Sheila appears to be excited and shows off her ring saying “I think it’s perfect.” (p.5). She seems vain, as if she is more interested in her ring than what is happening in her relationship with Gerald.
Eric arouses suspicion with his strange guffaw, which indicates he may know something about Gerald's mysterious absence during the previous summer. “ERIC suddenly guffaws. His parents look at him.” (p.3). This is backed up when Eric breaks off mid-comment and refuses to continue his point about women's clothing by saying eagerly “Yes, I remember – (but he checks himself)… nothing.” (p.9) and we realise that Eric has something to conceal. This suggests that he will have an important role later on in the story.
The exposition in “An Inspector Calls” can be considered to fill the criteria which a well-made play requires. The opening serves as an introduction to the play giving information on the main characters, background, context and the themes and ideas of the play. Sheila makes the comment about a change in Gerald from last summer when she says he “...never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you.” (p.3) which suggests that Gerald was distant, giving us background information on Gerald’s previous behaviour. Gerald says “You seem to be a nice well-behaved family-” (p.8) which suggests that they are polite and follow the rules of society.
The exposition draws the audience into the play when Birling seems to be carrying on a conversation with Gerald. In this way there is a sense of the characters having known each other for a while and that the audience is being brought into the relationship before something is about to happen.
Relationships are quickly introduced to help the audience when Sheila addresses Mrs Birling with “Yes, go on, Mummy!” (p.2) Gerald’s position in the group is revealed when he says that he insists “…upon being one of the family now.” (p.3). He wants to belong in a family that follows the social rules of their society.
Sheila shows her annoyance with Gerald when she says “…that’s what you say.” (p.3).
Birling looks upon the engagement of the couple as a business transaction when he says “…perhaps we may look forward to a time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing...” (p.4).
There is much talk of the problems in society when Birling discusses “ …the miners … out on strike” (p.6) and that he was concerned only with “ …the interests of Capital -” (p.6).
Themes of play
This creates tension in the play because the audience is being made aware that while on the surface a party is going on, there is a threat to the security of the family. This is further discussed when Birling says “… you’ll hear some people say that war’s inevitable”. (p.6). This is dramatical irony in its self, as just after the play was set, the first world war had broken out. This is a strange approach showing that Birling has little faith in society changing and working around the problems it has.
The exposition has created the atmosphere of happy family life for the middle classes but has also introduced an undercurrent of insecurity with the mention of strikes and a war. The audience is being drawn in to the play because of the suspense.
To raise the tension and suspense in the play, entrances and exits are well timed. When Inspector Goole enters it combines with Edna leaving. This created a space for the character of the Inspector who was descried in the text as creating “ …an impression of massiveness,” (p.11). This ensures that the Inspector is noticed and you know this character will be important in the play.
The Inspector calmly describes the death of the young woman. He produces a photograph of the woman who had been an employee of Birling’s, her name was said to be Eva Smith. The Inspector controls who sees the photograph..
When asked why he dismissed Eva Smith for asking for a relatively modest wage increase, Birling tries to defend himself by citing financial reasons. He is surprised when the Inspector asks why he refused the increase as he is sure the Inspector will agree with him.
Birling again shows his disregard for other people when he says that if Eva Smith did not like working at his company she could “…go and work somewhere else - it‘s a free country.” (p.?). This view is undermined when Eric points out that ”it isn‘t if you can‘t work somewhere else
As the Inspector‘s interviews with the other characters, Birling becomes more and more agitated and stage directions to describe his mood such as “bothered, angrily and sharply” (p.?) show that he is not in a good frame of mind. He appears to be slowly learning his lesson but is getting very angry as he sees that all he believes in is wrong.
As he discovers the revelations about Eric‘s theft of the money he becomes more and more desperate, and just before the Inspector‘s departure he says he will give ”thousands• to keep the story quiet. Birling is told by the Inspector that he is “offering the money at the wrong time” meaning he should have given Eva the pay rise. Eva Smith will make him pay “a heavy price” (p.?) in terms of emotion, not money. This will effect him for the rest of his life.
