An Inspector Calls" - The style of the play seems to be that of the straightforward detective thriller. To what extent is this statement true?"

Charlie Ward 25th January 2003

Post 1914 Drama – An Inspector Calls

“The style of the play seems to be that of the straightforward detective thriller. To what extent is this statement true?”

At the beginning of the play, J.B. Priestley gives a very elaborate and detailed amount of stage settings, lighting and character descriptions. These were so detailed as Priestley wanted the mood of the first scene to linger through out the whole play. For example "The general effect is substantial and heavily comfortable, but not cosy and home like." This was obviously taken in to account in the television production, as the extremely large table was the central point of the beginning. The size of the table showed that although the characters were a family, they were not close, not even to eat and celebrate with each other. The wealth of the family was portrayed extremely well in the television production. The set was authentic and traditional to the early twentieth century. The rich colours and costumes were excellent ways of showing the wealth of the characters. They were also portrayed very well to be pleased with themselves, just as in the stage direction at the beginning.

The stage production at the Victoria Theatre in Woking had an impressively sinister set, shrouded in smoke, which reflected the grim nature of the play’s subject matter. In this production the Birling household was situated high up on a platform, which reflects their arrogance and superiority over other people. Edna, the housemaid, is one of those people as she is considered below the Birlings. Her lower class characteristics are clear, because of the fact that she stays out of the house and outside in the rain while the Birlings celebrate, on a higher level than her.

Mr. Birling’s speeches at the beginning of the play in act one are very bombastic and are filled with dramatic irony – ‘The Titanic, unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’ – ‘Silly little war scares’. He is over and unrealistically optimistic about the future and prosperity of the world, ‘There’ll be peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere’. Priestley emphasises how out of touch Birling is by adding, ‘Russia will always be behind naturally’. Birling really knows nothing of world politics and the irony is that the Titanic sinks and very soon Russia will show it’s true political strength in 1914 when Britain is plunged into World War One. Yet, Mr. Birling believes himself to be ‘a hard-headed, practical man of business.’ What Priestley is trying to illustrate in these powerfully ironic speeches is his hatred for the businessman who is only interested in himself and making money. He doesn’t like the idea of everyone helping each other ‘Community and all that nonsense’. Birling’s feelings are summed up in the last sentence of his speech before the Inspector arrives, ‘A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own’.

The atmosphere changes dramatically the moment the inspector enters the scene. He claims that the Birling’s have something to do with the suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith. This death at the beginning is stereotypical of the genre because a detective thriller has to have an incident, usually a murder, for the rest of the play to build on. However, it is different in that An Inspector Calls does not involve a straightforward murder mystery because the death is a suicide. This makes the play more than just a detective thriller in itself because rather than trying to discover who committed the crime, the inspector is trying to reveal how the Birling’s contributed to Eva Smith’s death as part of a long chain of events. This means that that no crime has actually been committed – therefore there is also no physical punishment. However, the inspector is punishing the Birling’s mentally because he is adding to the guilt felt by most of the family by making them feel worse about it. This is unlike a standard detective thriller because a normal detective would ask straightforward questions, expecting straightforward answers. Inspector Goole however, opens up the character’s personalities with his questioning. He leads them to confront their own weaknesses, which makes some of them feel shocked and guilty. Others, such as Mr and Mrs Birling, try to remain unaffected by the inspector’s questioning. He does this confidently because he is very sure of his facts before he arrives. This confidence transmits to both the characters on the stage and the audience, but in different ways. His calm and experienced methods of making the characters admit their sins make them feel unsettled. This gives a feeling of dominance about the inspector’s presence, as he always seems to have a reply for any argument the Birling’s might challenge him with. All detectives in a detective thriller have these character traits.

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Mr Birling is annoyed by the Inspector’s ability to control the situation and does not like his actions being questioned as they are when concerning Eva Smith’s dismissal. The Inspector simply asks why he wouldn’t give her a rise in pay – ‘Why?’ ‘Did you say why?’ Birling also becomes agitated at the involvement of his family and in the middle of act one he says angrily ‘We were having a nice little family celebration tonight. And a nasty mess you’ve made of it now, haven’t you?’ the Inspector replies ‘That’s more or less what I was thinking earlier tonight, when I was in the Infirmary looking at what was left of Eva Smith. A nice little promising life there, I thought, and a nasty little mess somebody’s made of it’. The Inspector repeats words or phrases that Birling has used to increase the power of his own words, example of which can be seen in the above quote.

