Drama: An Inspector Calls - overview of the plot

Drama: An Inspector Calls

Written in 1946, "An Inspector Calls" takes us into the comfortable and complacent world of the Birling family who are disturbed during a celebration by the arrival of a mysterious police inspector. A young girl has committed suicide and it is revealed how all members of one family contributed to it. "An Inspector Calls" resorts to the ripping off of masks that we human beings frequently wear, with the Inspector relentlessly pursuing the truth. Just when the audience is tiring of discoveries, the whole action is given a violent twist and everyone is caught up in the unfolding events. When each member of the Birling family find out that they contributed to the death of Eva Smith, they react in very different ways and learn different things from the experience.

Mr Birling is an arrogant and recognisable capitalist. He is highly conceited, and believes that whatever he says is true, for example "The Germans don't want war!" and "[Russia] will always be behindhand". We know that these statements are incorrect because of the war between Germany and England and Stalin's influence on Russia. However, Mr Birling seems oblivious to the warning signs of such serious matters. Or he just decides to blank out all the bad aspects of life, which do not concern him directly. When the Inspector arrives, Mr Birling tries to use his influence as a highly placed local to put down and demoralise the Inspector. This attempt is immediately dismissed as the Inspector does not seem to be interested in Mr Birling's influence. To try to show his importance Mr Birling remarks that he was "an alderman for years- lord mayor two years ago…is still on the bench". However, the Inspector does not take any notice of this and continues with the investigation. As Mr Birling tells his part of his involvement in Eva's death, he manages to tell it in a way that makes him seem fair and kind to his workers. However, this is just a cover for his conscience and the Inspector and the audience can see this. In reality, he is greedy. Every penny in his pocket counts, and he tries to makes it seem that he feels that his workers deserve no more than the national average pay, if that. Nearer the end of the play, he begins to show remorse, although this remorse is directed more toward the fact that he may not get his knighthood because of the scandal, instead of feeling remorse at his actions in the situation. This is shown quite well when he says "But I care. I was almost certain for a knighthood in the next Honours List". Remorse is seen when he says, "I would give thousands" but it is obviously too late and again, it is about money and not the caring. Also, it is implicated that he may have tried to bribe the Inspector; "perhaps you and I had better go and talk this over quietly in a corner". This again shows that money seems to be the centre of his existence. He cares more for money than for his fellow humans. He appears as a typical, "hard-hearted businessman", not caring about his workers' needs, just about how much money they are making him and how little he has to pay them to work.

At the end of the play, when it is suggested that the Inspector was a hoax, he seems more pleased about the fact that he is in line for a knighthood again, rather than learning from the experience. What he has learnt is how to block out the bad things in life. Also he builds walls around himself, at the end of the play to try to protect himself and his family's reputation. He is moved to anger by the Inspector and is not affected by being confronted with the effects of his actions until the Inspector is about to leave and reality hits him. His main worry throughout the play is that there could be a public scandal and his family name could be given a bad reputation. If he did not get his knighthood, which is very likely, he would be devastated and puts this before the wants and needs of his family. He is very self deceptive because he convinces himself that he was not in the slightest way responsible for the death of Eva Smith. He does not seem to be extremely distressed by the fact that his son seduced a young girl, making her pregnant, stole money from him, and that his wife abused her position as head of the organisation which should have helped a young girl in distress. His main concern is that all of this will become public gossip and his reputation will be ruined. His belated remorse is undermined by his jubilation that the Inspector was a hoax and that there is not going to be a public inquiry.

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He has learnt how to build walls to protect himself and if another inspector came then he would probably keep quiet and show no emotion. The experience has not made him more caring towards people and he will probably treat his workers in the same way. However, he will probably be more careful to ensure that nothing like this happens again. He would probably greet the new inspector in the same way, by trying to bribe him. Also he would try to protect his family by not giving them a chance to speak. I do not think that he has learnt anything positive from the experience because he does not have an open mind. He is unwilling to accept the fact that sometimes he is the one in the wrong and some people do know more than him. He does learn more negative than positive things but still we can see that he is slightly more open than his wife.

