An inspector calls

By J.B. Priestley
 About the author

• J.B Priestley was born in Bradford (Yorkshire) in 1894.

• He was an English novelist, playwright.
• After 1930 he wrote mainly plays
• During the Second World War Priestley was a regular and influential
broadcaster on the BBC.
• An Inspector Calls, his best-known and most-performed play, was written at
the end of the Second World War (1945), even though is set in 1912 in Britain.
 British society in 1912
• In 1912, in Britain, there was a large class divide.
• The upper and middle classes owned much of the wealth and influence, and
the hardships faced by the working classes did not really matter to many of
them.
• Britain went through the First and Second World Wars when the play was
written.
• The play is set in a fictional town called Brumley, where the Birling family
resides, but this may represent any manufacturing town in Britain in the 1910s.
• Priestly wanted viewers to understand this atmosphere, as well as the problems
in the play around social class, so that they would relate the play's messages to
their own lives. He tried to inspire the audience to be more considerate
towards other members of society.
 The play
• 3 acts:   Act 1: Introduces the characters
                  Act 2: Develops the characters and builds up to the climax
                  Act 3: Releaves the tension and brings the action to a close. 

• The play borrows features from several theatrical genres: a well-made play (19th C), morality
play (16th C), crime thriller (20th C)

• All 3 acts take place in the dining-room of the Birlings' house in Brumley, an industrial city
in the North Midlands. Evening spring 1912.
    
 The characters
                    Arthur Birling (husband)         +        Sybil Birling (his wife)

            
                           Sheila Birling (daughter)       -     Eric Birling (son)

                                                       Edna (the maid)

                                          Gerald Croft (Sheila's boyfriend)

                                                        Inspector Goole
 Act 1 (P.1-4)

1. Opening stage directions: What do we learn about each of 
the characters on stage in the opening stage directions?

2. What tone is set in the opening exchanges between the 
characters?

3. What does Sheila's engagement to Gerald mean to Arthur

    Birling?
 Dramatic irony

• It is a technique used by Priestley mainly in Act 1.

• It happens when the full meaning of a situation or a speech is understood by the

audience but not by the characters on stage.

• For example, Birling's optimistic speeches about the future:

   1) “The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war…”
   2) The Titanic is “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” (Sank in 1912)
WHAT COULD ‘AN INSPECTOR CALLS’
SAY ABOUT THE ROLES OF MEN AND
WOMEN AT THE START OF THE
TWENTIETH CENTURY?
WOMEN MEN
• Naïve • Traditional (Gerald and Arthur)
• Silly • Have a more important voice
than women
• Not that important
• Leaders
• Marry into money
• Occupied with business and work
• Conform to stereotypes ( Act
• Different rules (Gerald and
how society sees them to do so
Arthur allowed to sleep around
– go shopping, marry, cry and before marriage)
act hysterical) 
 Act 2
• What is the mood in the dining room as Eric re-enters at the end
of Act 2?
Act 3
 Who is inspector Goole?
The name sounds like ‘ghoul’ (Definition: An evil spirit or
phantom) which makes him enigmatic (mysterious). Is he from another
world? A spokesman for the dead girl come to plead her case?

• He is J. B. Priestley (teaching us a lesson)

• He’s God / an Angel / the Devil
• He’s the voice of conscience
• He’s the child Eva Smith was pregnant with, come back as a ghost
• He’s a dream or group hallucination
• He’s a time traveller from the future
• He’s a real police inspector
• Other possibilities?
 MAIN THEMES

1. The generation gap

2. Responsibility
3. Family
4. Social class
5. Judgement
 1. The generation gap
The Younger Generation 

• The younger generation (Eric and Sheila) The Older Generation 

• The older generation (Mr. & Mrs.
show that they are capable of change. They
Birling) seem incapable of real
express sympathy for the strikers in Act 1 change. They are set in their ways
and they also show greater sympathy for and see Sheila and Eric as “foolish”
“children”. 
Eva Smith. 
• They have little sympathy for Eva
• Sheila and Eric’s ability to change means that Smith and are only sorry that she has
Priestley can end the play with an element of died because it could impact on their
lives. 
hope. It is possible that the next generation
• Priestley uses Mr. & Mrs. Birling
can make society better.   to represent old-fashioned ideas. 
 2. Responsibility
• Responsibility is definitely one of the most important theme in the play.
The words ‘responsible’ and ‘responsibility’ appear a considerable number of
times. 
• Personal responsibility vs. collective responsibility 
• Personal responsibility – each character is forced to consider to
what extent they are responsible for Eva’s death.
• Mrs. Birling is part of a Charitable Organisation – is this because she wants to
take responsibility or because it makes her look good? 
• The characters’ failure to fully take responsibility leads to the
second telephone call – would the telephone have rung if they’d learnt from
their mistakes? 
 3. Family
• At the beginning of the play, Gerald thinks the Birlings are “a nice well behaved family”, but…Gerald and
the audience soon learn that there are murky secrets lurking  behind their polite, well polished behaviour.

• In 1912, family members were expected to know their role and to be content with their position.  The
parents are in charge, the children are obedient and unquestioning.

• The Birlings want everyone to think they are the perfect family.  

• The gender roles are shown when the women depart the scene to let the men talk.

• The family is ultimately a mess.  Sheila and Eric refuse to behave the way they used to: they don’t want to
pretend anymore.  The parents have lost their authority over the children.

• The family is tied together by lies.  There is hatred, envy, theft, prostitutes and even the responsibility for
the death of your own grand-child.
 4. Social class
• Social class is very important in the play.  Class influences the Birlings behaviour and makes them treat people
differently.
• The characters represent different social classes:
                Upper Class - Gerald
                Middle Class – The Birlings
                Working class – Eva Smith / Daisy

The Inspector does not fit into the class system – he wants everyone to be treated equally.

• The Birlings are only worried about class:

• Birling is worried that Eva’s death will cause a public scandal.
• Birling thinks his position of authority makes him more important.  He has been Lord Mayor and is now a
magistrate who dishes out judgements on people.
• Birling uses Gerald to promote his social class.
• Mrs Birling is a member of the Women’s Charity Organisation – they are meant to help
desperate women but she is only concerned with social status.
 5. Judgement
• Characters blame each other all the time since the beginning of the play. 

• Priestley leaves the end of the play a mystery – it leaves the audience to figure out
what has happened and who to judge.

   The Inspector:
• He is there to teach the Birlings a lesson but who learns from it:
• Gerald, Arthur and Sybil all decide it is a hoax. They are relieved that
the Inspector is a fraud and they think they have been let off the hook.
• Sheila and Eric waver when they find out there was no suicide.