“He is giving us rope-so we that we hang ourselves”.
Sheila says that the inspector is making them admit to their involvement and so is making them feel guilty. There is a vast amount of conflict in the play between family members,
“Yes-except for all last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you?”
When introducing the conflict the viewers of the play become enthralled in the character's problems and begin to wonder what will happen between them later in the play, giving the play mystery.
Mrs Birlings attempts to shift the blame for the girls suicide leads her to blame the father of the unborn child, the tension at this point is heightened by Eric’s dramatic entrance, revealing he is the father of this child and that he raped Eva Smith. Many of these issues that are revealed in the play are still relevant today and are classed as social problems, redundancy is a large issue in present day work, as with Eva Smith many workers are paid little and if they do make a stand they may also be fired. Rape, the crime Eric committed is larger spread and is obviously a more serious issue, although Eric was sorry for what he did he did commit an illegal violation which none of the other family members committed. The key to a good performance is entertainment, how entertaining was the play? This makes the play more popular and therefore more successful. The play is entertaining because of the social issues it raises, the issues that the audience can relate to like adultery and single mothers which has a large effect on society today.
With the departure of the inspector suggestions of his identity is put in doubt by a series of observations made by the Birling family and Gerald.
“We’ve no proof it was the same photograph and therefore no proof it was the same girl”
This introduces mystery into the play, however the tension remains when the inspector has left as the two generations confirm their differences, Sheila and Eric admit they have deviated from their morals but Mr and Mrs Birling seem to think that the girls death is not of their concern. Sheila not only is prepared to admit her faults; she also appears anxious to change her behaviour in the future,
“I’ll never, never do it again”,
Sheila is unable to accept her parent’s attitude and is amazed that they have not learned anything from this episode.
The suspense is increased greatly when Mr Birling rings up the infirmary.
“Have you had a girl bought in this afternoon who committed suicide by drinking disinfectant-or any like suicide? Yes, I’ll wait”.
When the audience is placed in, the situation, waiting for the answer, causes a large amount of tension between play and audience. The cliff-hanger that the audience is left with at the end of the play, when a telephone call is announced by Mr Birling
“That was the police. A girl has just died-on her way to the infirmary-after swallowing some disinfectant. And a police inspector is on his way here to ask questions”,
ensures that the audience will leave in a state of shock, which definitely is a huge example of an effective play both in performance and study.
The Inspector acts as a huge part in the play. He firstly sets the scene; he questions the Birlings’ morals. He is straight to the point creating atmosphere and creating much tension during the play. The inspector is rude and nasty; he knows what the Birlings have done and therefore takes advantage of this using forceful interrogation, by knowing this he moves the story along and fills in many gaps. The inspector is also stubborn, he does not take no for an answer. The post war audience in 1945 would have appreciated the Inspectors prophecy lesson of,
“And I tell you that the time will come soon when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire blood and anguish. Good night”.
When saying this he keeps the audience intrigued. When the inspector explains the morals that the Birlings and Gerald have broken, it creates suspense between play and audience, as the audience is morally superior, meaning they have their own morals and abide by them. The inspector plays the traditional role of a police officer in a ‘whodunit’ story, by slowly revealing the truth about the Birlings involvement in the death. Priestly transcends the ‘whodunit’ genre into a multi-level ‘morality play’ this not just uncovering the truth but suggesting which morals the Birlings should have and which of their own morals they have broken. Giving reason why it is studied in classrooms and greatly why it is performed and watched by many people. The inspector continually points to the need of personal responsibility-individual actions and the way they affect others in this case Eva Smith (Daisy Renton). This influences the structure and pace of the play. The inspector hurts the Birlings emotionally this will attract the audiences attention as they will either agree with the inspectors intimidation of feel sorry for them. The audience act as the jury this allows them not only to state their own views and stereotypes but they also become involved in the play, when read or watched. The Inspectors name G-O-O-L-E could be linked with ghoul, this may show that the Inspector was a ghost of some sort; maybe of the girl who committed suicide. He may also be a collective conscience for the family.
Arthur Birling does not want to accept he has done wrong by firing Eva Smith as he thinks that he is far to high in society to worry about people worse of than himself. Although he does not seem to mind Gerald being engaged to his daughter, although Gerald’s mother commented on how she was not happy that her son was marrying someone beneath him socially. He takes the engagement on as a business link, of course not caring about his daughter, even when Gerald’s affair was revealed he still wanted them to marry, and yet not for Sheila’s benefit. He continues in the play to not acknowledge the fact that power and money obsess him. When Inspector Goole repeatedly talks about the girl lying dead in the mortuary, it should develop a sense of selfishness and greed to any human with a heart. However not Mr. Birling
“I would pay thousands, thousands”
Money can not buy everything least of all in this case compassion, and it definitely can not change time. Inspector Goole even points this out,
“You are offering money at the wrong time Mr. Birling”.
Mr. Birling is a ‘self made man’ his first and only priority is to make money “It’s my duty to keep labour costs down”. He is over powered by politics and is subjectively a former mayor and in the running for a knight-hood. It seems he does not have his own opinion or take responsibility for his actions, this is shown in his visions of the future for example the Titanic which he thought which he described as unsinkable
He also commented on how he believed in 1940 there would be peace and prosperity, he was wrong in 1940 the Second World War was taking place. All of Mr. Birling’s visions were incorrect. After the Inspector has left, he continues to ignore the shameful things that his family has done. When it appears that the Inspector might have been a hoax, he is happy to believe that everything is as it was a few hours before, he even accuses Eric and Sheila as
“The younger generation who know it all”.
This is an example of his pride, he must think of his reputation.
J.B Priestly is attacking the privileges of class in the play. He is saying that there should be more equality and we should not take our life style for granted. We also should take responsibility for our actions.