In a theatre performance the actress playing Sheila has a particularly difficult role, as Sheila undergoes a drastic change during the play. At the start of the play, she is very immature and very naﶥ, and is also very giggly. She always seems to say things only half seriously and jokes with Eric using slang phrases such as "You're squiffy". She does not seem to see the power that Gerald has got over her because her engagement ring is "the one [he] wanted [her] to have". She shows herself to be a very dependent girl, looking to her parents for most decisions that need to be made. Her marriage to Gerald was a marriage of businesses, as well as love. I doubt Sheila saw this at the time, or just ignored this fact. When the Inspector questions her about her involvement in the death of Eva, she begins to feel thoroughly ashamed of what she did. What she says about her acts shows her immaturity, as she tells that she got upset over nothing and threatened to tell her mother not to shop at Milwards. She shows that she relies on others and cares little for the lower classes. When she says "And probably between us we killed her" and "Between us, we drove that girl to suicide" it shows her anger towards her parents, but her anguish at her acts and her family's behaviour is clear. When she finds out that Eva was pregnant, she begins to feel very sorry for her acts. "No! Oh - horrible - horrible!" This shows that when she knows that she is involved, she begins to show true compassion. If she knew that because of her father's greed, and her lavish spending, many people do not have enough money to live in proper housing or feed their family properly, then she might show more compassion. However, for now, the audience has to be content with her sadness at Eva's death. She seems to develop her maturity as she learns more and more of the circumstances of Eva's death. She seems to compress ten years of learning into an hour. This shows that she is willing to be independent, but she needs to be shown that she can be independent. She has the ability and the compassion to be a good person, but this quality is often suppressed by the attraction of money.

Sheila Birling learns a lot during the play and undergoes, in a short time space, a change that usually only happens over a very long period of time. This is caused by what she has to go through during the play. First, she finds out that she was involved in Eva's suicide. This makes her think about the sort of person she is and this starts the change of attitude inside her. Then, she finds out that Gerald had been having an affair with Eva/Daisy, this makes her think about the sort of people she lives with and loves. She becomes more mature as the play progresses and in the current National Theatre production she moves into the Inspector's light. This is symbolic of her moving from an enclosed life into the real world and her being enlightened by the truth of her part in Eva's death. When the Inspector leaves, Sheila takes over his role and tries to teach her family that they should care for other people of all classes. In the current National Theatre production, whilst in the light, she undresses. This symbolises her learning from her actions and whilst undressed, the falling rain washes her clean of her past. At the end of the play, she has higher moral standards and has learnt to show compassion for every human being no matter what they look like, their social status or how much money they have. She is no longer a dependent girl and it is obvious that the Inspector is successful in making her see the consequences of her actions. Finally, the Inspector and she are in agreement; and she fully understands everything that he has been trying to teach them. Her concordance with the Inspector is shown in her echoing of his words when she says to Gerald during her questioning of him about Eva/Daisy "We haven't much time". The Inspector is always aware of the lack of time and that everything is controlled by it. Little things like this show that she understands the Inspector. Also Sheila says to her parents "It's you two who are being childish- trying not to face the facts". At that moment she seems to tower over them just like the Inspector did. She goes on to say that "it doesn't make any real difference [if he was a real Inspector or not]" because in her opinion he fulfilled his purpose. The main reason for her change in attitude is that she has an open mind and is willing to listen to what people have to say. More importantly, she tries to improve the bad aspects of her personality. She admits "I behaved badly too. I know I did. I'm ashamed of it". It is obvious that she wants to change because she keeps saying, "You're pretending everything's just as it was before" and she does not want it to be that way. The only other person to share her attitude is Eric. This shows that the younger generations do have open minds and care more for other people. She benefits from the Inspector's visit and if another inspector were to come, then she would immediately tell the truth. She has learnt not to hide things from people. I think that she will try to improve her family's relationship and help people in need, treating everybody with the same respect.

