question the next character. For example, when the Inspector is telling Eric to
stay in the house because he might be ‘needed’ later on (see page 22). He is very forceful
in his approach towards each of the characters in turn.
At the beginning of the play, the Birling family is joyfully celebrating Sheila Birling’s
engagement to Gerald, a man from a high class, wealthy family. The arrival of the
Inspector immediately creates dramatic tension and dampens everyone’s mood in the Birling
household. In the production of the play that I recently saw at the Garrick Theatre, as soon as the Inspector first arrives at the Birling household, all lights are dimmed and the atmosphere immediately thickens. This exaggerates that the presence of an Inspector creates tension between members of the Birling family and the Inspector himself, and the audience are immediately drawn into the play. Before the Inspector arrives at the Birling household, the atmosphere is very lively and bright, and it is when he actually enters the room that we begin to see the mood of the Birlings become more sombre.
The actual arrival of the Inspector is the trigger that causes the whole of the Birling family
to examine their consciences. Each character already has a guilty conscience for not treating
Eva Birling with as much respect as they might have done with someone of the same wealth
and status.
The Inspector starts by questioning Mr Birling as to how he knew Eva Smith and what his
role in her suicide had been. Mr Birling is a very pompous man, who is proud
of the life he leads. As the Inspector delves deeper into his past experiences with Eva
Smith, it is obvious that Mr Birling becomes more uncomfortable with the situation.
He doesn’t like the fact that the Inspector has made him see his error in how he has treated Eva Smith so he tries to avoid the whole tricky situation. The Inspector is able to make Gerald and each member of the Birling family see how they each played a part in ruining Eva Smith’s life.
Priestley’s idea for the Inspector in the play is not only to impel the characters to examine
their consciences but also to make them examine their true character.
This is not only evident with Mr Birling, but also with Mrs Birling.. At the beginning of the play, we see her as a truly glamorous
woman, whose attitude and air are those of a very high class lady. She tells her story to the
Inspector and refuses to accept any guilty feeling towards her dismissal of Eva Smith at the
Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation. She is determined to stick to her views
and is prejudiced against the lower class. However, the Inspector continues to pursue asking
her questions, such as, ‘You admit being prejudiced against her case?’ and, ‘Was it or was it
not your influence? ’. This seems to have an effect on Mrs Birling as she becomes more
agitated, and the audience can see the change from being a strong, self-righteous character, to being a powerless and cowardly one. The Inspector has gradually been able to get all the characters to
admit what they’ve done, such as when the Inspector says to Sheila, ‘Well, Miss Birling?’ and to this Sheila replies, ‘You knew it was me all along, didn’t you?’. However, before, each character had been stubborn and had refused to tell the Inspector anything about their relationships with Eva Birling, due to his forceful approach. He has subtly drawn each member of the family into his web.
The Inspector has a huge effect on the audience in many different ways, both during and after
the play. At the beginning of the play, as mentioned in the prompts, he comes across as a typical Inspector-wearing a, ‘Plain dark suit if that period’. He is very much involved in each character in turn and seems to have no involvement with the audience. But he gradually becomes more and more aware of the involvement of the audience in the play, and a strong link is formed between the Inspector, Sheila and the audience. This is because the audience and Sheila, along with the Inspector, see how each member of the Birling family’s relationship with Eva Smith connects together with one another before the characters see it themselves. The Inspector manages to get through to Sheila and to Eric, because as soon as the Inspector leaves, and Gerald finds out that he had not actually been a real Inspector, Mr and Mrs Birling go back to how things were before he arrived. They act as though nothing had changed. But Sheila and Eric see that he had been a figment of their conscience and although no one actually died, they could have because of the Birling’s careless attitude towards a lower class girl. However, Priestley may have been trying to get the point across that even though the Inspector taught the older characters nothing about examining their conscience, that didn’t matter because if the youth of today does, then that will be passed on to the next generation, and the next, and so on.
The Inspector leads the audience on. He gradually lets out secrets about the family’s past with
Eva Smith, and doesn’t immediately say what each member of the family’s part in the inquiry
is. This creates a dramatic atmosphere as the audience are willing both the Inspector and the
characters to admit what really happened. They are eager to find out. He doesn’t just hold
back the audiences knowledge of what happened, but also holds back the family’s. He waits
for each member of the family to become so frustrated with persistant questions from him that
they admit what happened themselves. The moment of waiting creates a tense yet exciting
atmosphere for the audience, as they wait to hear more details of the Birling’s sordid past.
From the moment the Inspector arrives on the scene of ‘An Inspector calls’, a kind of mystery
surrounds his presence. The first mysterious thing that we hear of about the Inspector is his
name. Inspector ‘Goole’ immediately suggests that he has a ghost-like presence. A ghost
is something that we tend to associate with the dead and with the past, so this is a hint to the
audience as to what he might be ‘calling’ about.
The last speech that the Inspector makes (p.g.56) is very moralistic. He uses the first person in a plural way, to suggest that he is involving everyone around him when he is making this speech. He is advising the Birling’s on how to act on their consciences and be a better person for it in the future.
Although he is personally speaking to the Birling’s, the speech can also be seen as a moral to
all people reading or watching the play. He uses words that relate to everyone, such as ‘hopes,
fears and suffering’, which everyone experiences at some point in their lives. In the version of
the play that I saw, the Inspector turned and faced the audience when making this speech. He
took very long pauses in between sentences to allow the audience to digest and think about
what he has just said. He is doing this to allow the audience to understand that what he is
directing to the Birling’s, he is saying and meaning to people in general.
