Inspector calls

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TASK

An Inspector Calls, by J.B. Priestly, is the story of the visit by an Inspector to an apparently normal family, the Birlings. They are celebrating Sheila Birling's engagement to Gerald Croft, who is also present, when the Inspector arrives telling them of the suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith. At first they deny any knowledge of the girl, but as the play goes on the Inspector manages to show that they all helped kill her.

An Inspector Calls confronts the decay of the British class system and the importance of social responsibility in a changing and uncertain world.

Set in a North Midlands household during the early 100s, Inspector Goole calls at the home of wealthy industrialist, Arthur Birling to investigate the circumstances behind the death of a young woman named Eva Smith. Each member of the family has a secret, and in some way has been responsible for driving her to suicide.

it is a play that attack the social mores of the time. In the time of Priestley people only seemed to look after themselves, their time and attention was not spent on the community, but on themselves. There was hardly any communal spirit or common wealth But the way that some of these cranks talk and writ now, youd think everybody has to look after everybody else as if were all together like bees in a hive, community and all that nonsense

The Inspector in the play is a mysterious man who comes and goes without a trace and seems to have no background. The Inspector is a channel for Priestleys views and criticisms on the social mores of the time. The Inspector is a contrast to the Birlings as he seems to favour community responsibilities rather than individual ones. The Birlings represent the richer people in society that do not care for their fellow people in the nineteen tens, for example Mr Birling sacked the girl Eva Smith for striking for a higher salary, but the demand was minuscule. They are set so far away from the community that they did not even realise that Eva Smith had died, let alone how the helped to kill her, they find this out only when the Inspector brings it to their attention.

Even though An Inspector Calls is a very well-made play Priestley really tries to hit home the importance for care of your neighbour. Priestley was a socialist in his time, unlike most of the people around that time who were only interested in monopolising and individual gain. Priestley believed that everyone should either share their wealth or at least help the needier. He thought that the continuing monopolising of the system would be immorally wrong and selfish.

And I tell you that the time will soon come when men will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.

Theme 1 - Class System

People were expected to know their place in society and stick to it and moving from one section of the class system to another was frowned upon by those in power.

Workers were beginning to let it be known that they wanted to have a say in what happened to them and did so through strikes and the formation of trade unions to co-ordinate these actions.

This was a strange idea to those who owned the factories and workplaces, who expected to have complete control over all aspects of their workers lives. The bosses wanted things to stay as they always had been, with them in control of the labour, jobs, conditions and pay. The bosses, being of a higher class than the workers, believed that they knew best and should make decisions for the masses. These were mainly based on how much profit they could make and they rarely considered the welfare of the workers.

In the play itself the main family, the Birlings are wealthy middle class landowners and proprietors of a large factory that was built up by the father of Mr. Birling. He has hopes of gaining a Knighthood, due to his service as a magistrate and as Lord Mayor, which he sees as his way to climb the social ladder to the lower rungs of the aristocracy. This is shown in the way in which he compares this to the mother of his daughters fiance, Lady Croft, who is already, part of the aristocracy. Therefore, it can be seen that by marrying Gerald Croft, Sheila is playing a part in the families social climbing.

Is it fair for the wealthy to control the lives of the poor for their own profit?

Should all people have a say in their lives and their conditions of work?

Do you think that the poor could have done anything other than strike?

Theme - Women in the play.

Women at that time were seen as being delicate, fragile and obedient to their husbands or fathers. The ideal was for those pinched at the waist - slim. Women were trying to get rights the same as men, beginning the Suffrage movement.

Under Roman law, which influenced later British law, husband and wife were regarded as one, with the woman the possession of the man. As such, a woman had no legal control over her person, her own land and money, or her children.

Mrs. Birling - middle class woman of considerable influence - involved in good works, considered a suitable occupation for a lady in society. Women of higher classes did not work, but did only charitable work. This was seen as acceptable as it was a caring role that fitted with the idealised Victorian view, still held then, of women as mothers and carers.

Sheila - follows this path by not working, the only occupation mentioned which she does is shopping.

Daisy/Eva - a working class girl, possibly an orphan, who has to work for a living and is seen to be completely at the mercy of men.

Should women be seen as the property of their husbands?