Mrs Birling is more hard-hearted than her husband. She is fully aware of her social status, and uses this to gain whatever she wants. She shows little consideration for her subordinates, and this is accented in her position on the charity organisation. She has the seat on the charity council, not because she wants to help the poor, but because she wants to feel more superior to the lower classes. Her use of influence is shown in the line "I used my influence to have [Eva's case] refused." She tries desperately to put the Inspector in his place, but as with Mr Birling, he ignores her irony. She seems to feel that she has the authority to remove the Inspector from her house whenever he decides to say something with which she disagrees. She also has a way of telling her side of the story that makes her seem innocent of any involvement: "you're quite wrong to believe I will regret what I did…I was perfectly justified in advising the committee not to allow her claim for assistance…I accept no blame for it at all." However, everybody can see that she is trying to please her conscience and protect her reputation and social status, which are the most important things in her life. She does not concern herself with real problems and she condemns Mr Birling for saying a mild oath- "Look- for God's sake". She condemns him very strongly for saying God's name in vain but she never shows such condemnation over the death of the young girl. Mrs Birling seems to know little about her family, and their habits. This is displayed at the end of Act Two, when she finds out that the child Eva was carrying was Eric's. This shows that she may not show much interest in her children's lives, as she prefers to concentrate more with her own. She endures many shocks, and she learns more about her family than she ever thought she would know, especially about Eric and his drinking habits. This is because she is self-centred. At the end of the play she shares her husband and Gerald's jubilation that the Inspector was a hoax. She learnt nothing from the experience, and would probably make the same mistake again, making her seem very ignorant. Saying Mrs Birling learnt nothing is actually incorrect because she will probably learn one negative point and that is to keep quiet about her affairs to strangers. She says, "He certainly didn't make me confess" and from this we can see that she is going to be very cautious about what she says in the future. This is because she does not want it to become public knowledge. If another Inspector came then she would not show any emotion at all and keep quiet completely. The only time that she does show some emotion is when she finds out that she contributed to the death of her grandchild. She does not have an open mind and so is not willing to listen to other people and what they have to say because she believes that she is always in the right. She is very prejudiced and does not want to have anything to do with people of a lower class, except to rule over them. She believes that they do not have feelings and they get exactly what they deserve. In her opinion the lower classes are inferior. She shares her husband's jubilation that there is not going to be public scandal as her world revolves around money and her position in society.

The play is still popular after 55 years because of the fact that the issues raised in the play are still relevant today. This is because of the fact that people still think more about themselves and their families than about how they affect others. Socialism won't be widely accepted by the people who have money, because Capitalism is more beneficial to them but Socialism is more beneficial to the rest of us. Unfortunately, it is the people with the money who rule the country. The only way that this can change is if the attitudes of generations are changed, and this is difficult. In the play, Mr Birling is a recognisable capitalist and since he has the money he believes that he has the power to run over the world. In his opinion, only people with money are worthwhile because they have a high status in society. To himself and Mrs Birling their reputation and position in society are the most important things and people's feelings and desires do not come into it. The people who are high up in the world believe that the only purpose for inferiors is to exploit them, making them do all of the hard work.

The play was written at the end of the 2nd World War being performed for the first time in 1946. It is set in 1912. Priestley expresses his own views about society of 1912 through the character of the Inspector. During these pre-World War 1 years there was a divide between the rich and poor. Attitudes such as: the poor's struggle to work and survive; profit, greed and privilege of class; double standards and the lack of a responsible attitude from those in power, were thought acceptable. Economic prosperity, power and moneymaking took priority over humanity. The consequences of this attitude can be seen in that not just one, but two world wars have ensued since the time set in the play. Priestley is telling us that we are not learning lessons from history; thus there was a grave message for the 1946 audience, who, like the Birling family were being given a further opportunity to get it right. Moreover, there is still that message today, thus giving the play a universal value.

From the play, I have learnt many fundamental things and that is why the play is so popular, because it teaches different people, different things. When Sheila, and particularly the Inspector, say important things they should direct them towards the reader or in a theatre, they should speak directly to the audience. This makes the viewer think carefully about the hidden messages. One main message to be learnt is to treat and respect everybody as equals because that is what they deserve. To be prejudiced is a problem that people should address and try to improve on because it is very hurtful to others. If you have ever done something wrong then the play makes you think about it and what you should do if you are ever in that situation again. The best thing to do if you are in trouble or if you have done something wrong is to talk about it, however hard that might be. The important thing is to try to correct it because if you do not then it just blows up out of proportion. This is shown well in the play when Sheila realises that she should have said something about Eric's drinking problem as it is the main reason that he got into his terrible situation. You should have an open mind, try to improve any faults in your personality and be open to others. The main thing that the play wants people to improve on, is to have more consideration for everybody and life does not revolve around money but compassion for others. Another message that is underlined throughout the play is that all classes have different material wealths but when it comes to feelings and sensitivities, we are all equal. The final message of the play is a plea for change, a change in human nature first, then a change in society. People have to learn that private behaviour has public consequences.