The number of women who were poor and in need of help was suggested by the existence of the Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation with which Mrs. Birling is involved, though in the story, Mrs. Birling tends to lack her job. Mrs. Birling is described as a ‘ rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior’. Her coldness makes her seem as if she is out of touch with what happens and what really matters.
Sheila Birling is described as ‘ a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited’. In the play Sheila is joining in with her family celebrating the happiness of the future couple, herself and Gerald Croft. The family are having a dinner party to rejoice the contentment of their daughter and their daughters imminent husband. In the beginning Sheila is really excited, whilst seeking all the attention from her family, and she is also aware of the exhilaration her engagement will bring her. Towards the end when she finds out the true hidden reality of Gerald’s life, she foolishly returns the engagement ring to Gerald before he leaves the house, just incase he decides not to come back. Even though she has foolish and selfish reactions towards Gerald’s response to the inspector, she has the potential to change and accept that she should at least appreciate her fiancé telling her and her family the truth.
Unlike his sister, Eric Birling is rather awkward, ‘ not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive’. Eric does not seem to have his father’s approval, although his father tries to meet the family with all their needs. Eric is seen as a very young boy, who tends to drink much more than the normal average a boy should drink. Though he is not a particularly pleasant character, we may feel that he has learnt a lesson from the major event that happened in the evening of celebration, he is sincerely ashamed of his behaviour and he shows to us that he is capable of changing for the better in the future.
Gerald Croft is the young man who will be getting engaged to Sheila Birling, up until the future calamity announces the legitimacy of his past life, which was meant to be personal. He is the son of the famous Sir George Croft. He is polite and tactful with Mr. and Mrs. Birling, and he has self- confidence with everyone around him no matter who they are. This is because when the inspector was asking him questions about the suicide of Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton, even though he kept quiet at first he did not hesitate to answer. Unlike Mr. Birling, Mrs. Birling and Eric.
‘ An Inspector Calls’ is a fast paced drama that consists of non- stop action and anticipation throughout all acts and scenes. Priestley presents this play to us with a sincerely felt and powerfully expressed social message. This is shown to us when comfortable family lifestyles, who have no worries what so ever, end up catastrophically.
The play shows us how wealthy people, no matter how rich they are, they will always be part of an independent community. This is shown to us when a so- called Inspector, identified as Inspector Goole, champions the cause of the poor, by trying to get the rich Birling family to accept the fact that all people share a common humanity.
Plays are performed, and the language used in the play tells us about the action that should be taking place. When reading a play we should be able to see the mood of the characters at the particular time. The language used reveals the character and sometimes there are times when what the characters says is in conflict with what the character does. In the play many of the characters reflect the hypocrisy which Priestley was condemning.
In the play the inspector is described as, ‘ creating an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.’ This is probably because the inspector grows as the stories of the characters are revealed. He remains solid and integral as each of them breaks down, and nothing the others do or say can distract him from his purpose.
In Act one the family are celebrating the happy engagement party, which is about to take place by having a dinner party. The evening is then interrupted by the arrival of a police inspector named Goole, making enquiries of a young woman who has committed a suicide. When Mr. Birling is shown the photograph, he admits that he knew the girl, and the last time he saw her was two years ago. He had sacked her for being one of the leaders of a strike for higher wages. When Sheila is shown a photograph she soon realizes that she had got the girl sacked from her job as a shop assistant, because of her ill temper and jealousy.
When the inspector mentions the girl changed her name from Eva Smith to Daisy Renton, Gerald’s reaction made it clear that he too had known the girl. By the end of the act, the inspector knows that each member of the family is clearly linked to the death of Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton.
In Act two, tension grows between Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft. Gerald admits that he once made Daisy Renton his mistress, but he had ended the affair some six months later. Sheila is quite angry with Gerald’s involvement with the young girl, yet she seems as if she has more respect for Gerald.
Whilst Eric is out of the room, Mrs. Birling admits that she too refused to help the poor girl when the girl turned to her organization for help. It is revealed that the girl was pregnant, and then there was a suspicion that Eric may be the father of that unborn child.
In Act three, Eric confesses that he knew the girl quite well. He also admits that he stole money from his dad’s office to support the girl with her needs. Eric is horrified when he finds out that his mother did not help the girl and the unborn child.
“ You killed them both damn you- damn you.”
Finally after the inspector has done his job he gives the family a lecture to show how irresponsible every member of the family is, and how each and every person is liable for the girl’s death. This speech has a dramatic power of any sense in which a detective strips away the layers of evidence to reveal the guilty party, but then Priestley produces further twists and turns leading to the final telephone call which leaves us guessing once again. The realism of the play, it’s realistic set and realistic incidents, is reinforced by the realism of the language in the speech made by the inspector. There is a clear approach to the dialogue, but because the speech is grammatically correct, it does not imitate the true patterns of every day speech. This means that the language used by the inspector is like a sermon than the evidence of a policeman.
