At first it is Mr Birling who the Inspector questions. Initially Mr birling doesn’t recognize the name until he is shown a picture of Eva Smith. We discover that Eva Smith first worked for Mr Birling, and after requesting a pay rise he abuses his position and authority by ensuring that one of the girls is fired for asking awkward questions about the workers wage. This shows the power of owners of businesses who put profit above social responsibilities and reflects the weak position of the ordinary worker who is of a lower class, and has no influence or say in society.
Social justice is then shown as Sheila has Eva fired from her job as a shop assistant at Millwards because she laughed at her as she tried on a hat which didn’t suit her. She goes on to abuse her social and financial position, threatening to withdraw her account in order to ensure the girl is fired. “And so you used the power you had, as a daughter of a good customer and also of a man well known in the town, to punish the girl just because she made you feel like that” – the Inspector points out how being the daughter of a well known man can gain someone such ability and importance, Sheila proves no matter what you’re like as a person, the power can go to your head and can cause you to be unfair to people like Eva Smith.
After this she changed her name to Daisy Renton, then there is what might be called romantic abuse as Gerald Croft offers her shelter as he finds she is homeless and unemployed. She then becomes his mistress, but only to drop her when someone more socially important is available. Gerald was spending less time with Sheila because of Eva, but then realised Sheila was of much more importance and could help him gain more power and respect. Although no real harm was intended at the beginning, he nonetheless used her until it didn’t suit him any longer, showing little thought for her feelings and what it could lead her to do.
Eva Smith then meets Eric on a train, and by now he is under the influence of alcohol. Eva Smith eventually falls pregnant and turns to a charity for help as she doesn’t want to take stolen money from Eric. Mrs Birling abuses her social position as and arrogantly rejects Eva Smith, who says that the father should take responsibility. She reacts personally to the case, as she feels she has not been shown enough respect or honesty by the girl, rather than helping. This shows how important charity help was as they had no NHS. Eric feels he can’t tell his parents he got a girl pregnant and that he needs to borrow money to support her, as he feels it will damage his father’s reputation and image. So he then turns to alcohol and theft.
The fact the Inspector deals with one character at a time, spreads tension and helps the audience to understand the difference between two generations and also upper and lower class, and how a group of people can affect one person in a tragic way. We see how Eric and Sheila are shocked and show compassion and regret for what happened. Where as Mr and Mrs Birling are in denial and are defensive about their involvement with Eva Smith. The audience probably feel relieved that although the parents are self centered and careless about others, we see that Sheila and Eric have learnt their lesson and can have a positive influence on how improved society will be in the future, and that there’s hope for disadvantaged people to be treated with respect.
Mr Birling’s opinions are devalued as he believes there will never be war and the Titanic will not sink. “A few German officers have too much to drink and begin talking nonsense; you’ll hear somebody say that war’s inevitable. And to that I say – fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war, except some half civilized folks in the Balkans. And why? There’s too much at stake these days. Everything to lose and nothing to gain by war”, “The worlds developing so fast that it’ll make war impossible”. But as we already know these things have happened (as the play was written after these events had happened) this leads us to not take any other opinion of Mr Birling’s seriously, so he is more or less commented upon negatively by the audience on his attitude towards society and at how wrong he is about certain events. “By that time you’ll be living in a world that’ll have forgotten all these capital versus labour agitations and all these silly little war scares. There’ll be peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere” This useful technique J.B. Priestley used is called dramatic irony. As we don’t value Mr Birling’s “knowledge” of serious events in time, we don’t take his side when he talks about only being responsible for yourself, and we notice more his ignorance for other peoples feelings and health and how self centered and uncompassionate he is.
Seeing as there was no NHS or benefits in the early stages of the 19th century, this made it harder for people like Eva Smith, when they fall pregnant with no father to care for them and the baby, so all they can rely on is charity. Charities and factories appear to be run by the rich and arrogant so they are more oblivious to others feelings and how the little pay isn’t enough for a nice lifestyle. The fact they had the need to start many women’s charities, means that there were a lot of deprived women in need. No benefits and high difference between society of rich and poor meant Eric would steal money for Eva but couldn’t marry her as she was a completely different class and would damage the Birling’s reputation and chances of being seen more highly in the public’s eyes. This shows how wealth overrules the responsibilities in life. People of the lower class can’t have their say so their feelings can’t be heard by anyone, making it much harder for them to get by in life, as they are deprived of rights. If people of a lower class had better education, equal to rich, they could get a better job to help them support themselves. Eva was also made homeless after she lost her job, so maybe if she was allowed to keep it, or even allowed a raise, she wouldn’t have had the need to confide in Gerald, or to get a new job at Milwards. Finding jobs was hard in Eva’s day and she was just in luck that there was staff needed at such a well known shop, so most people of her class worked in factories.
