there had not been any suicide at the infirmary, it further serves to heighten the
mystery surrounding the Inspector. As a resullt, the audience is left in awe, it was
up to them to decide who (what) the Inspector was.
The two main characters in the play are Arthur and Sheila Birling, both of
whom have contrasting attitudes towards Inspector Goole. The character of Arthur
Birling is that of a wealthy business men, he is described as being, ''...a heavy-
looking rather potentous man in his middle fifties...'' Throughout the play Arthur is
portrayed as a very ignorant and self important man. One factor which conveys his
thoughts and attitudes, is the silly predictions Arthur makes in the beginning of the
play. These include the Titanic not sinking and the chances of WW1 not taking
place. However, as the audience already attained the knowledge of Arthurs
predictions as false assumptions, they are displayed with a character who lacks
knowledge and understanding of his surroundings. Due to his ignorance Arthur believes
nothing can go wrong within his family. In due course, when the Inspector arrives,
Arthur Birling assumes it maybe something concerning him, as this quote proves,
''I'm still on the bench. It may be something about a warrent''. This implicates how
shallow and narrow minded the character of Arthur Birling is. When Mr Birling
realises the real reason of the Inspectors visit, he becomes very angry and
frustrated. Arthur was scared of losing his place in the next honours list, even
though he was not yet appointed this place. For example, when the Inspector asked
why Arthur refused to increase his worker's pay, he replied, ''Well inspector, I
don't see that it's any concern of yours, how I choose to run my business. Is it
now?'' This quote shows that Arthur was not ready to co-operate with the inspector.
Again we see his selfish and ignorant behaviour, through his sheer attitudes of the
terror of losing his assumed place of honours.
The character of Arthur Birling remained consistent throughout the play.
He was moved to anger by the inspector and was not effected by being confronted
with the effects of his actions, until the inspectors departure. Mr Birlings main
worry was that whether there will be a scandal or not. So when Gerald returns with
the news that Inspector Goole is not a real police inspector and that they have been
tricked , Mr Birling laughs at what he perceives to be a hoax. Arthur wanted to get
back to their celebrations, his character was relieved that their connections with Eva
Smith were not out in the open. In this case, Arthur did not show any consideration
towards the fact that he could have had a part in ending someone's life. This shows
that his character remained unchanged by the evening's events, and conveys a selfish
personality.
Sheila, however, is moved to tears of shock and guilt. The inspector is
successful in making Sheila see the consequence of her actions, which he failed to do
with her father. Her characters transformation from naive innocence to a more
mature and understanding nature is seen as gradual progress through the play. For
example in this quote Sheila is questioning her father's behaviour who is pretending
that nothing has happened, ''So nothing really happened. So there's nothing to be
sorry for, nothing to learn. We can all go on behaving just as we did.'' Sheila at
this instant was trying to persuade her father the message that the inspector was
trying to convey, and that even if the inspector did not exist everyone can still learn
something from the evening's events. This is a huge change in the attitudes of
Sheila, as she also played a part in the suicide of Eva Smith. Priestley was
successful in clearly portraying to the audience the contrast Sheila represents to the
attitude of her father's. While Arthur Birling sees the funny side of things and
wants to get back to what they were doing, Sheila is shocked by her parents
behaviour and remains disturbed by what Inspector Goole has revealed about them
all.
The stage settings is a crucial factor that influences a certain mood that
you are trying to create. In this case I will set the stage in the following manner to
ensure that the audience feels the tension in the last scene of this play.
At the beginning of the play, the characters Mrs Birling, Mr Birling, Gerald,
Sheila and Eric will be seated around the large dining room table. The lighting should
be soft and intimate this will help to reinforce the initially relaxed mood as they are
having a family celebration. In addition, there should be a soft background melody to
influence the 'rose tinted' mood that is being created. There after, with the
inspector's arrival, lighting should become brighter and harsher as this is when the
events of the play take their dramatic course and moods become less relaxed. In the
last scene Eric and Sheila should be isolated away from Mrs Birling, Mr Birling and
Gerald. This way the setting could clearly convey the contrasting attitudes of Sheila
and Eric's with the other three characters of the evening's events.
On the final note of the play when Arthur goes to answer the telephone the
spotlight should be bright and circle around Arthur to focus the audience on the
telephone call. When he answers the telephone, the lighting should become dim.