Later on Gerald and Mr. Birling are able to prove that the inspector was not a real inspector. This brings them in doubt whether they were all speaking about the same girl. They phone the infirmary to check whether a girl had died by swallowing strong disinfectants, and there was a negative reply. They all feel a greater sense of relief. At this point the phone rings, and the police had called in to report that a girl had just recently died by actually consuming concentrated antiseptics. The play ends when the police say that they are on their way to make enquiries.
All this had caused the family a lot of predicaments. The family made it hard upon themselves to accept true reality. Towards this Sheila and Eric acknowledged the message, the inspector tried to put across and they also tried to persuade the elders into accepting the precision. Even though accepting the truth hurts, telling the truth will always solve any problem or difficulty that unwillingly occurred, no matter how vast and widespread the situation is.
In Act two, Sheila tries to persuade her mum into telling the truth by saying:
“ You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do, then the inspector will just break it down. And it’ll be worse when he does.”
“ Mother, you must have known.”
“ Mother I think it was cruel and vile.”
John Priestley makes this play very effective, as each person shares and confesses their guilt. Due to this the relationship in the family strengthens, and the faith between them grows powerful. When the play progresses in each act, the characters face more advanced problems that defined the theme of morality. Morality is an element of this play, because through the inspector, the characters reveal their guilt. This play conforms to the three unities of the well- made play. This means that all the action is focused on the story- line, that there is only one setting and that the time of action on stage is identical to the real time that the action takes. Priestley uses the conventions of the well- made play to build up the sense of mystery and suspense. This is done in the way that in the first act, the characters are steadily introduced and on each entrance or exit highlights there is a dramatic moment. Several scenes in turn reveal secrets, and at the end of each act there is a build to a tense and climatic instant.
The older characters in the play hide behind them an appearance of respectability, which had no genuine sense of principles. The inspector tries to point out to us that what happens in the family, and how each individual shows injustice to one another. The suspense built up by Priestley gradually brings up the mysterious and prophetic aspects of the inspectors distinctiveness.
The play is well written because love and time are one of the major themes. The nature of love is interpreted in different ways. The true love between Sheila and Gerald is shown when they find out that trust is essential in a loving relationship. Like Gerald, Eric was also involved with the girl that died in agony by drinking strong disinfectants. Yet both of the two boys deny that they ever loved her, which means that their relationship was prompted by physical attractions.
J.B Priestley’s use of time is a component to his play. This tells us that in the play loyalty is more enhanced than time itself. Priestley tries to put across that truth doesn’t take up too much of ones time. All this heartbreak, which happens in one night, portrays the constituent of time to us.
I conclude my essay, again by saying that I agree with the fact that ‘ An Inspector Calls’ is a well- made play because of the competent themes of trust, morality, love, responsibility and suspense that give the play an accurate outline of an emotional and touching story. The fast pace of the story has an effect on us because the inspector comes for enquiry before the event actually takes place. This tells us how particular characters are given a chance to change the harsh consequences in the future.
At the end of the play we are left with a total sense of that the dealings of the suicide are going to start again. This is because when the Birling family received a phone call from the police at the infirmary, in the last part of the last act, we are left thinking that when a real inspector comes to question the family, they will be more enthusiastic on telling the truth.
To make the play more successful Priestly made use of irony and sarcasm. For instance we could say that when Sheila tells Gerald to tell the truth about the girl, Gerald says,
“ Thanks. You’re going to be a great help, I can see.” This sentence that Gerald said to Sheila was simply ironic because Sheila wasn’t helping Gerald to escape from the guilt, but instead she was helping Gerald to admit the truth and take part in the guilt. Like Gerald the inspector also used irony in the play. Clearly in act one we can see that the inspector copied the words “ very awkward” from Mr. Birling. When the inspector copied these words he echoed them, this tells us that the inspector may be agreeing with Arthur, but as we read on we come to find out that the inspector is hinting out to us that what is going to happen in the future will be very awkward. This means that the inspector will show the Birling family of how accountable they are for what they did to the girl.
In the play, when the inspector is talking to each individual character, the audience sees this as if the inspector is talking to us. The theatrical irony here is that we have to ask ourselves, whether we are in a position to judge what has happened when we are probably as guilty of acting irresponsibly and unkindly as anyone on stage. This irony strengthens the audience’s feelings that Priestley’s type of socialism is not about politics but about caring and loving. The play represents this love in a variety of thoughts, the nature of love and different peoples interpretations of love.
Most of the play’s success depends upon the dramatic irony which Priestley creates. We see this in the mistaken view that Mr. Birling has about the future. Arthur thinks that his family will get away with everything but his faith in technology and belief in peace misleads him. From here we can see that man’s responsibility can be wrong and that a man cannot always be responsible for the family’s actions.
Overall I think that the play ‘ An Inspector Calls’ is a play more directed for all the audience than the characters in the play and on stage itself. ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a tender story that shows us how people have to face severe impenetrability’s at times, in order to learn and understand correct temperaments and the distinctive of a person you essentially love.