The play is similar to a murder mystery except in this case the inspector knows everyone is responsible. None of the Birlings think that all or one of them is responsible. At first we don’t know this. Sheila Birling is the person who realizes that the inspector knows the family is responsible for Eva Smith ‘s death. This is why she is always moaning & telling her family the inspector knows even though they don’t know. E.G Sheila says to her mother- “ Mother don’t build a wall because the inspector will just knock it down”
The play is produced dramatically by using the different lighting. When the Birlings are by they the lighting is intimate because of the close family celebration where everyone is happy and everyone loves each other. The lighting colours are pink and light red. When the inspector arrives the light turns bright white indicating tension and pressure in being applied. The white light stays bright just like an interrogation room in a police station. From how the furniture is organised you can tell they are not a comfy family because all the chairs are made of wood (just like many other New Rich families in the 1900’s)
When Britain was secure, it had an empire, unrivalled navy & was wealthy. Working Class and Upper Working class were happy with many jobs available. New Rich people, especially owners of companies were happy racking in the money for the amount work they were being supplied with.
In the play Eva Smith was a working class person who wo9rked and just wanted more money for all the work except Arthur Birling who was a greedy New Rich, sacked her. He treats her wrongly! She got a second job, she had everything a working class girl wanted but when Sheila saw Eva laughing at her, Sheila treated her like dirt and demanded she was sacked.
In the 1900’s the lower class you were in, the worse you got treated. If you were a woman you were also working for a living. If you were high in the wealth ladder & a woman, servants did all the work. This was good except women had no power; the men had all the power. In Eva Smith’s case she was bottom of the bottom of the wealth ladder.
With the Birling family they were snobbish & Mr Birling said, “there is no such thing as community”. For the audience watching this play. They would hate the Birling family because in World War 1 & after, Europe was in ruins & community was the only thing that could put Europe back together. Also Mr Birling mentioned about the “unsinkable Titanic” & how it was an impressive vessel and it was the best.
Before Inspector Goole arrives Mr Birling is a money grabbing man who only wants to move up socially in the wealth ladder E.G Mr birling say to Gerald Croft “ Your father and I have been friendly rivals for sometime now. You’ve bought us together”
He is still concerned that Aristocrat’s look down at him and that’s why he mentions about his possible knight-hood and being mayor of the city to Gerald so that he can tell his aristocrat parents about the birling family. Mr Birling only cares about himself & likes to gloat when other people compliment him or his family. He thinks his point of view is the only view that is important. He gives a cold shoulder towards community. When the inspector Mr Birling immediately starts boasting and showing off
E.G “ I was at Alderman for years & lord mayor two years ago & I’m still on the bench and I know the Brumley officers pretty well & I thought I’d never seen you before.
By doing this he is trying to intimidate the inspector by the superior position Mr Birling is in. When the inspector questions Mr Birling told the inspector that he was standing up for himself when the woman in the workplace were trying to get more pay. I think this was because Mr Birling was starting to become more nervous because he believes the inspector is right about him being partly responsible for Eva Smith’s death & because of this Mr Birling is trying to think up excuses.
When Mr Birling find’s out about Gerald, he was supposed to be seeing Eva Smith in the summer before, he quickly tells Sheila that Gerald didn’t know what he was doing. He was saying this because he didn’t want the marriage between Sheila and Gerald to be called off because of how much the wedding is worth to him and his status in the Wealth Ladder.
When he finds out about Eric & how he got Eva pregnant, he doesn’t care about Eric; he only cares about covering up the scandal of his son & how he stole money from him.
E.G “ You must give me a list of those accounts. I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can”
This shows Mr Birling is insensitive and only cares about himself and his status in society.
When Mr Birling finds out about the inspector Goole being a fake he is relieved because he won’t be in the papers & lose he reputation. Instead of realizing that what everyone did, happened. Mr Birling continues to be self-centred man and only cares about himself. Mr Birling didn’t learn a thing from this experience.
E.G “ No police inquiry, no girl, no scandal”
Gerald is a man who is in control of his relationship with Sheila, at the beginning of the play because he tells her what to think.
E.g. Sheila says, “ Is that the one you wanted me to have”
He is confident about life and his engagement with Sheila. As well as Mr Birling trying to be friends with him and his family, Gerald is doing the exact same thing.
When Gerald is questioned about his involvement with Eva Smith, he is quick to admit because he knows the inspector would grind him down until he admits it.
E.G “ All right, I knew her. Now let’s leave it at that”
When he finds out about Eva Smith is dead he is shocked & breaks down a little. From this emotion we see that Gerald puts up a strong front but is a person with emotions.
Gerald found out about Inspector Goole being a fake first because he asked an actual inspector outside the household. When he breaks the news he is certainly relieved. Straight away he try’s to resume the engagement with Sheila.