After the Inspector‘s departure, Birling admits that he has “learnt a lot” (p.?) from his visit. However, he immediately singles out Eric as “the one I blame for this [the scandal]” (p.?) so he still seems to have little notion of community as he should, if he had learnt anything, be saying “we‘re the ones to blame for this incident”. Instead he seems to be shifting blame from himself.
You can see that as soon as the characters begin to construct doubts about the legitimacy of the Inspector he tries to find a way out of his predicament. As the story unravels he becomes “excited” (p.?) on discovering that the Inspector is not real and soon he has managed to put the whole episode out of his head, despite protests from Eric and Sheila who try to tell him that “you still haven‘t learnt anything.” (p.?) which shows that the younger generation has learnt from the incident, but the older generation is just stubborn.
Birling is far more concerned about what may happen if the news comes out in public than whatever he did to Eva Smith and makes fun of Eric and Sheila for “not being able to take a joke.” (p.?). However, the phone call he receives at the end of the play is not at all funny to him as it is a real Inspector wanting to question the family about a young girls death. This time it has happened.
At the beginning of Act 2 the inspector stands in the door way before coming into the room and leaving the door open behind him demanding an answer from Gerald when he asks “Well?” (p.27). Gerald and Sheila are arguing while the Inspector remains calm and tries to find the culprit.
What is dramatic about this entrance?
At the beginning of Act 3 the door is again used as a prop when Eric enters with everybody watching him. His return at the beginning of Act 3 is greeted with fury by Birling, who bitterly tells him that “you‘re the one I blame for this” (p.?) and is joined by Mrs Birling, who is “also ashamed” (p.?) of him. This throws Eric into a wild rage in which he shouts at his mother for turning help away from Eva Smith when she needed it most. Birling dismisses Eric as a “hysterical young fool” (p.?) and I think that Eric feels hurt by these comments and events.
The Inspector finally leaves after making a speech about how society should be, before making an abrupt exit when he stated “We are members of one body … responsible for each other.” (p.56).
The “obligatory scene” in “An Inspector Calls” is when the secret is revealed. This happens when Sheila finds out about Gerald’s affair. This adds to the tension and drama between Gerald and Sheila. “You not only knew her but you knew her very well.” (p.26). Gerald fought back with “I don’t come into this suicide business.” (p.26). Sheila realised that Gerald had been lying to her and that was the reason why he “…hardly came near…” (p.26) her last year.
After Gerald’s confession Sheila tells the family that they are all responsible in different ways for the way the girl ended up dead. The audience is drawn into the drama because of the battle going on between Sheila and Gerald and the way Sheila turns on her family and they wait to see what will happen next.
The climatic curtain in the play is one of the major features. It is when an act ends in tension and is also a highly dramatic moment. In Act I Sheila and Gerald argue about the affair. The inspector ends the argument by saying “Well?” (p.26) so that when the curtain is closed at the end of Act I – the audience is left wondering what is going to happen between Gerald and the Inspector. At the end of Act II - Mrs. Birling has made it quite clear that the man responsible for Eva’s pregnancy, should be made to take full responsibility. At the end of the scene she realizes that the man responsible for Eva’s condition is Eric.
The end of Act II is dramatic for the audience because Eric has just entered and they are left wondering what will happen to him next. What makes it more interesting is that the audience knows something about Eric that he is as yet unaware of, that is that his mother has discovered that he committed an irresponsible act with the girl who was now dead.
Mrs. Birling had also mistake someone’s identity as she didn’t release that Eric was the man who was responsible for Eva’s pregnancy until he has just returned home an the inspector has just been told by Mrs. Birling that the man who made Eva pregnant was responsible. It had not occurred to Mrs Birling that her son may be responsible.
Mistaken identity also occurs in the mix up of Eva’s name. Eva Smith was also known as Daisy Renton. Daisy changed her name when she changed jobs.
