Arthur Birling shows his arrogance at the start of the play, with several speeches he delivers. For example, when he claims that the “Great War” will never happen and the Titanic is “unsinkable”. The audience know are not accurate statements and no doubt will be troubled by Arthur Birling’s attitude. Birling’s speech establishes the theme of the complacent capitalist. His remarks to Gerald reveal the play’s central theme: “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.” There is then a knock at the door and the Inspector, a Mr. ‘Goole,’ is announced. Mr. Birling thinks highly of himself, so he feels that he has no part whatsoever in the suicide of this young lady. However, the Inspector quickly erases his negative attitude when he shows him a picture of the girl in question. Birling is soon reduced to admitting everything the Inspector asks of him. Feeling offended, Arthur Birling starts to get annoyed at Inspector Goole’s attitude and his approach to the situation. This is shown when Birling replies to Inspectors question with, “Did you say ‘Why’?” Mr. Birling involvement with Eva was a business associated one. Birling was the girl’s boss. After a holiday in August 1910 Eva and some of her colleagues went on strike, ‘and they suddenly decided to ask for more money.” He went on to say they were already being paid the standard rates for England. So as the strike completed, he located the ringleaders, one of them being Ms Eva Smith. He then asked her and the others to leave and that was the last she saw of her. She was out of work for the next two months. Both her parents were dead which meant she had no home to go back to.
Priestley uses many techniques to make the drama more effective for the audience. The stage directions indicate very precisely for example that the lighting should change from “pink and soft” to “brighter and harder” on the arrival on the inspector. This suggests that the respectability of the family is going to be stripped away and their secrets will be exposed. The fact that the lighting changes show what a massive impact the entrance of the inspector has. He instantly creates an impression of great importance.
The doorbell is used as a sound effect. This is dramatically effective because the shrill, sharp sound of the doorbell warns the Birlings that their cocoon of intimacy is under attack. By using this stage direction, he is trying to show that anyone, no matter what size, can have as socialistic impact on those higher up class. Gerald claims that ‘we’re respectable citizens not criminals’ To whom the Inspector replies ‘Sometimes there isn’t as much difference as you think’. We are all part of civilization and we need to share problems and difficulties, good fortune and relief. We need to accept some quantity of liability for others.
Just as the Inspector enters, Gerald tells Birling that the Inspector may be visiting the Birlings because ‘Eric’s been up to something’. Eric feels ‘uneasy’ about this and this suggests that he may have something to hide. Priestly builds up tension before the inspector even arrives on stage. He has created a sense of false security in the peaceful dinner party. This keeps the spectators on their toes.
Eva Smith represents every working class woman in England. The inspector has a concrete motive to leave the stage just before the curtain falls. It gives Sheila time to get the truth out of Gerald. Giving the inspector the final word of the act is dramatic and gives the audience a lot to anticipate. The inspector is proficient at getting people to condemn themselves. He gets Gerald to propose that young women should be ‘protected against unpleasant and disturbing things’ and then says, ‘Well, we know one young woman who wasn’t, don’t we?’ The inspector’s role as some sort of mystic, all-knowing power is toughened when he explains to Gerald why Sheila wishes to stay to hear his declaration of guilt. His comment ‘If nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt’ has universal significance and is not limited to the immediate concerns of the family.
Sheila’s approval of the inspector’s power grows in the final Act. She seems to perceive his super-human qualities when she says to him, ‘I don’t understand you.’ The inspector’s observation to Mrs. Birling about young people: ‘They’re more impressionable’, adds weight to the audiences feelings that the old can learn from the young to improve their attitudes. Sheila says to Eric, ‘But we really must stop these silly pretences’. Priestly is saying that we all tend to hide our weaknesses from ourselves. The audience is supposed to feel that it is not only the Birling family which is on trial. This reveals a lot concerning the attitudes of the men about town from this social class.
In conclusion, I feel that the message of the playwright is still relevant to society today. The playwright changes the audience’s opinion of the Birlings, by using the Inspector to voice his concerns. I also get the feeling inspector Goole is a ghost hence, the term ‘ghoul’ – some sort of super- human who has the best opinion.
