J B Priestly uses the characters Eric and Sheila to expose the moral bankruptcy of the Birling family by making the characters speak out first about their deeds which led Eva smith to commit suicide and they realise that there family is trouble after the incident. Eric Birling was associated with Eva due to his relationship with her. Sheila Birling is one of the more sensitive characters in Priestly's play as she becomes fully aware of her responsibility and despite her parents she is prepared to change her selfish ways
Eric, her brother also understands who the inspector is and why he came. He is less formal than the others; he drinks and appears somewhat preoccupied with his own problems. Priestly uses Eric and Sheila to make the Birling family understand what they have done and take responsibility. The Inspector's conviction treats the family of their moral blindness and quite literally opens their eyes to make them see light into what they all have done. At the beginning Eric and Sheila are trying to defend their family but Sheila is always a good character throughout the story. One thing that can be said in Sheila's favour is that she actually seems to care that this girl has died. Despite the fact that Eva Smith is from the working classes, Sheila still cares. Even Eric and Gerald do not seem to care about the fact that a girl has died; until they realize who she is. Eric and Sheila both know that they were wrong to do such things to Eva. When Sheila later returns to the room, Priestly says in his stage directions that she ‘looks as if she’s been crying’. This shows that Sheila has very deep feelings on her involvement with Eva
Throughout the story the character of the Inspector tells us that it is wrong to live a lie, yet in the end he is nothing but one big lie himself. This says a very important thing about Priestly's socialist message. It is not who delivers the message that is important but the message itself. the respect for the Inspector seems to grow throughout the play until at times Sheila seems to assume the role of the Inspector when he is not there, questioning and interrogating the rest of the characters in his absence. This gets Priestly's socialist message across by saying that people can and are allowed to change
I feel that Priestly presents the social issues of the Edwardian period in 'An Inspector Calls' through the characters. There are many places in the play where the social issues can be seen. Eric can be seen to be drawing a comparison between the Upper class owners, and the lower class workers. Eric can see the comparison between Mr Birling trying to do the best for them, and the workers doing the same for themselves and their families. Mr Birling won't allow these sentiments, however, and sees them as a bad attitude
Edna is the maid of house. Priestly shows that the higher class kept maids. He shows us the poorer people of the country. She can be said to be very lucky as she has a place to live unlike many people. It is very unlikely that she would have got much to eat even they were having a celebration.
One of the themes of ‘An Inspector Calls’ was Pride. The play shows that pride is only what people make and that pride is rooted only in shallow soil that can easily be upturned. People's pride, as show by Mr Birling, can take the better of them and make it all a fantasy, a life that they want to life the pride they want to have, not what they actually have. Also, what things that they have to be proud about, in Mr Birling's case, him being the town mayor years ago in the play, are exaggerated and therefore lose their 'value'. The more that this point is mentioned by him or by his wife, the more that the people around him get annoyed and the more people, and the audience, can see how shallow he is and where his morals lie.
Another theme of the pay is Women. at that time women were seen as being delicate, fragile and obedient to their husbands or fathers. Mrs. Birling is a middle class woman of considerable influence, involved in good works, considered a suitable occupation for a lady in society. Women of higher classes did not work, but did only charitable work. This was seen as acceptable as it was a caring role that fitted with the idealized Victorian view, still held then, of women as mothers and carers.
Sheila follows this path by not working, the only occupation mentioned which she does is shopping. Priestly is using this theme in the play to get the message out of women roles.
Act 3 has more qualities than the other acts. In this act everything is revealed as it is the act where the Birling family finds out that the Inspector is a fake and that all the things that were said must be false. But the family still don’t understand that they have done wrong. Also the family is relieved that their name will be still known for good reason and nothing will happen to them by this accusation as it all was false. But the family still don’t see sense except Sheila who knows that the family had done wrong but they are just forgetting about it. Also the Inspector tries to make Mrs. Birling see the connection between herself and Eva. He says, "You've had children. You must have known what she was feeling". Mrs. Birling, thinking that she is of the upper class and incomparable to people such as Eva Smith, dismisses this as rude and offensive. He also says, "I've thought that it would do us all a bit of good if sometimes we tried to put ourselves in place of these young women counting their pennies in their dingy little back bedrooms." Clearly, the Inspector believes that we are all the same as he tries to suggest that the Birling’s put themselves in the shoes of those less fortunate.
Overall the story affected me in some ways. I was appalled by the irresponsibility’s shown by the Birling’s as they refused to take any blame after they found out that the inspector was a false.