What effects would this have on women?

How have opinions and laws changed/not changed since that time?

Theme - Sex.

Pre-marital sex frowned upon in the middle and upper classes if you were female, but not if you were male (an attitude still held today in many respects?).

This was due to fear of pregnancy outside of marriage as there was little contraception. Also moral code of the time where ladies were supposed to remain chaste and pure until they married.

According to a double standard of morality, respectable women had to be chaste but respectable men did not, but sex was supposed to be only with working class girls, mainly through use of prostitutes and mistresses, as doing so with their own class would have been breaking the moral codes. This shows that lower class women didnt hold the same status. The upper class men could not fall in love and marry the lower class women though, as this was considered unsuitable. You only married within your class, or preferably higher.

Working class girls were at the mercy of rich men and could find it hard to refuse sex to a man as it was these men who held social and economic power. Many of these women became pregnant and had no resources to care for themselves or their children. Unmarried mothers were frowned upon and in some cases treated as if they were mad and locked up.

Is it right for single mothers to be treated and thought of in this way?

What should be the responsibilities of upper class fathers of these children?

Is it right that men used money & influence to buy lower class womens bodies?

What if this situation was a womans only chance of surviving if unemployed?

What should happen if the woman becomes pregnant by the upper class man?

Theme 4 - Family.

Father was head of the family and his word was law within the family.

Mothers had some influence in areas, but were less direct in doing so.

Children, even when older and in adulthood were expected to completely obey parents.

Should children always obey their parents?

What if their parents are acting badly or immorally?

John Boyton Priestly wrote the play in 145, but the actual story is set in 11, two years before the world war. The reason for this is to show the events which has already happened that the audience already have knowledge of, such as the sinking of the titanic, the outbreak of the war, this is dramatic irony.

The historical and social background to this play makes the play ironic and dramatic. J.B Priestley uses irony a lot in an inspector calls. An example of this is 'Why a friend of mine went over on this new liner last week the Titanic she sails next week forty six thousand tons New York in five days and every luxury and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.' Said by Mr Birling. This ironic sentence lets the audience know when the play was set, back in the year 11, when the Titanic sank on her maiden voyage. It's ironic because the audience knows that the titanic sank on her maiden voyage but the characters don't know. Also Mr Birling talks bout war. He says 'The German's don't want war. Nobody wants war, except some half-civilized folks in the Balkans.' but he does not know what the audience does in that in 114, there is an out break of war with Germany. These kinds of devices make the play meaningful to the audience by realising how you take things for granted. All the characters use irony. Mrs Birling, 'He should be made an example of. If the girls death is due to anybody, then it's due to him.' She blames the death of Eva Smith on the man who made her pregnant, as Eva came to Mrs Birlings when she sent the mother of her grandchild away, but she didn't know it was Eric's child. This part of An Inspector Calls is especially engrossing for the audience as the audience wants to see if Eric does get in any more trouble for being the father of the unborn child.

Here are some questions to help you understand their effects

How long and frequent are questions that the Inspector asks Sheila?

How long are Sheila's answers?

What effect does this have in our understanding of Sheila?

How long and frequent are questions that the Inspector asks Sybil?

How long are Sybil's answers?

What effect does this have on our understanding of Sybil?

Compare Sheila and Sybil, how are they different?

What is the effect of Birling's incorrect predictions?

How do we view Birling as a character after that point?

Why does the Inspector leave Gerald and Sheila alone in Act 1?

What effect does this have on understanding these characters?

What do Sheila's actions tell us about her development?

What is the effect of the characters not all seeing the photos?

In Act , what effect does this have Gerald, Sybil and Birling?

What is the effect of Birling's last lines in Act ?

What is effect of lack of physical description of the Inspector?

How does this contrast to the effect of his, massive presence?

What is the effect of the Inspector's final speech and exit?

What is significant about the endings of all three scenes in building tension?

What is the effect of the stage direction on page 1?

How do you view the Birling's, knowing their house is, not cosy and homelike?

What effects do the stage directions, indicating the character's mood, have in these examples?

e.g. Eric p.10,55 Sheila p.,71 Birling p.6,18

Inspector p.8,55 Sybil p.46,48 Gerald p.5,

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