The play is set around a table in the dinning room of an up market Brumbly, where a so-called inspector disturbs a celebration. According to the inspector a murder has taken place and as the play progresses it turns out there are a number of reasons and people to blame for the death of this girl. Every one in the celebration reacts differently. For example Mr. Birling saw what he had done as a decent move for his business. However when he needed a way out resulted in using bribes such as ‘would you like a glass of brandy inspector’ or to sly threats such as ‘how do you get on with col. Roberts’. In conclusion to his questioning said he had no direct link to the murder and said ‘I can’t except responsibility’. If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d have anything to do with it, it would be very awkward. Mrs. Birling was very defensive and refused to admit she had done any thing wrong, her exact words were unlike the other three, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong, I consider I did my duty’. When it came down to it though she took no responsibility and blamed it all on the father of the child. Sheila was very disturbed at what she had done and was upset and repeatedly says ‘I was angry any other day I wouldn’t have reacted like I did’. She insists that they shouldn’t ignore this problem and that ‘slowly together we’ve all caused her death’. Sheila is willing to take responsibility and accept her responsibility.
Eric feels he is to blame and it isn’t made easier on him when his mother unknowingly tries to unload the blame onto the father which to her surprise was Eric. Eric for a large portion of the play is out walking in a desperate attempt to avoid the consequences which await him at his home. When it comes down to having to tell the truth he needs an alcoholic beverage meaning that his perspective he can’t cope with what he has committed. In the end Eric can see he is the end of a disfunctional community, which has led to disaster and is mature enough to admit what he has done, which is ironic since his mother treats him like a child.
Gerald is startled by the news instantly which is portrayed in the tone of his voice as he realises who the victim is. At first he is hesitant to accept any connections to her but as the play proceeds the inspector slowly breaks him down and he takes responsibility and admits to his entire affair.
At that moment Sheila is treated on the same adolescent level as Gerald and an equal to him in their relationship, this signifies a break in tradition, which has tried to be maintained throughout the play. This slowly deteriorates as a tradition along with the images of socially, economically and politically correct which all characters attempt to portray. However the inspector allows arguing and bickering between the characters revealing and exposing the cracks in their less than perfect images. You can tell from the way that the characters react that most of them are so caught up in their own opinions and views that they fail to be a functional member of society. A view given across is that being disfunctional can have ultimate effects such as killing another person within that community.
In some ways they give off the impression that they are of a higher quality and can treat people who stand underneath them in wealth as if they are below them in importance. As a result of this responsibility can’t be blamed on them and that the lower class were expected to only be capable of being unable to make something of themselves. Some quotes used to get this point across were ‘have you any idea what happened to her after that? Get into trouble? Go on the streets?’ which was said by Mr. Birling the ‘hardheaded businessman’ as he described himself. This could play a big part because if you can’t or don’t relate with other people within your community, there is a breach in communication. It is very important this doesn’t occur within society because if only one group of the community is making the decisions its not always best for the other existing groups. This was a strong message and idea that I noticed J B Priestly was trying to get across but also that in a perfect society groups wouldn’t just confer but there would be no groups just one sufficiently working society that didn’t judge on physical things owned. There is a responsibility to give to society as society contributes to your well being.
Tension is able to hit a climax when needed because all the questionings and reactions from the characters are unique meaning that the play its self remains and acts in the form of a play whilst expressing serious issues. The play structure has a large relevance to a roller coaster; always up and down from the characters perspective emotionally but all the time the characters language is proving the points that J B Priestly wants to illustrate. This is how J B Priestly presents issues and the reasons why they exist to the audience, which is through questions and answers. E.g. the inspector says ‘was it the girls fault’ and Sheila replied ‘No not really. It was my own fault’ meaning that she had got someone fired without thinking of the consequences and knock on effects to come and that she had just used some one beneath her like a toy to relieve herself of stress.
I personally think it is a remarkably clever way of presenting the reasons behind problems in society, because what better way of hearing evidence than from the culprits themselves, in this case the culprits are the upper class. My only criticisms is that the ‘upper class’ aren’t entirely to blame in general and that a larger range of so called classes needed to be involved in the play in order to explore and express societies situation in more depth.
The play can relate to different people in the ordinance on all different levels and is almost a warning that you can’t predict the future. For example Mr. Birling thought that there was ‘to much to lose to for a war to happen’ it applies with knock on effects as well. However you can’t separate yourself from society because you need it to exist, and you have a certain responsibility within society, everywhere and everyone is part of some society, which can have a great effect on peoples lives and lifestyles. Society shouldn’t be taken for granted.
I think that this play if it were performed as it was originally written would not be relevant the modern day audience. Simply because the class system doesn’t exist to the same importance as it did when the play was first performed, but now more than ever society and community is needed because of some recent historical events related to terrorist attacks and other major social faults. If the theme was altered but the messages were the same with the same tension and impact as the original it would succeed in relating its messages.