E.G “Everything alright now Sheila. What about this ring”
From this, we can tell that Gerald was shaken but he is just like Mr Birling & is trying to cover his mistakes up.
At the start of the play Eric is an immature child who can’t handle a drink. From how he is treated (a young child instead of a grown man) you can tell his parents have treated him wrong & are very over protective because they didn’t want him to do anything wrong that could affect the family name. From this he can’t take jokes and is very sensitive. He also says before he thinks.
E.G “Well I don’t find it very funny”
As soon as the inspector questions Eric, he is uneasy and nervous because he isn’t used to being questioned. Eric was shocked by the news of Eva’s death at the start and he shows it. As soon as the pressure of the inspector gets to Eric, he turns to alcohol but Mr Birling treats him like a child and tells Eric he’s had enough.
When the Birling’s begin to reprimand Eric for getting a woman pregnant and stealing money, he bursts into anger blaming his parents for the lack of sympathy.
E.G “You haven’t made it any easier”
He reacts in the same way as Sheila, when he finds out about how the rest of the family is involved in the nasty affair with Eva. He starts to stand up for himself and accuses his mother of Eva’s death & his father for being uncaring.
E.G To his mother “Then you killed her”
To his father -“Because you’re not the father that a chap could go to when he’s in trouble”
This shows Eric has a different character to what his parents know him as. He is strong inside and can be a man sometimes.
When the inspector leaves, Eric still feels guilty because of what he admitted what he had done. He accepts what he’d done just like Sheila. He is ashamed of his parents because they’re trying to sweep the unfortunate under the rug and forget about it. From this, we can tell that Eric has grown up a lot and has learnt his lesson and is prepared to face the consequences. From this the audience can see he is now a man.
Before the inspector arrives Sheila is a very modern girl but she is suspicious of Gerald because he didn’t come near her for a period of time. She is easily thrown off the subject when the engagement ring is produced and she changes her attitude from suspicious self-controlled person to a woman controlled by her master who tells what to think and do.
E.G “Oh Gerald, you’ve got it, the one you wanted me to have”
This shows woman subservient to men at this time. As the inspector confronts Sheila and starts to question her, she reacts like any vulnerable woman would. She is shocked beyond belief and starts to ask questions about Eva to find out information about how the suicide happened. When the inspector explains to Sheila about how her father got “The ball rolling” towards her death. She stands up for Eva and shows awareness of conditions for the lower classes. When the inspector accuses her she soon figure out that the inspector knows what she has done. She starts to take responsibility for her actions by showing her emotions.
Throughout the play she finds out more & more information about how the family’s involved and she blames everyone who won’t accept the blame like she was.
When the inspector has left, Sheila is shocked at her parents trying to ignore the fact that they had done a bad thing and trying to forget about it. Sheila admits what she did was wrong and she is trying to make the others see sense. The audience realises that she has grown up a lot in the play and she has learnt her lesson. Even though she isn’t successful with changing her parents, she starts to distance herself from them. She knows she is different from her “New Rich” family. She also admits her parents attitudes scare her. She doesn’t resume the engagement with Gerald because she knows she couldn’t marry a liar and a cheater.
On first impression Mrs Birling is an etiquette snob. She is formally correct and she fits into the rich woman category of her time. She knows when to leave “complicated” business to men
E.G “I think Sheila and I had better go into the drawing room and leave you men”
When the inspector explains what the situation is, Mrs Birling straight away blames Eva Smith just because she is a working class person that has no importance in the world. When she is questioned, she is just like Mr Birling. She tries to scare the inspector by mentioning that he was mayor. She only cars about herself & the people in the class she is in. She tries to shift the blame so it doesn’t look bad on her reputation.
Sheila tries to warn her but Mrs Birling is blind as a bat & she doesn’t see the fact that the father of Eva Smith’s baby is Eric Birling. When she finds this out her character changes dramatically from a snob to a nervous wreck. Eric starts to shout at her and she can’t take it any more.
When the inspector leaves & Mrs birling recovers, she suddenly forgets about her reactions, and she starts the inspector of being rude and ill mannered. She is like her husband, devious & wanting to sweep everything under the mat. She has learned nothing from this experience.
Looking at the characters that change, the pattern shows that children are vulnerable & are easily changeable in attitude. Perhaps Priestley is suggesting that the older you are, the more you can fake in accusations. Mr Birling didn’t change because he is a superior man.
The characters that learn their lesson aren’t affected by Priestley “twist” in the play at the end because they have learned their lesson and know everyone has something wrong in their lives.
“We are all one body” is Priestley’s social message & I think that he is successful in demonstrating it because if the Birling family stuck together. They would’ve overcome the inspector. Except they all went their own just like everybody in that era.
Goole’s/Priestley’s message of the body is relevant today because from the two World Wars, society has learned everyone has to help everyone in need. If we don’t we’ll end up like other countries in wars now because they can’t help each other and agree on certain things.