Priestley uses this social class for his play not only because it is the centre of his negative social and political attitudes, but also because this is his intended audience. Every playwright knows that the one way to secure his or her audience’s interests is by making characters which the audience can relate to.
The play begins in “the dinning-room of a fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous manufacturer.” The reader is told that “the general effect is substantial and heavily comfortable, but not cosy and homelike.” The lighting also has in important part in setting the scene, according to the stage directions, “the lighting should be pink and intimate until the inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder.” This symbolizes a lot of clandestine affairs which are uncovered when the inspector arrives. The Birlings are shown to live in luxury, with good quality solid furniture, including a table laid with champagne glasses, port glasses and cigars. The overall effect is that of a lavish life.
Mr. Birling is the exact representation of the stereotype that exists among people of lower classes regarding men of the upper class, and so most of Priestley’s criticism of the elite is shown through Birling’s character. He is a businessman concerned only with profit and social status. In his speech about Gerald’s engagement to his daughter, he states: “Your engagement to Sheila means a tremendous lot to me.” (Act 1, pg 4) He further adds: “Your father and I have been friendly rivals in business for some time now – though Crofts Limited are both older and bigger than Birling and Company – and now you’ve brought us together, and perhaps we can look forward to time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but working together – for lower costs and higher prices.” (Act 1, pg 4) Here, Priestly shows that even on such an important occasion, money is Birling’s main concern.
One very important aspect of the play that Priestly emphasizes on is to make sure that his audience knows that whatever he says about the Birlings, he refers to the whole upper class. He does this by making his characters use expressions and speak about topics that would only be common among the elite. He makes reference to such terms as port, a wine whose knowledge is a sign of the elite.
Priestley’s playing with time is shown with time when Birling shows his sheer pomposity as he talks about issues, as if he were a connoisseur. He disregards all the reports he has heard of war: “The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war, except some half-civilised folks in the Balkans.” (Act 1, pg 6) This leads to an awkward situation on the set. Birling speaks very self-confidently, but the audience know he is wrong as the Second World War has already ended. The audience is shown that Birling’s attitude is wrong and he is portrayed as an ignorant fool. Priestley is showing how ignorance and narrow-mindedness can be the greatest causes of suffering.
Later in Act 1, when Birling is left alone with Gerald, Priestley emphasizes tremendously on the importance of social status to the elite, and comments on the egocentricity of the upper class. Birling is worried that his social status isn’t high enough for Gerald to be marrying his daughter. He says: “I have an idea that your mother – Lady Croft – while she doesn’t object to my girl – feels you might have done better for yourself socially.” (Act 1, pg 7) He adds that he might be on the next honours list and achieve knighthood. This dialogue highlights how members of the upper-class are greatly concerned with marrying into circles of social elitists, and illustrates the upper class’s indifference of significant issues like love and happiness. By making Birling’s character so infatuated with social status and his own prosperity, Priestly is showing the antithesis of his beliefs.
As soon as the inspector enters the play, the atmosphere totally changes. From the very second he walks in the inspector grips the audience and the other characters with his cold stare and blunt attitude. When Birling starts name dropping trying to make his social status known, the inspector ignores his comments.
When the inspector speaks of Eva Smith’s horrible death, Eric is shocked whereas Birling appears to be indifferent and wants to carry on with his lovely evening. He says: “Yes, yes. Horrible business. But I don’t understand why you should come here, Inspector –.” (Act 1, pg 11) Birling despises the fact that the inspector possesses more power than he does.
Birling tries to relieve himself of any responsibility for Eva’s suicide saying that something which occurred two years ago couldn’t have had caused such an ordeal. The clarification of this point is Priestley’s main objective with “An Inspector Calls.” The inspector, who represents Priestley’s views, then says: “Because what happened to her then may have determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events.” Again we see Priestley’s playing with time. He wants us to be conscious of our actions and their repercussions.
This has the effect of conveying both a political and social message. It tells the audience that when they are doing something that may affect someone, it can affect their lives even to a grave extent. While poor political decisions can lead to wars, poor social decisions can end with tragedies such as the suicide of Eva Smith.
We learn that Eva Smith was fired form Mr. Birling’s factory as she asked for higher rates of pay. In his defence, Mr. Birling says: “Well, it’s my duty to keep 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.” (Act 1, pg 14) Again greed and egocentricity is shown among the higher class. Birling says he had to come down sharp or else they would have been asking the Earth. To this the inspector replies: “They might. But after all it’s better to ask for the Earth than to take it.” (Act 1, pg 15) Here Priestley is bluntly expressing his anger at the exploitation of the poor by the rich.
At its simplest, “An Inspector Calls” is just another moral story, no different from Aesop’s Fables. Priestley is trying to teach his audience that individualism and narcissism are one of the greatest evils. He wants us to be aware that our actions today immensely affect events tomorrow.
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