Furthermore, the orchestra will play faster, then suddenly stop. This will help to
build the tension that is felt in this last scene. Sheila is about to go out the front
door , but turns back when the telephone rings. The spotlights should be turned
around to her to establish Sheila's reaction to the telephone call. There after the
spotlights should return to Arthur in darker colours to display his baffled look. In
addition there should be a period of time of complete silence to heighten the tension
that is being created. This will be a cue when Arthur reveals to the family the death
of girl and that a police inspector is coming to ask some questions. The confusion on
Arthur's face will be clearly shown as he chokes out the closing sentence of the
play. At this instant the audience's initial perception of Inspector Goole will change.
In the final scene of the play the Inspector departs from the family after
giving his final speech. In his speech he states, ''We are members of one body. We
are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will come when, if men
will not learn that lesson, then they will learn it through fire and blood and
anguish.'' This is Preistley's reference to world war one which Arthur was scoffing
at in the beginning of the play. We can see this when Arthur states, ''Just because
the Kaiser makes a speech or two, or a few German officers have too much to drink
and talking nonsense, you'll hear some people say that war is inevitable. And to that
I say fidlesticks!'' This quote shows Mr Birling making a mockery of the chance of
war. When the Inspector says, ''...if men will not learn that lesson they will be
taught it in fire and blood and anguish'', he specifically means 'men' like Arthur
Birling. This is because Arthur Birling was a man who believed that people are only
responsible for themselves as this quote displays, ''But some of these cranks talk and
write now, you'd think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all
mixed up together like bees in a hive-community and all that nonsense.'' This quote
tells us that Arthur contradicts the ideas of Inspector Goole. So in this case it is all
too relevant that Arthur Birling is one of the people who believes that there will not
be an outbreak of war.
In the Inspector's final speech he establishes the meaning of the evening's
events by revealing the consequences of the actions of the family which lead to the
death of Eva Smith. The purpose of his speech was to convey the fact that in the
same way there are many others that fall into the same trap as Eva Smith because of
other people's actions. We could see this when he states, ''...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 interwined
with our lives, and what we think and say and do.'' This quote proves that everybody
is responsible for each other and belongs to one community. Preistley is clever to use
the Inspector's final speech to conclude the evening's events. This is because it
makes the audience question their moral beliefs, and gives them a chance to change
their ways which may have previously caused other people suffering. We could say
that the Inspectors final speech is a device used by Priestley to clearly display the
play's moral, which is that 'everybody is responsible for each other'.
For the unfortunate lower class there was no such things as state benefits
in this period of time. Charity was provided by the wealthy and was given to who
they personally believed that deserved it, as the play shows when Mrs Birling refuses
charity to Eva Smith because she thinks Eva does not need it. Due to this, suicide of
young women at this time was a frightingly common occurrence. Anyone who could no
longer earn a living and had no one to turn to committed suicide, which was the case
of Eva Smith.
Conclusion
Priestley is successful in structuring his play to ensure that the play ends on
a note of high drama. He establishes the initial atmosphere of the final scene by
moving focus the from one character to the next, as the family seeks to explain the
evening's events. While the characters of Arthur Birling, Mrs Birling and Gerald
laugh at what they perceive to be a hoax, Sheila and Eric are shocked and remain
disturbed by what Inspector Goole has revealed about them all. At the last moment
Preistley adds his final twist to the play, as Arthur answers the telephone only to
hear the fateful news that an inspector is about to arrive about a girls suicide. The
characters are left dunbfounded in the realization that they are aboute to repeat the
evening's events. The ending is the anti-climax of the play. It is cleverly done, so it
is left to the audience to decide who (what) Inspector Goole was and what happens
to the family next. This sort of ending makes the audience less comfortable. It is
written in a way that it seems as though the play is about to begin again, that is an
Inspector is about to call.
Moreover Priestley was successful in ensuring that the audience feels the
tension in the last scene by structuring the play so that there is a final twist in the
dramatic action. He used his play tactfully in order to convey the consequences of
the seven deadly sins an every day person would likely to committ. These are sloth,
gluttony,envy, covetousness, lust and anger; all of which the Birling family were
involved in. We could say that this was the sole purpose of the play. To arouse the
awareness of the wrong doings of the audience, which could end up causing someone
else huge suffering; much like Eva Smith.