At first, Mr Birling is told about Eva’s death and he is dealt with first, as he was a trigger for her troubled life. After he is confronted he is in denial and refuses to take any blame or responsibility for what happened “I can’t accept any responsibility if we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward”. This shows he only cares about himself and doesn’t see that he started it all off. He protects Sheila as he asks the inspector to leave her be but he wasn’t one to protect Eva and shows that even if the same events were to happen again he would still fire her. He doesn’t change his attitude or views, but reveals more of his anger at foolish behaviour of others, though he can’t see the bad side to his own. When Sheila shows her guilt and compassion for the situation, Mr Birling only cares about why he is being brought into it “Yes, yes. Horrid business, but I don’t understand why you should come here” This is after Sheila makes a heartfelt comment towards what she and her family have caused.
Sheila and Eric both react in a similar way, although Sheila seems the most affected out of the family as she can’t stop blaming herself, and not thinking about what the others have done. She grows as a person during the story and sees past Gerald’s deceitfulness and is able to cope with it. Her realisation of truth and honestly have an effect on her as she shows she is capable of learning her lesson and changing for the better. She responds to Eva as a person, not cheap labour, and is prepared to criticise her father, showing she has the potential. “How could I know what would happen afterwards? If she’d been some miserable, plan, little creature, I don’t suppose I’d have done it. But she was very pretty and looked as if she could take care of herself. I couldn’t be sorry for her” This shows that jealousy got the best of Sheila and she only judged Eva by her appearance and was unaware of her actions at the time. Eric shows a similar emotion, as he is shocked by the story and doesn’t agree with the action of his father sacking her. When he has to admit how he behaved towards her he has a stronger sense of guilt than the others because the consequences of what he did are much worse. Although Eric turns on his parents and has a drinking problem, we see past his troubled personality as he is much more impressive when it comes to taking responsibility and accepting the blame. Mrs Birling appears to then be partially hypocritical as she puts all the blame on the father, not realising it is Eric, and has a lack of understanding of how other people live, as she says snobbishly “a girl of that sort”. She refuses to accept how her actions are responsible for a link in the chain of events, evidently driving Eva to suicide; her actions have then ended in the loss of her own grandchild. Gerald Croft seems to be quite balanced; he seems to be guilty and shocked, but then takes Mr Birling’s side when talking about how to run his business and that he did the right thing. “Sorry – I – well, I’ve suddenly realised – taken it in properly – that she’s dead”. It is clear that it took a while for it to sink in that the woman he was very involved with was dead. We also see he knew her quite well and that she was special to him.
At the beginning of An Inspector Calls, we see that the family are all happy and merry, enjoying and celebrating Sheila and Gerald’s engagement. We see Sheila is quite bitter towards Gerald for him not being around, but we see a fickle side to her as she is upbeat and happy once she receives the ring she wants. This shows their world is very materialistic and at that time they were all very unaware of their actions, Sheila being the first to accept responsibility. Sheila is described as “a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited”. Early on in the play she is playful and rather self-centred, enjoying the attention and importance that her engagement is bringing her.
Mr Birling is very pleased about the engagement, as it means close links with the rival company owned by Gerald’s father. Mr Birling is particularly unaware of his actions as he makes a big optimistic speech about how the world will change for the better, and there will never be war. He also carries onto mention that a man should remain responsible for himself and never put someone before him, not even family and that they should ignore the ‘cranks’ – who claim everyone is responsible for other people. We see that Birling is oblivious to what he’s done before and even after he has been told. We see that the Inspector seems like he is just a mouthpiece for J.B Priestly and he is just there to bring out the blame and guilt in each character, even if it fails for some of them.
Gerald soon helps to prove that the Inspector was a fake, and him and Mr Birling act in the same way, as if they can carry on as if it never happened because they believe he wasn’t real, so neither was the situation. “Well if he wasn’t, it matters a devil of lot. Makes all the difference” Mr Birling believes that it doesn’t matter what they’ve done seeing as the man wasn’t an inspector, showing no remorse for Eva and no responsibility for his actions towards her. Sheila then bites back when she says it makes all the difference, she recognises they have all done wrong, she feels that he was their inspector whether he was a real policeman or not. He made it clear to them, what they had done and how acting irresponsibly can affect someone so harshly. “But if you don’t see, if all that’s come out tonight is true, then it doesn’t matter much who it was who made us confess” Gerald’s genuine remorse is soon lost when he is also caught up in the belief that the Inspector wasn’t real and that the Eva they knew didn’t die. He also suspects that they might not have known the same girl all along as he didn’t see the picture, and the no one knew if the Inspector used different pictures each time. Gerald acts like nothing has happened as well as Birling, he expects Sheila to accept the ring again, abandoning all thoughts from before and asserts that all is now well.
