An Inspector Calls By Aishah Rao

Themes
1. Love
  1. Sheila and Gerald's relationship is put to the test
  2. Mr.B's view is only to see the two companies be in harmony together and to have a prosperous business.
  3. Mrs.B may have had a loveless marriage. She is socially more superior than Birling. "men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their energy on their business". Can link to loneliness
2. Responsibility
  1. Mr.B feels his responsibility is to make a success of his business.
  2. As a family man (Birling) he has a responsibility to provide for the material needs of his family. Making it clear to Eric that "he is not the kind of father a chap could go and talk to".
  3. Mrs.B feels she has the responsibility of only helping those who deserve help.
  4. Sheila has realised that as a powerful customer she has an obligation not to let her personal feelings and ill-temper lead to misery for people who have no power
  5. Eric has little sense of responsibility. He drinks far more than is good for him
  6. Gerald showed a sense of responsibility when he rescued the girl from unwanted attentions from another man
  7. All of them have had an active role, of the demise of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton
3. Time
  1. Their actions at the end of the play determine the end result of Eva/Daisy
  2. We wonder whether things will be different and how the characters will behave.
  3. Priestley set his play in 1912, two years before the start of the First World War
  4. The Inspector arrives before the suicide is a reality
  5. The Inspector offers the characters to change the future, to break the circle
  6. The reflections of the past, and the possibilities of the future, highlight the importance of caring for others, of taking responsibility for our actions and considering the consequences of them.
4. Society
  1. We are given the perspective of the rich and powerful to the poor and destitute.
  2. Priestley uses the inspector as his mouth piece,to try and get others to accept that all people share a common humanity and so are part of an interdependent community.
  3. The inspector becomes a spokesperson for the disadvantaged and a voice for the conscience which the Birlings and Gerlad lack.
  4. The inspector has a oratorical style of speaking, especially when he is making his final speech on suffering from "blood,fire and anguish" if they don't change their ways.
Social & Historical Context
1. Historical
  1. "An Inspector Calls" written in 1946 but set in 1912 before the First World War.
  2. Sliding as a world power (1912)
  3. War in Europe looming (1912)
  4. Exploitation of the working classes (1912)
  5. Arrogance of the manufacturing industry (1912)
  6. Strikes, civil unrest, huge class divisions (1912)
  7. 2nd World war ended (1946)
  8. Detonation of 2 nuclear bombs on Japan (1946)
  9. 80 million deaths (1946)
  10. Russia emerging as a global superpower (1946)
2. Social
  1. Priestly is seen as a Socialist.
  2. Birling made his money through building up a successful manufacturing business.
  3. Mrs.B Corrects her husband when he thanks "cook" suggests that she comes from a "better" family background than Birling
  4. Enhanced his status by getting on to the town council, becoming Lord Mayor and accepting duties of a Magistrate.
  5. By getting a knighthood Sheila will be presented as a more daughter-in-law for Lady Croft
  6. His questioning brings out secrets that will cause a "scandal" and seriously damage the Birlings' social position
3. Political
  1. Hierarchy; Capitalists at the top Socialists at the bottom.
  2. The Suffragettes (women's vote) - Sheila is rude and disobedient to all the men. (1912)
Main characters & Key quotes
1. Mr Birling
  1. "I speak as a hard-headed business man"
  2. "a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own"
  3. "Look - there's nothing mysterious- or scandalous- about this business- at least not so far as I'm concerned
  4. "I'll admit that fellow's antics rattled us a bit. But we've found him out - and all we have to do is keep our heads."
2. Mrs.Birling
  1. "men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business"
  2. "that was one of the things that prejudiced me against her case."
  3. "Unlike the other three, I did nothing I'm ashamed of or that won't bear investigation"
3. Gerald
  1. "you seem to be a nice well-behaved family"
  2. " She looked looked young and fresh and charming and altogether out of place down there."
4. Inspector
  1. "But after all it's better to ask for the earth than to take it."
  2. "A nice little promising life there, I thought, and a nasty mess somebody's made of it."
  3. "You see, we have to share something. If there's nothing else, we'll have to share out guilt."
  4. "We often [make an impression] on the young ones. They're more impressionable."
  5. "he's a young man. And some young men drink far too much."
  6. "There'll be plenty of time , when I've gone, for you all to adjust your family relationships."
  7. The Inspector is omnipresent
  8. "One Eva Smith has gone - but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us"
  9. "the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish."
  10. " And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?"
  11. "Let's leave offence out of it, shall we?"
5. Sheila
  1. "What do you mean by saying that? You talk as if we were responsible-"
  2. "But these girls aren't cheap labour- they're people."
  3. "At least I'm trying to tell the truth. I expect you've done things you're ashamed of too."
  4. " We've no excuse now for putting on airs and if we've any sense we won't try."
  5. "Because mother's been busy blaming everything on the young man who got this girl into trouble."
  6. "But now you're beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened."
  7. "The point is, you don't seem to have learnt anything."
  8. "that summer when you stayed away from me, I wondered what happened"
6. Eric
  1. "In a way she treated me- as if I were a kid."
  2. "I wasn't in love with her or anything - but I liked her- she was pretty and a good sport-"
  3. "You're beginning to pretend now that nothing's really happened at all. And I can't see it like that."

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An Inspector Calls By Aishah Rao

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