An Inspector Calls' has been described as a play of social criticism. What is being criticised?

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An Inspector Calls’ has been described as a play of social criticism.  What is being criticised?

The play is set in Edwardian England and aims to expose the social criticisms of the time. Just before World War 1, with the Titanic, an apparently unsinkable ship, ready to set sail, on her first voyage in a few weeks, which as we now know, did actually sink. This possibly showing the upper class’ arrogance, that they were far superior to any other person.

The play begins with the Birlings’ celebrating the engagement of Sheila their daughter, to a wealthy young man, Gerald Croft.  The Birlings’ appear to be a reasonably joyful family but they are so involved in themselves that they fail to notice that anything that is going on around them until an inspector calls.  Inspector Goole cleverly visits the family while they are celebrating the engagement in a cheerful mood.  This could signify that the upper classes are too busy having a good time and not thinking about the rest of the world, that they have to be brought back to reality by something ‘horrible’ happening; in this case, the death of Eva Smith, a working-class girl.  This demonstrates that Priestly is criticising the upper classes for being too involved with themselves to care about other people.

One of the most obvious points that Priestly criticises about us as humans, is that everyone wants to pass the blame onto other people, which is mirrored by the Birlings’ who all pass the blame for Eva’s death onto someone else when they are questioned. They all make actions without thinking, but then start to regret it.

The first person to start off Eva Smith’s cycle of misfortune was Mr. Birling, when he sacked Eva from her job at his factory because she lead a group of girls who asked for a pay rise.  Mr. Birling told the Inspector, ‘Eva Smith was one of them.  She’d had a lot to say – far too much – so she had to go.’ This shows how expendable Mr Birling thinks, that his workers are in his power to do as he says and it is his ‘duty’ to get rid of the workers that cause trouble, or potentially start something that may osculate into something far worse.  Mr. Birling’s attitude demonstrates perfectly how selfish, and unsympathetic the upper class at the time were.  Even though he has more plenty of money, Mr. Birling still tries to keep the running costs of the factory down and obviously doesn’t place much value on the workers he employees.  He was selfish by trying to keep money within the family.

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Priestly criticises this aspect of human nature, that we ‘can’t accept any responsibility’ for other people, or for our own mistakes.  Although Mr Birling says that he cannot accept responsibility, he seems to know that it is perfectly possible that he does hold some responsibility.  He says,  ‘If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward.’

After being sacked, Eva got a job at Milwards, but also got fired from there. After an encounter with Mr. Birling’s daughter; Sheila.  Shelia was jealous of how pretty Eva ...

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