful! Look mummy - isn't it a beauty?' - emotional, materialistic and spoilt

'what's this about streets?' - become suspicious and begins doubting Gerald

'and I've been so happy tonight' - self-absorbed

'you talk as if we are responsible' - dismissive of her involvement

'but these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people' - no long appears obedient

'but she was very pretty... I couldn't be sorry for her' - judgmental and jealous, cares only for the appearance of a person

'I caught sight of her smiling' - jumping to conclusions as she is paranoid

Act 2:

'he means that I'm getting hysterical now' / 'I am not a child' - standing up for herself

'it's no use Gerald' - accusing her fiancée / 'it was obvious from the start'

Act 3:

'I had her turned out, I started this' - willing to accept her own blame for the death of Eva Smith after she was sacked from Milwards

'the point is, you don't seem to have learnt anything' - worried that the older generation are refusing to accept their involvement, she feels guilty

'between us we drove that girl to commit suicide' - appreciates that she was somewhat to blame for their suicide

The most emotionally responsive character, and has a natural sense of right and wrong this is because she seems childlike - impressionable.

Even though she seems very playful at the opening, we know that she has had suspicions about Gerald when she mentions 'last summer, when you never came near me', this suggest that she is not as naive and shallow as she first appears.

'Don’t please – I know – I know –' - She accepts her responsibility; the inspector shows her pity.

'You’re pretending everything’s just as it was before.' - She is shocked her parents still don’t get it, that they will suffer if they don’t change.

Seite 6

Character: Eric

When he hears how his father sacked Eva Smith, he supports the worker's because, 'why shouldn't they try for higher wages?' – rebellious, has a tense relationship with his father.

He cries, 'oh - my God! - how stupid it all is!' as he tells his story. He has an instant change of heart with himself over his relationship with the girl. He is horrified that his thoughtless actions had such consequences. – frustration and guilt.

He had some sense of responsibility, though, because although he got a woman pregnant, he was concerned enough to give her money. He was obviously less worried about stealing (or 'borrowing' from his father's office) than he was about the girl's future - the most socially aware member of the Birling family.

He is appalled by his parents' inability to admit their own responsibility. He tells them forcefully, 'I'm ashamed of you.' When Birling tries to threaten him in Act III, Eric is aggressive in return: 'I don't give a damn now.'

At the end of the play, like Sheila, he is fully aware of his social responsibility. He is not interested in his parents' efforts to cover everything up: as far as he is concerned, the important thing is that a girl is dead. 'We did her in all right.'

Quotes:

'you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble' - he blames his father for his predicament, truth about their relationship

Seite 7

Character: Eva Smith

Eva represents every woman of her class as Eva is similar to 'Eve' - the first woman created by God, and Smith is known to be the most common British name. Priestley uses Eva's ambiguity to his advantage as their lack of authority and influence within society is highlighted as a result, women of the working class were considered inferior to those of a higher class or the opposite gender.

Mr Birling (Act 1): 'the wretched girl's suicide' - patronising reference to Eva which highlights Arthur's belief in a patriarchal society, he is strongly disapproving of Eva's actions which he may consider ill-considered and the fault of her own.

Mr Birling (Act 1): 'she had a lot to say - far too much' - clearly demonstrates a disregard for her opinion and tries to undermine her when she speaks up about her poor treatment at Birling and Co., she fears the prospect of becoming unemployed and so fights to stay on at the factory.

The Inspector (Act 1): 'there are a lot of young women living that sort of existence in every city and big town in this country' - Eva demonstrates the treatment of the common working class woman, she is not alone in how she is discriminated against, yet nothing has been done to protect these women or improve the position of these women in society.

Sheila (Act 1): 'she was very pretty... I couldn't be sorry for her' - the contemporary audience was clearly very judgemental of your appearance - this was known to cause many women to turn to prostitution.

Gerald (Ac 2): 'she was young and pretty and warm-hearted - and intensely grateful. I became at once the most important person in her life' - women like Eva are often expected to conform to society's stereotypes such that women were dependent on wealthy men.

Mrs Birling (Act 2): 'she was giving herself ridiculous airs' - Eva does not seem afraid to speak up for herself however this has an adverse effect on the treatment she receives - she is ridiculed.

Mrs Birling (Act 2): 'as if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money' - she is discriminated against as she embodies all working class women who are treated unfairly within society hence they are known for using any means possible to earn money.

Eric (Act 3): 'she wasn't the usual sort' - Eva Smith was not afraid to break away from the stereotypes by voicing her own opinion despite the dismissal she faced by speaking out, she was in fact expected to rely solely on men.

The Inspector (Act 3): 'this girl killed herself - and died a horrible death' - she could no longer accept the society that she was living in because she was not receiving the help that she needed.

The Inspector to Eric (Act 3): 'just used her for the end of a stupid drunken evening, as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person' - women similar to Eva are often taken advantage of by men who could offer an answer to their problems.

Seite 8

Theme: Class

There is very little social mobility at the time, however Mr Birling hopes that by marrying Sheila to Gerald, the family will somewhat become a part of the upper class - this includes the aristocracy, gentry and titled who are either wealthy or born into a wealthy family. Characters such as Gerald Croft are part of this class whilst Birling aspires to move from the upper middle class with the well-established professionals with comfortable incomes like the Birlings. Below these are the middle class, then the working class of which Edna and Eva are a part of, they avoid the underclass and fear the work house and so they will work for the wealthier among society in order to avoid this - many turn to prostitution.

