As the curtain goes up for “An Inspector Calls” we see the Birlings celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft, as the play continues an Inspector arrives to tell the family that a young girl died in the infirmary after drinking disinfectant. Throughout the play Priestley shows the audience that every member of the family is in some way responsible for her death. Through each of the scenes members of the family are broken down to describe to the audience their part in the death, Priestley uses his views on socialism to mould the characters. Mr Birling is portrayed as a snobbish, middle aged man, who is stuck in his ways. He is more concerned about his prosperous ways than his family’s welfare. Sheila is portrayed as being happy with her life at the beginning but as the play proceeds we see that her happiness is soon destroyed beyond repair; also her faith in her family is ravaged by the news of Eva Smiths death. The Inspector leaves the family in shock and speechless, they contemplate their actions and Priestley shows the audience the divide between the older and younger generations. When the family discovers that the Inspector is a potential impostor, the older Birlings’ perspectives about the death change suddenly. Then the family receives a phone call telling them that a young girl has died from drinking disinfectant and an Inspector will be round to question them...
When they are seated at the table Arthur Birling is seated at the head of the table showing that he is “heavy looking, rather a portentous man in his middle fifties.” When the Inspector comes in to the scene he is very officious towards him; “We were having a nice little family celebration tonight. And a nasty mess you’ve made of it now, haven’t you?” He immediately offers the Inspector a drink. Is it just an act of kindness; Birling trying to be a gentleman? Or does he have an ulterior motive of this “act of kindness”? Birling does this to try and influence the Inspector, to show him that he is not just a cold-hearted businessman and he is a gentleman as well. The audience from the beginning dislikes Birling because he is a very pompous and arrogant man. The audience can tell from scene one that he is self absorbed,
“Horrid business...” You can tell from this line that he is only concerned with his money and doe not see what her death has to do with him.
We see how pompous and egotistical Birling really is; as he talks about his position as Lord Mayor. He loves nothing better than ‘blowing his own horn’. He uses his current position as magistrate and his connections with the police constable as threats toward the Inspector. He uses these unsuccessfully to intimidate the Inspector, the Inspector seem to dismiss these remarks.
Sheila is described as being an attractive young woman; she is the first one to admit what she did to Eva Smith. Priestley makes Sheila confess first to show that the younger generation is more open-minded and they are the future so they need to be; she takes almost anything that the Inspector says about Eva Smith and the family to heart. “Sorry! It’s just that I can’t help thinking about this girl- destroying herself so horribly...” Sheila’s responses to the death of Eva Smith are one of only a few encouraging things to come out of the play. Sheila is ready to take responsibility and is keen to correct her behaviour. She is very mature about the demise of her relationship with Gerald; this makes the audience feel sympathetic towards her because of her being used by Gerald. She is unable to comprehend her parent’s attitudes and is concerned (even if the death was a hoax) that they didn’t learn a thing from the episode. Her readiness to learn from the experience of the episode is in great contrast to her parents who haven’t even given it a second thought. This shows the impressionability of youth and their willingness to learn from mistakes.
Priestley shows the audience the impressionability of youth by letting Sheila confess early to her part in the death first. Mrs Birling notes that the inspector had a great impact on her, “ You seemed to have made a great impression on the child”. She implies that because of her youth she is more easily intimidated into confessing. The inspector replies to this rather snide comment saying- “ We often do in the young ones, they’re more impressionable. He says this to show that Mr and Mrs Birling are older and their attitudes are more hardened. The Birling seniors are too prejudiced to learn anything new, the younger Birlings (Eric and Sheila) are more open minded to other people’s opinions. This is a theme that continues through the play, Priestley wants to show the gap between the older and younger Birlings.