When Mrs Birling is questioned on her conduct in regard to not giving Eva Smith/Daisy Renton any charitable money, she is still unsympathetic towards her, saying “…she only had herself to blame.” (p.?). She still maintains that she has “…done nothing that I am ashamed of.” (p.?) even though the Inspector warns her that she will “…spend the rest of her life regretting what you have done.” (p.?).
Finally, she states that, “…you have no power to change my mind.” (p.?) showing that she has learnt nothing from the interview. She tries to shift blame onto others by blaming Eva and the young man who was the father of the baby. She does not want the blame landed on her.
The plot in this play focuses around a girl, Eva, who has killed herself and her baby because she was rejected from many places. The person that everyone talks about never actually appears in the play but it is her history that brings out the true characters of the cast.
The inspector is brought in to question people about the death of the girl. His role is to reveal the true personalities and of the characters through their past lives. He is an intelligent man who socially engineers answers from people by revealing a little of what he knows but always remaining in control of the situation and waiting for the characters to give themselves away. Complications arise such as Eric’s affair with Eva. This is brought out by the Inspector questioning people about events.
Crises are placed at certain intervals to give maximum effect such as when Mrs. Birling tells the inspector the man responsible for Eva’s pregnancy should be held “…entirely responsible…” (p.48) for her death. It turns out that Eric is responsible and he returns home just as Mrs. Birling realises that he was to blame and she realises what she had said. The tension is built so that the audience goes through her pain at the thought that her son was responsible for the pregnancy and the death of Eva.
Although Sheila appeared vain and silly at the beginning of the play, her character developed into a woman who reprimanded her whole family for the way they treated Eva. She became strong and in control of the situation. This was much different to the beginning of the play when she vainly showed off her ring.
Eric’s character seemed to play a very minor part but it was through this that the revelation about his actions of making Eva pregnant was so shocking to the audience and he became a focal point. He had played a minor role at the beginning of the play but this had developed within the play as events were revealed through the inspector.
In the plot of An Inspector Calls, the characters respond to the message that they are given by the Inspector in different ways. Sheila and Eric fully understand the idea that, as the Inspector says, “We all live as one body. We don‘t live alone” (p.?) and unsuccessful try to persuade their parents of the merits of this arguments. Birling and Mrs Birling stubbornly cling to their beliefs and Gerald also comes out on their side, although this could be a result of him trying to make the elder Birlings happy with himself.
The dénouement in “An Inspector Calls” is the ending. The ending in the play happens when they find that the man who had questioned them was not a real Inspector. They all celebrate, because nobody will be punished as it was not a real incident. Their relief does not last long because they receive a phone call from a real Inspector telling them that a young girl has been found to have committed suicide and that he is coming to question them about the incident. The story ends on a climatic note as the characters stare “…guiltily and dumbfounded…” (p.72). The audience is left to wonder what will happen after the curtain has come down.
Cultural and social attitudes of the time the play is set in are prevalent in An Inspector Calls. There is a marked difference between the attitudes of the attitudes and values of the older characters in the play and the younger ones.
This ending for a well designed play should be plausable and logical. I believe that this play is both. In summary, An Inspector Calls details the differing attitudes of the Birling family to the events leading to Eva Smith‘s death and how they accept the responsibility for their actions. The older characters are too rigid to change but the younger ones are able to see their faults and accept what they have done is wrong. The differing attitudes between the older and younger characters are shown by their conversations following the Inspector‘s departure.
Cultural and social attitudes of the time the play is set in are prevalent in An Inspector Calls. There is a marked difference between the attitudes of the attitudes and values of the older characters in the play and the younger ones.
The play also reflects various cultural, social and historical, which reflect on the time both in which the play is set in and when it was written. As well as teaching a moral lesson about community, An Inspector Calls reflects many of the historical, social and cultural attitudes that were prevalent both in the time the play was set (1912) and the time in which it was written (1944). In this way the play is Priestly‘s comment on the values of that period.
