An Inspector Calls - Themes_2

Men & Women
1. The women and men start out as stereotypes
  1. Women
    1. They're supposed to be obsessed with "pretty clothes", shopping and weddings- Shelia gazes adoringly at her ring and asks,"Is it the one you wanted me to have?".
    2. They're protected against "unpleasant and disturbing " things.
    3. Shelia gets Eva sacked because of pride, vanity, and jealousy-stereotypical female traits in the play.
  2. Men
    1. Preoccupied with work and public affairs eg."the miners came out on strike".
    2. Gerald feels it's his duty to rescue Daisy/Eva from the womanising Alderman Meggarty
    3. Gerald is allowed to sleep around before his marriage, Shelia isn't. Arthur even says that even in his day they "broke out and had a bit of fun sometimes". There are different rules for men and women.
2. The young women challenge the stereotypes
  1. Eva/Daisy questioned the decision of her boss instead of quietly accepting it
  2. Instead of relying on a man to save her, Eva/Daisy refused to accept Eric's stolen money
  3. Shelia interrupts and challenges everyone at different times apart from the Inspector
3. By the end the stereotypes are turned upside down
  1. As the play develops, Birling, Gerald and Eric get weaker, while Shelia gets stronger. Priestley does this to challenge the audience's view of women at the time.
  2. Gerald is rejected by Shelia and Eric is revealed to be nervous and lazy with a drinking problem. Birling suffers the most- the whole night has slowly undermined his authority. He is"panic stricken" as he speaks the final line- a very different man from the one at the start.
  3. Shelia starts stating her own opinions , not those she is "supposed" to have-"That's whats important-and not whether a man is a police inspector or not".She has learnt to think for herself.
Judgement
1. Morality play: it points out everybody's sins and tries to make them confess and feel sorry.
  1. But different because it doesn't follow christian ideas. The moral judge isn't God, it's the Inspector.
2. Something odd about the Inspector
  1. Shelia says she had an idea"all along","there was something curious about him" and questions the supernatural side of the whole thing-she asks what he was not who he was.
  2. His origin is unknown and he appears knowing everything-they didn't tell him anything he didn't already know. It seems strange that a real Inspector would know so many details.
  3. Priestley deliberately leaves questions about the Inspector unanswered to increase the feelings of mystery and tension within the play.
3. The important thing is to learn the lesson
  1. In the end it doesn't matter who the Inspector is. He teaches the Birlings a lesson- what matters most is how they react to it and which of them learns from it.
Social responsibility
1. The character's views are challenged
  1. Birling: Thinks that community responsibility is "nonsense". The interests of business are more important than workers rights.
  2. Shelia: Realises that getting Eva/Daisy sacked out of jealousy was irresponsible but she didn't do anything about it at the time. The Inspector challenges her to improve her behaviour.
  3. Eric: Realises too late that his selfish actions were responsible for ruining Eva/Daisy's chances of improving her life.
  4. Mrs Birling: Beieves they have no responsibility to the working class-her prejudices are so ingrained that they can't be changed.
2. Social responsibilty is the Inspector's main focus
  1. His final speech is clear and to the point - it's his summary of responsibility.
    1. Wasn't trying to make them feel guilty just aware of the difficulties faced by"millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths.
  2. All the events in the play are connected. Priestley's moral seems to be that it doesn't take great people to change the world-we all change it everyday just by the way we treat others.
3. The play reveals a lot about Priestley's socialist ideas
  1. He was a supporter of socialism- his plays premote social responsibility and criticise the problems caused by class divide.
  2. The play tries to make the audience question not only their social responsibility but also how responsible they are for their own actions.
  3. The audience are already wary of Birling's short sighted opinions so when he criticises socialism, the audience are more inclined to disagree with him. In this way Priestley uses Birling to premote socialist ideas.

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An Inspector Calls - Themes_2

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