The Inspector is never wrong- in any of the situations that occur throughout the play- he is always right, and makes the other characters seem almost stupid if they do not agree with him. “Don’t start on that. I want to get on…” That reflects off from the writer, Priestley, as being very determined to convey his message across to his audience.
Sheila Birling is another character in ‘An Inspector Calls’ who also points this out during the play, “You fool- he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t know yet. You’ll see. You’ll see.”
Sheila is the daughter of a very proud man, named Arthur Birling. He is very opinionated, and shown as a typical figure of the time or 1912. J.B Priestley presents him to the audience, as obdurate and biased. We can see this, when he says “And then she got herself into trouble there, I suppose?” This also tells us he is very unthoughtful, and he is the sort of person who is ignorant, and wouldn’t want himself to ‘go down to someone else’s level’.
Priestley is attempting to convey to his audience that Mr Birling needs to change, and not only Mr Birling, but the rest of the society that is comparable to him. There were a lot of dissimilarities between the upper and lower class, in 1912. Priestley knew this, so he intentionally set the play in that particular period of time. Everybody would have thought society would never change, however, by 1945; class distinctions had been greatly reduced.
Priestley uses dramatic irony through the character Arthur Birling, as he mentions the ‘Titanic- an unsinkable ship’. Of course, this play came forth after it had sunk; so this comment was purely yet another way for Priestley to manipulate his audience into understanding Birling’s arrogance and deliberately make them feel as though they are more knowledgeable than he.
Mr Birling is from a higher class family, which is the reason why he doesn’t want to feel intimidated which, as a result, has a conceited attitude towards the inspector- whilst being under the pressure of the interrogation. “We were having a nice little family celebration tonight. And a nasty mess you’ve made of it now, haven’t you.”
This shows that Mr Birling does not realise how serious the circumstances are, and is being blind towards the grim situation.
It is also an indication as to how Priestley knowingly wants him to have the status of a family man- a typical role of any aristocratic family of that time era; so that they can see how selfish Birling is. This is another way he can relate to his audience, and get his socialist message across.
Arthur Birling tries to frighten the Inspector, when he is making threats that “Colonel Roberts is an old friend of his”. However Inspector Goole does not feel intimidated by him, in any way. This is a way that Priestley shows himself-through the inspector. It is almost as if the inspector is ‘Priestley-on-stage’.
Mrs Birling, his wife, is also an important character to Priestley, as she is also one of the ‘suspects’ behind Eva Smiths suicidal death. Mrs Birling is a ‘prominent member of a committee’, which is set up to help other women that need support and guidance, financially. When the inspector questions her about why she did not help Eva Smith in particular, she admits to being prejudice against her case.
“…I think it was simply a piece of gross impertinence…naturally that was one of the things that prejudiced me against her case”. Mrs Birling is also portrayed as being ‘unfeeling’; because of her reluctance to realise she is partly to blame for Eva’s death. “I’m very sorry. But I think she had only herself to blame”.
Priestley would have wanted civilization to revolutionize, as he makes his audience realise how the conditions of living could seriously affect someone’s life, thus, everything that the Inspector said to the characters, was really intended at his audience.
Later on in the play, the Inspector informs Mrs Birling that Eva was pregnant, which creates even more sympathy for her. Mrs Birling responds to this news quite harshly- “Secondly, I blame the young man who was the father of the child”
The Inspector then shows her up to be hypocritical, as he also reveals that the father of the baby was her prized her son, Eric. Mrs Birling goes into denial, and does not want to believe what she is hearing. “(Agitated) I don’t believe it…I won’t believe it…”