The inspector’s confidence has an impact on the audience as well as the characters. When the inspector makes any of the Birling’s feel uneasy with his unnerving stare or his challenging tone of voice the audience can sense his power. This element of his personality is portrayed well in the television production. The inspector has a relatively quiet voice, but still has a lot of authority in his performance. This helps him to become the good character in the play (the person the audience take sides with). In Priestley’s view, the person who represents socialism is the good character. This helps to persuade the audience to agree with Priestley’s theory that socialism is the right way for people to live. In contrast to the inspector in the television production, the inspector in the stage production has a very loud and commanding voice, and becomes very angry with Mr Birling, to the point where they nearly have a fight. The inspector in the stage production keeps the play moving at a very fast pace by talking loudly over Mr Birling and often losing his temper. The inspector from the television production always lets Mr Birling finish and rarely gives any signs of losing his cool or becoming informal.

The protagonist of the play is Eva Smith – although she is never actually seen. The victim of a murder in a typical detective thriller is usually a very important and rich person. The other characters in a normal detective thriller would notice that the victim had disappeared immediately. However, Eva Smith is portrayed as a meaningless person who nobody really knew – she has no friends, family or a job. Unless the inspector came to inform the Birling’s of her suicide they would probably have never known that she was gone. This adds greatly to the guilt of Sheila and Eric but once again, not Mr and Mrs Birling.

A straightforward detective thriller’s purpose is to entertain. An Inspector Calls is different because it has a moral purpose which teaches Priestley’s socialistic ideas. Inspector Goole, whether a real Inspector or not, is Priestley’s instrument for teaching the moral lesson in the play. Birling has to learn a lot but especially that his workers (and other people even if they are of a lower class), are still people with their own lives, and feelings. The most important lesson that the whole family needs to learn (along with the people sitting in the audience), is that every action has a consequence and you must take responsibility for those actions, therefore the consequences as well. This lesson is learnt well by the younger generation but not at all by the older generation, the Birling parents. Once the full extent of the situation is known then Birling thinks his conscience is clear and blames Eric, but as he reveals that ‘the Inspector took me by surprise’, his conscience obviously isn’t clear. Mrs. Birling delights in being ‘the only one who didn’t give in to him’, and misses the point completely. Gerald is non-committal as ever, but Sheila and Eric appreciate the irrelevance of the Inspector’s true identity. His comment ‘You see, we have to share something. If there’s nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt’, is understood by Sheila, but as the idea of community is still alien to the Birling parents, they cannot relate to it. Mr. and Mrs. Birling, represent the values of the Capitalist Empire that have refused to learn important lessons about collective responsibility.

‘We are members of one body, we are responsible for each other.’ This is a sentence taken from the inspector’s last speech and it sums up exactly what Priestly was trying to get across. The speech would have been performed in a very serious manner and with a commanding tone, spoken slowly and carefully so the audience would get the full, dramatic impact. This way Priestley’s aim would come across in a good way. ‘Good night.’ A polite and almost mocking final word to the family. Because of the Inspector’s discoveries, they cannot possibly have a ‘good’ night, but one that they will remember as probably one of the worst nights in their lives.

The inspector’s speech would provoke much discussion in the audience because of the powerful language used and because he left the scene directly after speaking. The audience would discuss amongst themselves whether or not they agree with the inspector’s speech. If they already do they probably feel quite pleased with themselves and if not they might feel guilty and ashamed.

This left the Birling’s subdued and wondering what the inspector’s speech really meant. This speech is unlike a detective thriller because the inspector probably gets too emotional, whereas a stereotypical detective would be a lot more formal. Another incident in the play where the inspector becomes too involved to be real is at the end of Act 2:

Inspector: "(very sternly) Her position now is that she lies with a burnt-out inside on a slab. (As Birling tries to protest, turns on him.) Don't stammer and yammer at me again, man. I'm losing all patience with you people. What did he Say?
Here the Inspector gets to emotional about such a small thing. A real police inspector would also treat Birling with more respect. Here is an extract where the Inspector treats Birling with disrespect; it is near the beginning of Act 2:

Sheila: (urgently, cutting in) 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.
Mrs B: I don't understand you. (To Inspector.) Do you?
Inspector: Yes. And she's right.
Mrs B: (haughtily) I beg your pardon!
Inspector: (very plainly) I said Yes-I do understand her. And she's right.
Mrs B: That, I consider to be a trifle impertinent, Inspector.

The penultimate twist in the play is near the end, when the Birling’s discover that the inspector was not a real inspector after all. This is obviously different to a typical detective thriller because the inspectors are just there to uncover the truth. In an inspector calls however, the inspector probably represents truth or justice as the voice of Priestley. Nobody knows about the inspector’s physical form but it is certain that he is teaching the audience about socialism.
J.B. Priestley became very interested in the fourth dimension and time. That is why the inspector may have gone back in time or there may have been a timeslip of some sort to make sure that these people knew what they had done. It was also a very clever the pun of the inspectors surname. ‘Goole´ could be linked with either fool or ghoul. Fool to show that the Birling’s and Gerald Croft were fools and ghoul because the inspector him self was actually one.

