Although the play was written in 1945 it is set in 1912 which is significant because the audience would have lived through two world wars whereas the actors wouldn’t have known about the wars that were about to take place. The only character that shows signs of knowing what the future holds is the Inspector.
The inspector shows some unusual aspects, which contradicts his appearance. “The inspector need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.” The inspector seems as though he is omniscient. In my opinion this is because he is from the future. I think he may be Preistley from 1945 written into a book set in 1912. I feel that he has done this to share his socialist views with the audience and society. I feel that the purpose of the Inspector is to prevent Eva’s death. He wants the Birlings to change the way they act to people of a lower class than themselves. I think that if the Birlings did change their attitude then Eva would not have committed suicide. The family began to learn from their mistakes but after the Inspector left the lesson that the Birlings began to learn is soon forgotten.
Shelia: “ You began to learn something. And now you’ve stopped. You’re ready to go on in the same old way.”
The inspector changes his style of question depending on who he is talking to.
Inspector: “And why did you do that?”
This is in open question, which requires a detailed answer; the inspector only uses open questions on Sheila, Eric and Gerald because they are easier to get information out of. He has to use closed questions for Mr. And Mrs. Birling.
Inspector: “ I think you remember Eva smith now, don’t you?”
Birling must answer yes or no to this question. The inspector affects Sheila and Eric, the younger generation, more than any other characters because that is what priestly wanted, he wanted to show us that the younger generation are learning from their own and the mistakes of their parents. Whilst the older members of the family, Arthur and Sybil Birling, are rigid to change and remain as pompous and superior as ever, the younger generation realize and accept their part in the Death of Eva smith.
The Inspector seems very sure of himself, he seems very bossy and gives himself a higher status than the Birlings.
Inspector: “ It’s the way I like to work. One person and one line of enquiry at a time.”
He isn’t scared to argue with the Birlings, he shows that he is more important than the Birlings.
Birling: “…I protest against the way in which my daughter, a young unmarried girl, is being dragged into this-
Inspector: “ your daughter isn’t living on the moon. She’s here in Brumley too.
One member of the family that changes her ways is Sheila Birling.
Sheila Birling “is a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather exited.” Sheila has lived an opulent life and is very naïve about those not so fortunate as her; she never thought anyone was unhappy enough to commit suicide.
Shelia: “Oh- how horrible! Was it an accident?” ... “ I can’t help thinking about this girl – destroying herself so horribly…”
When Sheila finds out that she was partly to blame for Eva’s death she instantly regrets getting her sacked and blames herself completely.
Shelia: “ (miserably) So I’m really responsible?”
Sheila changes completely from being a spoilt child to being a responsible adult when she receives the news of Eva’s death.
Shelia: “You mustn’t try and build up a kind of wall between us and that girl.”
When they find out that Eva hasn’t died most of the family go back to their old selves. Sheila tries to persuade the family what they have done is still bad although Eva did not commit suicide.
Shelia: “ I behaved badly too. I know I did. I’m ashamed of it. But now you’re beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened.” … “you don’t seem to have learned anything” … “it doesn’t make any real difference you know.”
Sheila has learnt to respect people for who they are and not what class they are but when she tries to tell the rest of her family about her views they just treat her even more like a child. Sheila and her brother Eric represent Priestley’s hopes for the future. Preistley hopes that the younger generation might be different to their parents. Sheila’s father has almost the opposite response to the news of Eva’s death.
Mr. Birling thinks that he is always right and has strong capitalist views.
Arthur Birling: “… a man has to make his own way – has to look after himself…”
When Birling found out about Evas death he didn’t blame himself at all, he was very selfish and blamed it all on Eva.
Arthur Birling: “If you don’t come down sharply on these people, they’ll soon be asking for the earth.”
This quote shows that he thinks he is very important and superior to Eva and others like her; he doesn’t have any consideration for people of a lower class than himself. Priestly has written Arthur to act like this so that the audience will pick up on it and be against him from the beginning. Birling doesn’t worry about Eva, his main concern is his reputation, he is looking forward to a knighthood and this could spoil it all. When he finds out that the inspector is a fake he is very happy.
Arthur Birling: “BY Jingo! A fake!”
The Inspectors purpose is to teach Birlings a lesson. He succeeds in doing this with Shelia and Eric, but fails with Arthur, Sybil and Gerald. Preistley uses the Inspector to put his socialist views across to the audience. Because the Birlings did not learn their lesson in the end their safe world comes crashing down around them, all of their indiscretions are exposed and they can no longer hide behind the false world that they have created. In the 1992 Royal National Theatre production the Birlings house explodes and all of their possessions spill out into the street, this is symbolic of all of their secrets being spilled out and their safe world collapsing by the Inspector that is on his way.
