The reason why I chose the key scene between Mrs. Birling and Inspector Goole in Act 2 from the line “If you bear me pressure to bear upon me, you’re quite mistaken. P44 to “Mother- I begged and begged you to stop” P49 is because of the combination of high drama and emotion of this scene. The main character in scene two is Mrs. Birling. It is clear from the start of the play that Mrs.Birling is not a character that we will like; she is portrayed as being cold and snobbish. She is obviously from a higher class background than she husband and she knows it. Like Mr. Birling, she exhibits a smug self-satisfaction and it is clear that she is very clear pleased with herself and her own importance. She shows a complete lack of understanding of her children or the world around. It seems that she has never really listened to or understood her children. Her son, Eric, says of her “you don’t understand anything. You never did. You never... even tried.”
She likes to think that she know what is going on, and the fact that she is “a prominent member of the Brumley Woman’s clarity Organisation” shows how she like to feel important and feed on her ego.
Some of the characters in this scene are probably seen at their most vunerable. Sheila Birling quickly realises the ‘trap’ the Inspector is leading her mother into with his line of questioning to the audience. Sheila has changed since the beginning of the play and now can be seen as genuinely remorseful and does not seem to have learnt a lesson. Sheila is honest She realises the effect that her actions have had on somebody else; she sees the error of her ways and tries to accept responsibility for what she did.
Mr. Birling is a public figure in Brumley and obsessed with status in community. When his good name is threatened he’s terrified and says that he would give thousands to avoid a public scandal. Arthur Birling is arrogant and selfish throughout the whole play. He uses his arrogance to show his contempt for lower class people such as Eva Smith. As the play progresses, Mr. Birling becomes weaker, and begins to lose his self confidence after the arrival of the Inspector.
He was also a very arrogant character who only cares about himself and nothing else.
Whereas the character of the Inspector is quite threatening. . The way he operates may appear casual and spontaneous, but in fact it’s single-minded and manipulative.
Another point to make is the Inspector appearance is misleading. As the staging directions tell us that he creates an impression of massiveness, firmness and purposefulness. However he’s described as; in his 50’s and dressed in a “plain, darkish suit of the period”. He doesn’t seem really intimidating. Nevertheless he has a habit of looking hard at the person he is interrogating before he starts to speak, also he doesn’t make any jokes, thus leading to everyone to take him seriously. He controls the rate at which the shameful secrets are confessed. These were just the techniques that were required to let everyone acknowledge the responsibility for their own actions.
I have strong views on the way each character should look. For instance Sheila should be wearing white to symbolize her purity and virginity. This is because of her personality which at the beginning of the play is seen as she’s snobbish, egoistic and self-confident but as the play progresses nice, honest and responsible she likes to change herself and feels remorse.
J.B. Priestly wrote “An Inspector Calls” during one week in 1945. He was a Yorkshire man who lived from 1894 to 1984. The play seems to be about the key conflicts taking place in the English society in 1945. He expresses many of the playwright’s views about the class system, politics and responsibility et cetera. J.B. Priestly seems to express all this views through the inspector. I believe the characteristics Priestly used for the Inspector, which include aggressive, a moral tone and a use of emotive languages kept the play mysterious all the way through. For example; The Inspectors “Calling” is quit ominous. Because “Calls” is a misleading word to use about the Inspector. The way he operates may appear casual and spontaneous, but in fact it’s single-minded and manipulative.