Priestly also included the seven deadly sins in the play. Mr Birling shows greed – he is always concerned with money and himself. This is evident in a quote from Act 3:

‘You must give me a list of those accounts. I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can.’

Birling is never willing to give any of his money away and he appears not to be reformed at the end of the play. He also commits envy because of his rivalry with Gerald’s father’s company – once again this is related to money. This is shown in Act 1:

‘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.’

Mr Birling commits the sin of pride because he believes that only his opinion counts and nothing else matters. He is also very arrogant about his status in society. This is apparent in Act 1:

‘Just let me finish, Eric. You’ve a lot to learn yet. And I’m talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business.’

Mrs Birling commits the sin of anger because she turned Eva Smith away when she most needed help for no good reason other than the fact that Eva wasn’t married whilst pregnant.

‘I didn’t like her manner. She’d impertinently made use of our name, though she pretended afterwards it just happened to be the first she thought of.’

Eric commits the sin of lust because he used Eva Smith for a short time and then left her with his baby.

Sheila commits the sin of pride because she used the power of her family name to fire Eva Smith from Milwards. This was out of envy because Eva laughed when Sheila tried on a dress that did not suit her. It looked attractive on Eva and Sheila was envious because of this:

‘She was the right type for it, just as I was the wrong type. She was a very pretty girl too – with big dark eyes – and that didn’t make it any better.’

Gerald commits the sin of lust because he had an affair with Eva while he was in a relationship with Sheila. He at least tried to help her for a while though, before ending the affair. Priestley’s use of the seven deadly sins in the play reiterates his message that if anybody does not follow his socialistic ideas they will be committing a sin.

The dramatic unities are the rules that were devised by the Greeks, the nation that developed drama, two thousand years ago. These unities are a guide to a successful play. There are three unities that make up the dramatic unities. The unity of time, the unity of place and the unity of theme. The unity of time is a guideline to the amount of stage time in a play. The suggestion is that all plays’ action should take no more than 24 hours. The unity of place is an indicator to the amount of different sites that should be included in one play. The guidance is that all the plays’ action should take place in one location. The unity of place is an instruction to the number of themes that should be included in a play. The advice is that all action should be concerned with one issue.

Priestley uses all three unities in ‘An Inspector Calls’. The use of the unity of time being one evening, the unity of place being the living room and the unity of theme being the enquiry of the girl’s death. The play is so effective due to Priestley keeping to these rules.

An Inspector calls uses many, if not all of the essentials for a detective story. The interrogation is the central part to the whole play, used to develop the plot and keep the story running. It creates the effects required of a detective story whilst teaching us something in the process. Priestley’s combination of reality and the extraordinary is ingenious and he uses valuable theories to help craft the detective story convention.

The audience came to J.B.Priestley’s play expecting to see a detective thriller. The play they saw showed no act of suicide and it contained no imprisonable offence. The plot was a moral lesson in the form of the Inspector trying to make the characters realise the error of their ways. As the Birling parents are only worried about what they told the ‘hoax’ Inspector, and how the information could affect their social status. J.B. Priestley adds the final twist to really teach them the lesson. A phone call, ‘the telephone rings sharply. There is a moment of complete silence. Birling goes to answer it’. Birling is thrown off for a moment. Instead of letting Edna the maid answer the phone for him, he picks it up. The one way telephone conversation adds to the tension. Birling says slowly that the Infirmary had called and that ‘a girl has just died – after swallowing some disinfectant. And a police inspector is on his way here – to ask some – questions’.

That is the very end of the play and the curtain falls. There is no conclusion or epilogue to round off the play. But that is what makes it so entertaining. There is mystery and a chance for the audience to make up their own minds about how the family will be able to cope with another inspector and all his questions. The characters are already exhausted, confused and emotionally drained, and although the audience can now relax and return to reality, there is a strong feeling that for the Birling family it is not over.

The powerful ending showing the recycling of events is about to begin, and the rest is left to the imagination. This makes Priestley’s play different to a usual detective thriller, and more educational and as well as entertaining, more thought provoking. That is the aim of the play; to affect the audience enough to make them think about their own lives fears, hopes, suffering and chances of happiness.

The play is hard-hitting on the audience, as there may well be people that can relate to the Birling parent’s status and therefore have to ask themselves how they would react in such a situation, (no matter how extreme it may seem). Questions arise, like ‘How would I have treated Eva Smith?’ ‘Would I have accepted the blame?’ ‘What are my beliefs on the subject of community?’ ‘Am I a Mr. Birling or an Inspector Goole in my beliefs?’ and ‘Has the world’s attitude changed at all from 1912, to this day?’ There are so many questions that are designed to help the audience to help themselves. Mr. Birling’s views are portrayed as wrong and the Inspector’s are right. So, if the world still hasn’t learned the valuable lesson, then it will be forced to learn it again and again and again in ‘fire and blood and anguish’ until it understands.