Once Mr Birling phones up to query whether the Inspector is real, and if a girl had died in the infirmary that evening, they find out that both were false statements. Birling takes the relief too far and rids his mind of all that had happened, even starting to joke about it facetiously when he mimics the Inspector “’You all helped to kill her’ And I wish you could have seen the look on your faces”. Once he realises Sheila and Eric don’t see the funniness in it, and they disrespect his attitude, he begins by saying to Mrs Birling “They just wont try to understand our position or to see the difference between a lot of stuff like this coming out in private and a downright public scandal” He is basically referring back to his reputation, and his social position and popularity. Dismissing what had happened to Eva, or what could have happened rather, being selfish and only seeing how his knighthood was at stake. Although he doesn’t take notice of his actions, he remembers the fact Eric stole money, and demands for it back. “You’ll stay here long enough to give me an account of that money you stole” but he’s okay to move on and go forward with the engagement.
Eric sees that his consequences were far more serious and worse as he managed to get the girl pregnant with no help, only stolen money which she couldn’t accept for long. “The fact remains that I did what I did. And mother did what she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her. It’s still the same rotten story whether its been told to a police inspector or somebody else” – Eric shares the same opinion as Sheila, saying it doesn’t matter who brought the shame out in them. “You’re beginning to pretend now that nothings really happened at all. And I can’t see it like that. This girls still dead, isn’t she?”
Sheila starts to be sarcastic when saying “I suppose we’re all nice people now”, she’s in disbelief how her parents are acting in such a way and feels as though they think that everything is okay.
I think that the Inspector seemed very confident, determined and calm. He never let his disagreement with the Birlings cause him to argue, and he kept good technique in bringing out the shame of everyone. He seemed to have a big effect on them all as Sheila says “We all started like that – so confident, so pleased with ourselves until he began asking us questions”. I see him as J.B Priestley in disguise, as he shares all of the author’s opinions and strength.
In the Inspector’s speech, he basically says even though Eva Smith is dead, and they’ve all done what they’ve done, there are still people of her class that are going through what she went through with the rich looking over them, over powering them. He says that everyone in the world counts and if they don’t learn from their own actions and gain responsibility then they will learn in “fire, blood and anguish” – in other words, in war and sufferance. “..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 don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other” I think that is a very effective part of the speech as he says the different class, and importance of people’s social position rules the lives of those who are less fortunate, as the rich own many business and have a higher quality life. They decide many rules and have many other rights and privileges that the poor don’t. Anything that they say or do affects the poor.
The Inspector’s speech affects the audience greatly as World War I and II both ended as Priestley wrote the play. The audience can understand how war is caused, and that everyone has their own importance so should be treated with the utmost respect, equally to any other human. They can see that the attitudes and behaviour such as those of power and wealth like the Birlings can all together cause death and conflict.
The fact they are there watching the play, as talented actors portray different beliefs and opinions, has a higher effect rather than a person reading the play. They are surrounded by tension and constantly filled with knowledge of the meaning of responsibility. Also, the setting is important in playing a part in the way the audience is affected, it can help to make a certain character stand out, or add a dramatic feeling to the air.
Music, sound and the way body language is used, and how the voice is projected are all important and helpful factors when watching a play, they offer much more and affect the individual, teaching them the moral of the story. If I was to direct the play during the final speech, I would make sure full attention was drawn to the Inspector. The stage would be in dark, but with a faint view of the other characters in a tableaux showing how they are affected by what they have done. For example, Eric can be in the middle of drinking port in a careless manner using it as a way to deal with his guilt, Mr and Mrs Birling can be stood together showing their own importance and ignorance to responsibility, Sheila can be stood sobbing, and Gerald could just be showing he isn’t as affected as the others, but stood comforting Sheila. A spotlight would be on the Inspector as he is stood in the centre front of the stage, with a front of confidence and knowledge, by standing up straight, using body language as he speaks, pausing between words as he says “..with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness” and he can raise his voice and use an aggressive but not scaring expression as he says “If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire, blood and anguish” I would also have soft sounds of string instruments which, as he talks about fire, blood and anguish, will gradually develop louder, without overpowering the Inspector’s voice.
This will help engage members of the audience as they can listen carefully to what the Inspector says, the tone and the instruments will help to add a serious and dramatic effect to what he says.
In the end, Eric and Sheila learn their lesson and the parents remain irresponsible and in denial. Mr Birling being more effected than Eric. Mrs Birling is only upset by the fact she’s discovered her son is an alcoholic and that she has lost her own grandchild. Mr Birling is only affected by the fact his son owes him money, as he stole for Eva Smith. Sheila and Eric accept responsibility; they do not feel that anything has happened to relieve their guilt. They realise the seriousness of their actions and have taken the inspector’s message to heart. They have an understanding that they need to change their behaviour in the future. Priestley’s uses these two characters as symbols of the hope for a better future in the younger generation. This is a great learning curve for the future of the younger generation as it is obvious they are more aware of other people’s feelings. Although they are more irresponsible with their actions, they are more willing and capable to learn from their lessons and other people’s mistakes. People in the audience also learn from it because they are able to understand how they should act towards other people. It is good they are left with a clear and positive understanding of responsibility and what the consequences can bring if they act without care.
