‘MR.BIRLING: We employers at last are coming together to see that our interests- and the interests of Capital- are properly protected. And we’re in for a time of steadily increasing prosperity.’
Mr.Birling is only concerned about his family’s loving and respectable façade breaking. He is purely concerned about his business and the increase in material profit. This also shows us just how reluctant the older generation are to change in relation to a communist society. They are too entrenched in their own traditional ways to modify how they treat others and their views towards others. It demonstrates how egotistical the older generation are compared to the younger generation who are more easily transformed. Shiela and Eric reflect hope of the younger generation in 1912.
“MR.BIRLING: I’ll admit now he gave me a bit of a scare at the time. But I’d a special reason for not wanting any public scandal just now. (Has his drink now, and raises his glass.)”
Nevertheless, Shiela and Eric were not always so angelic. At the beginning of the play Shiela and Eric are shown to be selfish individuals who follow examples set by the older generation. Shiela was portrayed as frivolous and self-centred;
“SHIELA: When I was looking at myself in the mirror I caught sight of her smiling at the assistant, and I was furious with her!”
Priestley proves to us at the end of the play that transformation in the younger generation has occurred by revealing their acceptance of responsibilities for their actions. Both Sheila and Eric hurt Eva Smith in some way. Shiela was the second member of the family to come in contact wit Eva Smith. Shiela was jealous of Eva Smith’s beauty and sacked her from her stable job at ‘Milwards.’ Eric hurt Eva Smith by using her. Nonetheless, we are shown they have repented in many ways;
“SHEILA: No, not really. It was my own fault! All right Gerald, you needn’t look at me like that. At least I’m trying to tell the truth.”
The play could end at two places; Priestley is intentionally relieving the characters and audience with the news of Eva Smith’s false death, shown when Gerald is given information from the infirmary informing us there was not a death. This could be the first ending and the tension is dispersed which is followed by a moment of anti-climax. The Inspector is thought of as being a fraud and this sets the Birlings up for a fall, particularly Mr.Birling. We want Mr.Birling to change his attitude from arrogant to selfless and altruistic, and may speculate a twist in the play. Mr.Birling does not seem to have been affected by the visit of the Inspector as he converts back to the family’s celebratory mood found at the beginning of the play; ‘(triumphantly) there we are! Proof positive!’’ He is seen offering Gerald a drink which proves to us just how ineffective the Inspector’s message of a fairer community has been towards him; ‘(he smiles at them all) Gerald, have a drink!’ Mr.Birling is a part of the older generation and has therefore been brought up to think egotistically, however, the Inspector has come to teach him that this view on life is wrong.
“BIRLING: No, for being so offensive about it. I’m a public man-
INSPECTOR: Public men, Mr.Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges!”
Due to warnings hinted from Sheila, we may realise something is about to happen which could make the older Birlings repent for their actions towards Eva Smith;
“SHEILA: The worse part is. But you’re forgetting one thing I still can’t forget. Everything we said had happened really had happened. If it didn’t end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done.”
Sheila and Eric are both quick to notice the sudden change in atmosphere once the family has realised it was all a ‘hoax’. However, they are displeased with their parent’s response and rebel to prove to their actions towards Eva Smith was immoral and deeds should take responsibility. Here, the devide between the older and younger generation grows larger. The younger and older generation are seen to be arguing which suggests a sign of change to the younger group;
“SHEILA (tensely) I want to get out of this. It frightens me the way you talk.
BIRLING (heartily) Nonsense! You’ll have a good laugh over it yet.”
Mr.Birling is quick to reassure and remind them of his ‘one-man for himself’ philosophy. Nevertheless when explaining his theory, at the end of the play, he is interrupted by a sharp telephone call. This is echoing the interruptive door bell found at the beginning of the play. This door bell also disrupts Mr.Birling’s first explanation of his selfish philosophy;
“-That a man has to look after his own business and look after himself and his own – and- we hear the sharp ring of a front door bell.”
This is deliberately repeated at the end of the play, to give it a circular feeling. It is to show that events are about to repeat themselves. This is important as Ouspensky’s theory on time gives the older generation a second chance to change. Ouspensky’s Philosophy is about to be refuted and imposed on by the Inspector, who, is Priestley’s mouthpiece. He is here to convey socialist ideals of equality between classes and prove Mr.Birling’s philosophy is morally wrong. The disruption of the bells gives the play a sense of beginning; then the ringing of the telephone also provides the play with an end. It increases the tension with sharp sounds and indicates a sudden and unexpected shift of events.
Irony has a huge impact on the tension in this scene. It is shown through the older Birlings and Gerald who believe they know best yet, they know nothing at all. Priestley pokes fun at how little the older Birlings truthfully know. He satirises their narrow-minded thoughts and speech. In fact, Priestley presents them as ignorant and blinkered;
‘BIRLING: Why a friend of mine went over this new liner last week- the Titanic- she sails next week-forty six thousand eight hundred tons – forty six thousand eight hundred tons- New York in five days- and every luxury- and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable!’
