This shows the relationship between middle class men and women in 1912. The men worked and brought money into the house whereas women stayed at home and supervised the house and children, with servants to do the actual physical work. Today, both women and men can get jobs but we still live in a male dominated world, where even if a woman goes out to work she will still usually be the one who is mainly responsible for the home and children. Priestley gives us a symbol of separation between male and female just after Gerald has given Sheila her engagement ring. Sheila and Mrs Birling go from the room whilst the men have a private chat and drink port. This was a custom in 1912, but one which has become quite rare these days. Nevertheless, men still like getting together for all-male sessions. As we live in the twenty-first century, the audience would find this play interesting and engaging because we can see how society has changed. The rivalries between the two siblings, Sheila and Eric, are another example of a universal theme, making the audience able to recognise the characters and enjoy the play. Every person who has a sibling must have at least had an argument with them at least once in their lives, so the audience would be engrossed in the play and acknowledge that this is a typical family.
Mr Birling is having an enjoyable family celebration, which he is dominating with his speeches and predictions. The atmosphere is relaxed making the play even more shocking later on. He is full of pompous pronouncements, such as “The Titanic – absolutely unsinkable”. Priestley uses dramatic irony in this example to show how out-of-touch Birling is, and how arrogant. When Birling makes these unrealistic predictions, the audience are in a good mood because we feel superior. By making the audience feel greater than Mr Birling, Priestley has made his play very fascinating. We know that Mr Birling is wrong and are secretly laughing within ourselves. All his faith is in business and greed, and this partly explains his pleasure in the evening since “Crofts and Birling will be brought together to work in harmony”. His obsessive faith in the individual, in progress and capitalism is the kind of selfish attitude that has led to Eva Smith’s downfall. This is what the Inspector comes to teach him about.
From the very moment the Inspector starts to interrogate the family there is tension and surprise among the audience. Our first impression of Mr Birling has been that he is a civilised and respectable man. However we soon realise that he does hold some responsibility for Eva Smith’s death. This scene is particularly interesting because it deals with relationships between employers and employees.
“Well, it’s its my duty to keeps labour costs down, and if I’d agreed to this demand for a new rate we’d have added about twelve per cent to our labour costs.”
The year in this scene is supposed to be in 1912; however this argument is exactly the same as the one employers use today to the unions when they are demanding a pay rise. Employees do get more protection these days than Eva Smith had. Nevertheless, employees are still at a disadvantage. An example of this in the twenty-first century is when the UK fire fighters were in dispute with their employers over pay. They reached an agreement with their employers, but the government ruined the deal, by saying that the pay increase had to be funded by modernisation of their terms and conditions. Knowing this, the audience feels sympathy for Eva Smith losing her job, and creates a relationship with Eva Smith’s character.
By now the audience probably thinks that Mr Birling is the one guilty of Eva Smith’s death, but in no time at all the Inspector is interrogating Sheila. This continues until every member of the family has been questioned. This creates suspense making the audience feel engrossed in the play, wondering at each stage, who is going to be involved next, and how. Priestley has actually reserved his biggest surprise for the last lines of the play. After the Inspector departure the tension of the play drops and we think the play is over. However, in the final denouement, there is a phone call announcing that a police Inspector is on his way to ask some questions about a girl who has just died in the infirmary. This is as disturbing as it is surprising and ensures that the audience will leave the auditorium in a state of real shock
The Inspector is a very mysterious character, as we do not know much about him. The word ‘Inspector’ suggests someone who looks closely at things, and this is his role in the events of the play. The name ‘Goole’ sounds like ghoul – someone with a morbid interest in death, a spirit that is said to take fresh life from corpses, and it is certainly arguable that the Inspector’s existence is a result of Eva Smith’s death. I think that Priestley has deliberately called the Inspector ‘Goole’ to create an esoteric image and make the audience feel tense when they listen to the Inspector on stage. The audience feels fascinated by the Inspector’s massiveness and purposefulness as he remains solid and unbroken while each character breaks down, and there is nothing the others can say to distract him from his purpose. An example of this is when the Inspector says:
‘(Sternly to the three of them.) And I’ll be obliged if you let us get on without any further interruptions.’
The audience enjoy the play even more when the Inspector is shown as a greater character than Mr Birling. This is because we are disgusted by Mr Birling’s ego and arrogance; and by seeing him being overpowered by the Inspector is quite hilarious. Priestley has created the Inspector’s character like this so that the audience favours him and we take his side. He does not forgive what the Birlings have done, but when they freely admit their faults he allows them to see that they can find forgiveness through future good behaviour. His approach has been perhaps too abrasive, and he is clearly someone for whom social conventions count for nothing when weighed against the desire for truth and justice. Priestley has written a typical play that has a villain and a hero. Most of the audience would definitely like the hero, in this case the Inspector, whereas they would be against the villains, the members of the Birling family.
The play is set in Edwardian times where society was strictly divided into social classes and over two-thirds of the nation’s wealth was in the hands of less than one percent of the population. Below the very rich were the middle classes. For example the doctors and merchants, shop workers and clerks. After this came the craftsmen and skilled workers. At the very bottom of the social ladder was the largest class of all - the ordinary workers and the poor, many of whom lived below the poverty level. The men of industry treated the workers very badly and they were paid a pittance. This caused workers to become better organised and strikes were becoming more frequent as they demanded better conditions and higher pay. Priestley was writing the play for a middle class audience and was trying to speak up for the working class by showing how the Birlings and Gerald Croft were all involved in making a young working class girl’s life a misery. Priestley wants to show us that we have a responsibility to others to act fairly and without prejudice and that we do not live in isolation. He shows that our actions affect others when the Inspector says:
“…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.”
We have to confront our mistakes and learn from them. Through the Inspector acting as our conscience we are made aware that there are those in higher positions in society who have power yet abuse it. They take advantage of those weaker than themselves. Eva Smith was a working class girl trying to make a living. Through those in power she was used terribly, then when she was no longer of any use she was got rid of. JB Priestley wanted to show that this would continue to happen if society does not learn from these mistakes made. The audience feels sympathy towards Eva Smith and is curious to see if the Birlings have learnt from their mistake. Priestley has shown us how middle class people act in society and the way in which they regard lower citizens. He hopes we will realise how the younger generations are the ones who can change the society in which we live. He shows this when Mr and Mrs Birling learn nothing from their mistakes whereas Eric and Sheila do. The Inspector brings the play to a close, summarising Priestley’s message when he says ‘We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’ exactly the opposite to what we are told to believe by Mr Birling, that everybody should look after themselves. Priestley conveys his message well, showing us how the situation can be changed and who to depend on to change it.
I think the success and popularity of ‘An Inspector Calls’ accounted for by the fact that it is very entertaining as there is a mixture of suspense and mystery but is also a play that conveys a moral message. This makes the play appeal to a widest possible audience especially the middlebrow.