The Inspector is shown as a mysterious figure by suddenly turning up, unannounced in the middle of the Birling’s celebrations. Gerald later realises that the Inspector is a fraud, which causes the audience to wonder who he could be. The Inspector also asks unnecessary and personal questions such as “Why did you refuse Eva Smith a pay rise?” Mr Birling becomes suspicious and asks the Inspector to repeat his name and inquires how he gets on with the Chief Constable, an old friend of his. At the beginning of the play, I thought he was a real Inspector, but as the play unfolds, I found clues to show he was not a real Inspector.
At the very end of the play, the Birlings receive a telephone call from the police informing them of a suicide incident and that an Inspector will be calling to ask them questions. This makes the audience wonder how the Inspector knew about the suicide before it had happened, how did he discover the information, was he trying to warn them and were the events of the last couple of hours about to repeat themselves?
The audience are left to anticipate the outcome of the play because there is a pattern of events. The pattern is that whilst the Inspector questions one person, his or her answers link to someone else or reveals secrets, which forms a chain of events leading up to Eva Smith’s death. For example, Mr Birling is the first one in the line of inquiries and we then discover that he had employed Eva Smith, but he later discharged her because she organised a strike. Eva then went to work in a shop, where Sheila Birling complained about her and had her sacked. Another example is between Eric Birling and his mother, Mrs Birling. Eric leaves Eva when he discovers that she is pregnant and Eva then goes to Brumley Women’s Charity Organization to claim for assistance, unaware that it is Eric’s mother, Mrs Birling’s, committee.
Each act finishes on a moment of dramatic tension. At the end of Act 1, Shelia questions Gerald about how he knew Eva Smith and if he had an affair with her. Act 2 closes with Mrs Birling finding out about Eric being a drunk and the whole family discovering that Eva Smith was pregnant with Eric’s baby before she committed suicide. Act 3 ends with the family finding out that the Inspector was a fake, so perhaps they were not to blame for Eva Smith’s death after all. The play finally concludes with a telephone call from the police.
The “coup de theatre” happens at the end of the play when the Birling family realise that the Inspector was not real, so they cannot have contributed to Eva Smith’s death. They then receive a telephone call informing them of the suicide of a young women who had swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant and that an Inspector was on his way to question them.
Dramatic Irony is used by play writers to emphasise a message to their audience. It is when the audience know something that the characters do not. There are a few examples of dramatic irony in “An Inspector Calls”. One of them is when Mr Birling is talking to Gerald and Eric at the beginning of the play. Mr Birling first talks about the Kaiser and war. He says “Just because the Kaiser makes a speech … and begin talking nonsense … people say that war is inevitable. … I say – fiddlesticks!” This quote shows that Mr Birling does not think that we should go to war and does not agree with the Kaiser, but soon after the play was set, World War I started and then later, in 1939, World War II as well.
Another example is when Mr Birling is talking about the Titanic, which was due to sail the next week, in the play. Mr Birling says “… every luxury – and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.” This quote shows that Mr Birling thinks the Titanic is the best ship and that it is incapable of sinking. It also shows that he believes what other people say. As the audience, we know that the Titanic sunk on its first voyage.
The dramatic irony makes us feel in collusion with the writer because we agree with him. It also helps to create dramatic tension because we know what is going to happen in the future, but Mr Birling does not. This makes the audience tense because they cannot tell Mr Birling what is going to happen, so he cannot see how wrong he is.
The audience is usually aware of information before the characters on stage are. This is because as the Inspector asks questions, we find out about a different character. When that character is questioned, we know what the Inspector is going to make him or her confess.
The Birlings are symbols of the middle class in the play. Gerald Croft’s parents criticize them because the Birling family are in a lower class to them. The Inspector also criticizes them saying that they do not know each other well enough and that they have secrets, like Eric stealing money from Mr Birling, Eric getting Eva Smith pregnant and Gerald having an affair with Eva Smith while he was seeing Shelia.
The Middle class can get away with hypocrisy and snobbery, while the working class cannot succeed even if they are hard working and honest. This is simply because the middle class are higher up than the working class.
At the end of the play, before the Inspector leaves, he delivers a speech on the shared guilt and responsibility of Eva Smith’s death. He says, “But just remember this one. 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, with what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and in blood and anguish. Good Night.”
The Inspector succeeds in making the characters feel guilty for Eva Smith’s death because each of them feels responsible. At the end of his speech he talks about men being taught a lesson, this is the Inspector’s warning. The speech appeals to many people, regardless of their social class. The Inspector is trying to make them feel responsible for each other.
The Inspector’s speech makes the most impression on the younger generation because they are willing to listen, whereas the older generation are too stubborn with their attitudes to learn any lessons.
Mr Birling’s ideas about self-interest contrasts with the Inspector’s views. Before the Inspector calls, Mr Birling tells Gerald and Eric that “… a man has to make his own way – has to look after himself - and his family … these cranks talk and write … you’d think that everybody has to look after everybody else, as we are all mixed up together like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense.” This shows that the upper and middle classes were hardhearted people. By saying this, Mr Birling was trying to influence Gerald and Eric who are the younger generation.
Shelia and Eric, although being brother and sister, are very different. During the interview, Shelia tells the Inspector everything and she hides no secrets. Eric, however, does not open up until everyone knows his secrets. Shelia is also very clever, she can work things out and it is almost as if she is working with the Inspector. Eric however, comes across as not being very intelligent and a drunk who is irresponsible.
Priestly presents his ideas of hope for the future for the younger generation in Shelia and Eric’s genuine regret, even after finding out that the Inspector was a fraud.
The whole play is set in the Birling’s dining room and all the action stays inside and is continuous. Once the Inspector has finished questioning one person, another person enters the room or we find out more information about another character.
When the Inspector enters at the beginning of the play, he acts like a Police Inspector. He talks to Mr Birling calmly and as if he already knows him.
By the time the Inspector leaves, he has accused each family member of Eva Smith’s death. Before he exits, he gives a long moral speech, which he addresses to the upper and middle classes by talking about the working class and how everyone is responsible for each other.
The Inspector asks questions to one character which then leads to another character. For example, Mrs Birling turned Eva Smith down from her committee (Brumley Women’s Charity Organization), without knowing that Eva was pregnant with Eric Birling’s baby, Mrs Birling’s grandchild.
The Inspector only shows the photograph of Eva Smith to Mr Birling and Shelia, but not at the same time. Gerald, Eric and Mrs Birling do not see the photograph, this is because they knew her by name, but she had several different names. She was known to Gerald as Daisy Renton whereas, Eric knew her as Eva Smith and Mrs Birling said Eva Smith called herself Mrs Birling.
The audience is left to wonder why the Inspector has only shown this photograph to two people and whether or not it was the same photograph. This is another clue to the audience to show that he may not be a real Inspector.
“An Inspector Calls” has been a very successful play because it is enjoyable to watch. The play holds the audience’s attention because of the continuous action. The play today continues to be very popular and the moral or message Priestly tries to put across, treat people how you want to be treated, still applies to a modern audience.
