Sheila is next to be interrogated by the Inspector. The Inspector tells her that after she got sacked by Mr Birling, Eva went for a job at Milward’s, one of Sheila’s favourite clothes shops. “She was taken on in a shop-and a good shop too- Milward’s.” He shows Shelia a photograph of Eva and she sobs. Sheila lost Eva her job at Milward’s which helped lead to the suicide. “I caught sight of her smiling at the assistant, and I was furious with her.” “ I went to the manager at Milward’s and I told him that if they didn’t get rid of that girl, I’d never go near the place again and I’d persuade Mother to close our account with them.” Eva was discharged immediately. These passages show how Sheila was greedy and made Milward’s discard Eva Smith in order to keep her account. It shows how Sheila was jealous and greedy.
The Inspector next talks to Sheila’s fiancé Gerald Croft. Eva Smith apparently changed her name to Daisy Renton, and this name Gerald recognises. “Now she had to try something else. So first she changed her name to Daisy Renton.”
“ What?” exclaims Gerald. It turns out Gerald had an affair with Eva, which lasted many months until they broke up “in the first week of September”. Eva supposedly took it very well but this event still helped towards her suicide.
After Gerald left her, Eva went to Sybil Birling’s Women’s Organization to seek help. “At first she called herself Mrs Birling”, much to Sybil’s disgust, and later told lies to the committee. They eventually turned her away. Sybil was greedy and refused to help Eva, leaving her on the streets and even more depressed. The Inspector uncovers that Eva was pregnant when she went for refuge at Sybil’s hostel, and the father was Eric.
Eric comes back to the family and admits all. “ I wasn’t in love with her or anything-but I liked her”. “She told me she was going to have a baby”. Eric also admits he stole money to support her “ I got it-from the office-“. Eric was greedy when he stole the money and when he did not stand by Eva.
Greed plays a major role in the play, as it is the root of all of the Birling’s mistakes and is categorised as one of the play’s many themes, along with responsibility, good and evil, and collective responsibility.
Eva Smith is seen as a generic character, representing all such people from her social class and especially women in her position, for instance oppressed workers, or women into prostitution. “There are many Eva Smiths”. There are also parallels between Eva and the Everyman character from an early 16th century morality play. This character personifies dispute between good and evil- themes in ‘An Inspector Calls’. She also has parallels with Eve from the Bible- greed was the original sin from the beginning of time and was the beginning of Eva’s problems.
Eric, particularly, is not very responsible when he becomes the father of Eva’s baby, and with his drinking habits. He steals money from his father, which shows extreme measures of irresponsibility. When Gerald goes with Eva he is acting irresponsibly as he is due to marry Sheila. Another key theme in ‘An Inspector Calls’ is collective responsibility.
“We are all responsible for each other. If we aren’t, chaos reigns”
This was JB Priestley’s message as a Socialist, and an example of his political beliefs.
Social contexts in the play include the way in which women were treated in both the early 1900’s-when the play was set- and the mid-1940’s-when the play was written. This shows irony as in the 1900’s women were most definitely seen and not heard (subservient), whereas in the 1940’s women’s rights began to be put into practise and as a result of societal changes during World War Two women were included in the main labour force. Whenever Arthur and Sybil are consulted by other characters or deterred to, it has to do with the social context of respect for the older generation and gender at that time.
Historical contexts include both World Wars. There is much dramatic irony linked to the historical context, as the Titanic may have been a very strong boat but she still sunk as Arthur says “-the Titanic- she sails next week-forty six thousand eight hundred tons-New York in five days-and every luxury-the unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”, and a second World War was least expected yet still went ahead to kill millions. Arthur says, “you’ll hear some people say the War’s inevitable. And I say to that-fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war”.
Cultural contexts include the workforce payment in the 1940’s. This caused major dispute between businessmen and working class citizens for instance Arthur refusing to give Eva a pay raise. The Birling’s house falling down towards the end of the play is very metaphorical and is a major dramatic device, signifying the family falling apart. Responsibility (each member of the Birlings contributing to Eva Smith’s suicide), trust (Sheila believing Gerald bring away on work when he was with Eva and Eva’s trust in Sybil when she went for help) and morality (the family realising the error of their ways but it being too late for them to help Eva) are all key social themes in An Inspector Calls.
Many dramatic devices are used in the stage production of ‘An Inspector Calls’. The play contains three scenes, and are performed together without an interval or break in between. This causes tension for the audience, which is a key dramatic device in any stage production, and is used to keep the audience feeling tense and give the sustained feeling of a real-life interrogation. The Inspector’s last words may seem like the end of the play, but in fact the story develops much more after he has left.
“But just 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, with what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for eachotherAnd 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 blood and anguish. Good night.” P56 Act 3
This part of the scene implies the end of the play. However, soon after the Inspector leaves, the telephone in the public phone box begins to ring, and Mr Birling hangs up with a morbid look on his face, as the Infirmary have let him know a girl named Eva Smith has just been brought in having just swallowed some disinfectant.
“That was the police. A girl has just died- after swallowing some disinfectant. And a police inspector is on his way here-to ask some questions…” As they stare guiltily and dumbfounded, the curtain falls. In the stage production, the curtain falls all the way down, revealing the family again, as if what they have just experienced is being wiped, or erased. However, when the family are visible again the boy in 1940’s dress from the introduction is there with them.
‘An Inspector Calls’ draws parallels to JB Priestley’s first play, ‘Dangerous Corner’. Both plays unveil the truth piece by piece, drawing the audience inside the play and building tension for them. Both plays include one of JB Priestley’s favourite dramatic devices, the play ending as it begins, and a ‘new start’ being made.
Another play by JB Priestley, ‘Time and the Conways’, draws parallels with ‘An Inspector Calls’. The play begins with a study of a seemingly normal family, however several of which portray a hint of having an extra awareness or foreknowledge of events. The characters deteriorate in Act 2, and the worst of each character is exposed. Act 3 is a continuation of Act 1, as the characters see themselves through past events. Both of these plays are very similar to ‘An Inspector Calls’.
Taking all themes, characters and contexts into perspective, greed rises above all. Greed was the original sin, when Eve took the poison apple from the tree in Eden thus introducing evil into mankind. Eva Smith is an allegorical figure and was killed by each of the characters having tunnel vision, being immensely self involved, and greedy.
The message of ‘An Inspector Calls’ is that people don’t change. For instance, the two Word Wars, and the Birlings, excepting Sheila, do not learn anything form their experience. ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a continuous confession, which turns into a continuous accusation.
“JB Priestley preferred writing plays to novels, he had a natural talent and sensitivity towards the theatrical atmosphere”
from ‘JB Priestley: The Last of the Sages’ by J Atking (1981)
“We are all responsible for each other. If we aren’t, chaos reigns.”