Priestley is suggesting that the upper class are unaware or unwilling to accept that their affluence is dependent upon the hard work of the lower classes. He wants to highlight the exploitation of the lower classes and show how unfair the hierarchy class system is, this social class system cannot remain as it is.

Apart from Edna the maid, the cast of the play does not include any lower class characters. We see only the rich, upwardly mobile Birlings and the upper class Gerald Croft. Yet we learn a lot about the lower class as we hear of each stage in Eva's life and we see the attitude the Birlings had for them.

Seite 9

Theme: The Generation Gap

Younger Generation:

symbolise hope for future generations

become strong and independent

used to show that society has the capacity to change

become more like the Inspector

Older Generation:

concerned with class division and symbolic of the traditional British class structure in pre-WWII society - the class system was broken down by the war as they work and fight alongside each other

presented as foolish and misguided

concerned with social façades

show no remorse for their actions and refuse to take responsibility

'Now you three are young people, just listen to this... by that time you'll be living in a world that'll have forgotten all these Capital versus Labour agitations and these silly little war scares.' - dramatic irony to highlight Mr Birling's dismissal of the world around him, he seems stubborn and unwilling to accept that it doesn't always go the way you would expect.

'You're the one I blame for this... There'll be a public scandal.' - concerned greatly with maintaining his social façade as an upper middle class business man and he will clearly do all that it takes to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

'Eric, I'm absolutely ashamed of you.' - Mrs Birling is clearly ignorant and neglects to recognise the effect that her own actions have had on the case of Eva Smith despite regarding Eric's actions as detrimental to the family's reputation.

'I behaved badly too. I know I did. I'm ashamed of it.' - Sheila shows some capacity to change as she recognises her actions as selfish and mislead - she acted without thinking about the consequences of those.

'You began to learn something... And now you've stopped.' - Sheila clearly hopes that the older generation would learn to take responsibility for their actions rather than remain fully concerned with their own social reputation.

'The famous younger generation who know it all. And they can't even take a joke-' - Refuses to accept that Birling has any responsibility or role to play in causing her death - he learns nothing for the Inspector's visit therefore he seems foolish.

Seite 10

Theme: Responsibility

The words responsible and responsibility are used by most characters in the play at some point. Each member of the family has a different attitude to responsibility. Make sure that you know how each of them felt about their responsibility in the case of Eva Smith. The Inspector wanted each member of the family to share the responsibility of Eva's death: 'each of you helped to kill her'. However, his final speech is aimed not only at the characters on stage, but also the audience:

'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, and what we think and say and do.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, and what we think and say and do.'

The Inspector is talking about a collective responsibility, everyone is society is linked, in the same way that the characters are linked to Eva Smith. Everyone is a part of"one body", the Inspector sees society as more important than individual interests. The views he is propounding are like those of Priestley who was a socialist.He adds a clear warning about what could happen if, like some members of the family, we ignore our responsibility:

'And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, when they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.'

What would Priestley have wanted his audience to think of when the Inspector warns the Birlings of the 'fire and blood and anguish'?Probably he is thinking partly about the world war they had just lived through - the result of governments blindly pursuing 'national interest' at all costs. No doubt he was thinking too about the Russian revolution in which poor workers and peasants took over the state and exacted a bloody revenge against the aristocrats who had treated them so badly.

“We do not live alone,” the Inspector says in his final speech, “we are members of one body.” This perhaps is the most important and central theme of the play: that we have a duty to other people, regardless of social status, wealth, class, or anything else. There is, Priestley observes, such a thing as society, and he argues that it is important that people be aware of the effects of their actions on others. The Birlings, of course, initially do not think at all about how they might have affected Eva Smith, but they are forced to confront their likely responsibility over the course of the play.

Seite 11

Theme: Gender

Because Eva was a woman - in the days before women were valued by society and had not yet been awarded the right to vote - she was in an even worse position than a lower class man. Even upper class women had few choices. For most, the best they could hope for was to impress a rich man and marry well - which could explain why Sheila spent so long in Milwards.

For working class women, a job was crucial. There was no social security at that time, so without a job they had no money. There were very few options open to women in that situation: many saw no alternative but to turn to prostitution.

Mr Birling is dismissive of the several hundred women in his factory: 'We were paying the usual rates and if they didn't like those rates, they could go and work somewhere else.'

Gerald saw Eva as young and fresh and charming- in other words, someone vulnerable he could amuse himself by helping.

Mrs Birling couldn't believe that a girl of 'that sort' would ever refuse money. Her charitable committee was a sham: a small amount of money was given to a small amount of women, hardly scratching the surface of the problem. She similarly makes comments which are quite generic and make assumptions about the needs for 'girls of that class'.

At the beginning of the play, Sheila is misguided and materialistic whereby she has Eva 'turned out' when she saw her smile because she was 'very pretty' so she felt that she could make a living out of that when in actual face, Sheila was actually just jealous.

Like her mother, Sheila represents a female stereotype of 1912: she is frivolous, vain and proud, “Very pleased with life.” She is more concerned with the ring than the actual engagement: “I think it’s perfect. Now I really feel engaged.” This demonstrates her superficiality. From the beginning of the play Sheila is seen as an oblivious, self-satisfied lady, unaware of her surroundings. As the inspector’s interrogation begins the audience feels the change taken place in Sheila, from asking “pretty?” to arguing “ But these girls aren’t cheap labour-they’re people.” She therefore progressively shows compassion for Eva. Priestley uses Sheila as an example of the people who exploit their high status to put people down.