Later on in Act 5, Romeo kills himself. Unlike the audience, he was unaware that Juliet was merely in a deep sleep.
‘An Inspector Calls’ is set in 1912, two years before the First World War. However, it was written in 1945, just as the Second World War was ending. The play portrayed the complete opposite of what life was like after World War Two. The play is meant to show the audience the consequences of their actions. The message of the play is community and is a warning for the future. Quite a few members of the audience at the time the play was written would have lived through both wars, and so the play would be relevant to them – they would be able to recognise the way people felt in 1912 and their thoughts and opinions and they would also have hindsight and see that the way people behaved and their thoughts for the future were in many cases wrong.
During the Edwardian Period, King Edward VII reigned, however, his reign ended in 1910, two years before the play is set. It was King Edward VII’s successor George V who was on the throne during 1912.
During the Edwardian period, there was a huge bridge between social classes, there was no such thing as middle class, and high classes looked down on the lower social classes and barely thought of them as people as Mrs. Birling so often reminds us in the play:
‘Girls of that class – ’
Factories operated by charging high prices for their goods and paying minimal wages to their employees. In ‘An inspector calls’ we find out that this is exactly what Mr. Birling, a factory owner himself, is doing:
‘– for lower costs and higher prices.’
The Second World War meant that social classes had, in many cases, no choice but to mix and work together for the war effort. World War Two resulted in the British public wanting Britain to be a better place.
The Birling family is a wealthy family that is rich due to the fact Mr. Birling is a successful factory owner. He is an ex-lord mayor of Brumley and he is a local magistrate. He fancies himself as a ‘hard-headed business man’. He is rather a hard man, but he prides himself on being quite fair and reasonable. Mr. Birling only really values money and uses Sheila, his daughter, and her marriage to Gerald Croft, as a business deal to unite his business ‘Birling and Company’ with ‘Crofts Limited’:
“– And now you’ve brought us together, and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together –”
Mr. Birling seems to be more interested in the business opportunity that his daughter’s marriage will provide, rather than the happiness of his daughter. This is not to say that he does not love his daughter or that he does not show any interest in her marriage, it just seems that his business is his main priority. Mr. Birling is a social climber and this is another reason he is so keen on his daughter’s marriage to Gerald Croft, due to the fact the Crofts are of higher status than the Birlings. Mrs. Birling is also of a higher social status than Mr. Birling and she constantly has to remind him of the correct way to behave.
Mr. and Mrs. Birling have two children; Eric and Sheila. Both start the play being rather naive and Sheila seems to be very superficial. By the end of the play, however, both of them, unlike Mr. and Mrs. Birling, seem to have developed more of a conscience and are much more aware by the end of the play. Both Eric and Sheila seem to feel genuine remorse for the part they have played in Eva Smith’s death.
There are many examples of dramatic irony in the play, most of them occurring in Mr. Birling’s long speeches detailing his opinions on life and current issues. In many ways, the Birling family are very naive. At the beginning of the play, whilst congratulating Sheila and Gerald on their engagement, Mr. Birling mentions the fact that it is a very ‘good time ‘for them to marry. Unfortunately, the audience would know, that it is not as war is due to break out in two years and that Gerald will most likely have to leave and fight. Mr. Birling also mentions that the Titanic is just about to set sail:
‘New York in five days – and every luxury – and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.’
The audience however, would know that the Titanic did sink, killing one thousand, five hundred and seventeen people and leaving only seven hundred and six survivors. The titanic is also a great example of the bridge between social classes in 1912. First class passengers were given priority over second and third class passengers and out of the one thousand five hundred and seventeen deaths, only one hundred and thirty of them were first class passengers.
Like Mr. Birling, a vast majority of the British public did not believe that a war would break out:
‘A few scaremongers here making a fuss about nothing’
He also tells his family that ‘Germany does not want war’, when in fact, it was Germany who declared war in 1914. Mr. Birling also mentions a time of prosperity that is to come. The audience would know that this time never came.
Mrs. Birling is “about fifty, a rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior.”Mrs. Birling is Chairwoman of the Brumley woman’s charity organisation, yet she is very selective of whom she offers charity to and uses her power to get what she wants. We learn that Sheila, Mr. And Mrs. Birling’s daughter, has also been known to act in this way and it is this that involved her in the case of Eva Smith.
Like Mr. Birling, there is a lot of dramatic irony used in Mrs. Birling’s speeches. Mrs. Birling tells the inspector that;
‘We’ll be glad to tell you anything you want to know,
I don’t think we can help much’
However; it later transpires that every single member of the family had something to do with Eva Smith, including Mrs. Birling, even though she attempts to deny any responsibility. She tell the inspector that she ‘accept[s] no blame for it at all.’ She also tries to put all the blame on the father of Eva Smith’s child;
‘Secondly, I blame the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have.’
And so, unknowingly, makes the situation a whole lot worse for Eric, who is, in fact, the father of the child. Unfortunately for Mrs. Birling, everyone else already knows that Eric is the father, but Mrs. Birling goes on to say that the boy should be punished and made an example of. Sheila tries to stop her mother before it’s too late, but Mrs. Birling says ‘Be quiet, Sheila!’ and continues, oblivious to the situation.
The use of dramatic irony in this play is to teach valuable lessons. It makes the audience doubt the characters believes and values. In most cases, we can give a reasonably accurate judgement about each character from their first speech. As this play is written in hindsight, we know that Mr. Birling’s judgements about the future are inaccurate and therefore we start to question his reactions, beliefs and values. Priestly wants us to disagree with everything Mr. Birling stands for and to therefore realise that the way Mr. Birling and people in general acted in 1912 could not continue.
The Inspectors final speech concludes the play by telling the audience outright the point of the play and telling each member of the family that their views of life are inaccurate and need to change. He tells the Birling family that;
‘We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.’
The audience know that in two years, the inspector’s speech will be proven correct by the outbreak of war. They also know that the lesson was not learned and that the Second World War occurred, and even in the current day, the lesson has still not been learned.