However, irony is also used to demonstrate Mr.Birling’s mockery of the younger generation who have been taught to follow the self-centred way of life. They should accept that no change in the world is possible or necessary according to Mr.Birling;
“BIRLING (pointing to Eric and Sheila) Now look at the pair of them- the famous younger generation who know it all. And they can’t even take a joke-“
Here we clearly witness Mr.Birling’s cynical and sarcastic tone of voice. He is convinced that he is correct, and the younger generation should recognize that they cannot do anything to alter that.
‘BIRLING: We can’t let these Bernard Shaws and H.G Wellses do all the talking. We hard-headed practical business men must say something sometime. And we don’t guess- we’ve had experience- and we know.’
At the end of the scene Mr.Birling is proved wrong when an incoming call from the Police station reveals that Eva Smith really has died. This provides Mr.Birling with another chance to change his views and his self- absorbed principles and thoughts towards people and the world;
“BIRLING-- That was the police. A girl had just died- on her way to the infirmary-“
Just before the Inspector leaves he gives us a lengthy speech for these are his final words and therefore need to be his most powerful;
‘INSPECTOR: But remember this. One Eva Smith has gone- but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives and what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body.’
This authoritative speech helps enforce Priestley’s message for the last time and also builds tension for the end of the play. As the Inspector’s departure was inevitable we speculate another dramatic event in the play, however as the play doesn’t end there Priestley thwarts our expectations. Yet no-one could deduct that the Birlings would be made to live through the whole examination again. The language used in this final speech is very dramatic and powerful, this is to prove to people how striking and enhancing the results of being uncaring can be. The inspector’s function in the play is not to provoke guilt but to inspire understanding. Guilt is not the interesting emotion, what Priestley is making appeal to the audience is how the Inspector helps the Birlings to achieve an emotional understanding of who they are.
“INSPECTOR- if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.”
This very imposing message is reminiscent of the biblical image of hell and how society will be tortured if the world does not change. It may also be referring to the war which was about to start. This relates to the Inspectors message as he describes blood and anguish. These two words are highly related to war. However, the consequence is related to evil and devilish acts. The play could end here, but to increase ironic tension the play unexpectingly carries on. By allowing three of the characters (Mr and Mrs.Birling, and Gerald) to avoid the truth and once more contradict themselves, shows them as selfish and hypocritical. This tension building speech made by the Inspector makes Priestley’s message more forcible. The Inspector’s final speech is more than a statement. It is also a question which is asked of each member of the audience. There is no hint of the question in the words of the speech but it is clear who the message is directed at.
Looking at the final scene we can detect that Priestley uses double irony. The fact that we are still just as hypocritical as the characters on stage shows just how alike we are to the Birlings. We are not in the position to judge the Birlings as we may have previously acted like them and we, ourselves have flaws. It is human nature to be self-interested. As we begin to understand that the Inspector has been talking to us too, we notice Priestley’s urge for us to change alongside the characters.
By the end of the play we are left to contemplate by ourselves. The Inspector is portrayed as some kind of ghost from the future. As the audience leaves the theatre they are given the chance to finish the play as it is left as a cliff-hanger. Will the characters act differently and learn from their mistakes? By ending with a cliff hanger it also gives us a second chance to learn from the Inspectors message and to change. We are made aware of the multiplicity of future possibilities arising out of the present. He is telling us that what ever happens to us at present is prearranged by our past and present. The characters are offered a chance to improve themselves and their view on life and can therefore change things for the better. Using time as a key feature in the play makes caring for others feelings and the development of a sense of moral and social liability more important. At the same time a mystical, unreal atmosphere is made, which gives the characters actions a greater significance than they might otherwise have had. The theme of time is also used in more of Priestley’s plays, including “I Have Been Here Before” and “Time and the Conways.”
What happens to the characters following their discovery of the fraud Inspector is left to the audience to decide. If they have understood the Inspectors message which Priestley has given to him to tell, then they will obviously change their view on life, although if they are still too blind to see how life isn’t about themselves, then Priestley’s didactic message was clearly not portrayed powerfully enough. We are left to imagine that the next time round three of the characters will behave in precisely the same way again, but that Sheila and Eric may have learnt enough to change their actions for the better. The curtain is drawn and the dramatic tension still remains, this allows the audience to consult their moral consciences along wit the Birlings.
The ending of the play is extremely powerful allowing the audience to make up their own mind and let them use their imagination and therefore reflect on their own lives. At first, the audience may be confused, perhaps this is because the play has ended extremely abruptly, however the reason for this extreme finish will all be made clear to the audience when they are forced to think deeper about the message portrayed throughout the play. Consequently they are given time to look at their own life. Dramatic tension is built up immensely in the final scene through characters, their actions and their personalities. The play contains many hints of Priestley’s message but this is finally concluded at the end of the play.
Priestley believed that 1945 was “probably the most crucial period in domestic British politics this century” maybe this is the reason why he decided to make a play so powerful and directed to change. “An Inspector Calls” may have been written with an immediate political purpose which was to encourage a Labour victory in the 1945 general election. The play may have been set in the past but its purpose was to look to the future, arguing strongly for a more positive society.