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An Inspector Calls

Themes
Class And Society
A fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous manufacturer. Her [Mrs. Bs] husbands social superior. Its exactly the same port your father gets from him. Trying to equal Gerald Crofts father, who owns a larger shoe manufacturing business than him. Arthur, youre not supposed to say such things.[Mrs. B] about complimenting the cook. The cooks a lower class than him so its not right. Perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together for lower costs and higher prices.[Birling] She [L. Croft] feels you might have done better for yourself socially.[Birling] She [Lady Croft] comes from an old country family and so its only natural.[Birling] Shows social hierarchy. A man has to make his own way has to look after himself and his family too, of course.[Birling] Community and all that nonsense.[Birling] I was an alderman for years and Lord Mayor two years ago and Im still on the bench.[Birling] ; the son of Sir George Croft.[Birling]. Proving his superior social status, trying to intimidate the Inspector. But after all its better to ask for the earth than to take it.[Inspector] Girls of that class.[Mrs. B] Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.[Inspector] She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position.[Mrs. B] Shows her dislike of lower class women. As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money![Mrs. B] We are members of one body.[Inspector] o At the end of his final speech, sums up Priestleys views and beliefs. Didnt I say I couldnt imagine a real police inspector talking like that to us?[Mrs. B]

Women & Gender


Really the things you girls pick up these days![Mrs. B] Doesnt think young girls should be exposed to things. Clothes mean something different to women.[Birling] Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along.[Birling] But these girls arent cheap labour theyre people.[Sheila]. Feeling more sympathy, asserting her views. And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?[Inspector]. If possible yes.[Gerald. Girls of that class.[Mrs. B] She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position.[Mrs. B] Shows her dislike of lower class women. As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money![Mrs. B]

(Sharply) Sheila, take your mother along to the drawing-room.[Birling] o Doesnt want the women to hear Erics story.

Guilt And Responsibility


A man has to make his own way has to look after himself and his family too, of course.[Birling] I dont see where I come into this[Birling] If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody wed had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldnt it?[Birling] Birling shows a marked change of tone when he finds out its not just him. But these girls arent cheap labour theyre people.[Sheila]. Feeling more sympathy, asserting her views. Youre partly to blame, just as your father is.[Inspector] I fell I can never go there again. Oh why had this to happen?[Sheila]. Well have to share our guilt.[Inspector] Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.[Inspector] Go and look for the father of the child. Its his responsibility.[Mrs. B] I did nothing Im ashamed of or that wont bear investigation.[Mrs. B] It wasnt I who turned her out of her employment.[Mrs. B] I accept no blame for it at all.[Mrs. B] Youll be able to divide the responsibility up between you when Ive gone.[Inspector] Each of you helped to kill her.[Inspector] (Angrily to Eric) Youre the one I blame for this.[Birling] Theres every excuse for what your mother and I did.[Birling] Well, if he wasnt, it matters a devil of a lot. Makes all the difference.[Birling] hasnt changed.

Generational Conflict
Really the things you girls pick up these days![Mrs. B] Doesnt think young girls should be exposed to things. Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along.[Birling] But these girls arent cheap labour theyre people.[Sheila]. Feeling more sympathy, asserting her views. Theyre [the young ones] more impressionable.[Inspector] shows their capacity to change. Girls of that class.[Mrs. B] No, of course not. Hes only a boy.[Mrs. B] o No, hes a young man.[Inspector] It would be much better if Sheila didnt listen to this story at all.[Mrs.B] Your daughter isnt living on the moon. Shes here in Brumley too.[Inspector] Im not a child dont forget[Sheila] - Bit more assertive. (With feeling) Mother, I think it was cruel and vile.[Sheila] o Sheila challenging her mother, showing shes on the Inspectors side and has changed since the beginning. The ones I see some of your respectable friends with.[Eric] o Clear sense of sarcasm, challenging his father. Mr. Birling doesnt want this mentioned and would rather pretend he never heard anything bad about those people.

Because youre not the kind of father a chap could go to when hes in trouble.[Eric] o Standing up to his father. Damn you, damn you.[Eric]

Characters
Inspector
Quotes
He creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidarity and purposefulness. But after all its better to ask for the earth than to take it.[Inspector] Ive thought that it would do us all a bit of good if sometimes we tried to put ourselves in the place of these young women counting their pennies in their dingy little back bedrooms.[Inspector] Sometimes there isnt as much difference [between respectable citizens and criminals] as you think.[Inspector] Youre partly to blame, just as your father is.[Inspector] And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?[Inspector] o If possible yes.[Gerald] Well have to share our guilt.[Inspector] We all started like that so confident, so pleased with ourselves until he began asking us questions.[Sheila] Theyre [the young ones] more impressionable.[Inspector] shows their capacity to change. Your daughter isnt living on the moon. Shes here in Brumley too.[Inspector] o Inspector is moving above Birling and becoming more assertive. Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.[Inspector] Then the next time you imagine it, just remember this girl was going to have a child.[Inspector] o Perfect time in his conflict with Mrs. Birling and weakens her. I havent much time.[Inspector] Why? Youll be able to divide the responsibility up between you when Ive gone.[Inspector] Each of you helped to kill her.[Inspector] We are members of one body.[Inspector] o At the end of his final speech, sums up Priestleys views and beliefs. If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.[Inspector] Was he really a police inspector?[Sheila] Didnt I say I couldnt imagine a real police inspector talking like that to us?[Mrs. B]

Points
Represents J.B Priestley and his ideas and beliefs. o We are members of one body.[Inspector] Hes a champion for the young and the poor. o Ive thought that it would do us all a bit of good if sometimes we tried to put ourselves in the place of these young women counting their pennies in their dingy little back bedrooms.[Inspector] Believes in change.

o Im losing all patience with you people.[Inspector] Forceful, takes charge of the situation. o Dont stammer and yammer at me again, man.[Inspector] Ultimately keeps the plot going. Orchestrates it. Was he real? o Its queer very queer.[Sheila] ; That man wasnt a police officer.[Gerald]. o Doesnt matter to Eric and Sheila but does to the others. Gerald still accepts hes done wrong, though.

Arthur Birling
Quotes
A prosperous manufacturer. BIRLING is a heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech. The kind of son-in-law I always wanted.[Birling] Perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together for lower costs and higher prices.[Birling] seeking more out of his daughters marriage then her happiness. Hes a hard-headed business man. I gather theres a pretty good chance of a knighthood.[Birling] showing off. o So long as we behave ourselves - Prolepsis. Community and all that nonsense.[Birling] A man has to make his own way has to look after himself and his family too, of course.[Birling] I was an alderman for years and Lord Mayor two years ago and Im still on the bench.[Birling] ; the son of Sir George Croft.[Birling]. Proving his superior social status, trying to intimidate the Inspector. I dont see where I come into this[Birling] If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody wed had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldnt it?[Birling] I refused, of course.[Birling] matter of fact. Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along.[Birling] Birling shows a marked change of tone when he finds out its not just him. Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.[Inspector] (Sharply) Sheila, take your mother along to the drawing-room.[Birling] o Doesnt want the women to hear Erics story. The ones I see some of your respectable friends with.[Eric] o Clear sense of sarcasm, challenging his father. Mr. Birling doesnt want this mentioned and would rather pretend he never heard anything bad about those people. Ive got to cover this up as soon as I can.[Birling] Because youre not the kind of father a chap could go to when hes in trouble.[Eric] o Standing up to his father. (Angrily to Eric) Youre the one I blame for this.[Birling] Therell be a public scandal.[Birling] All he really cares about his public image. Theres every excuse for what your mother and I did.[Birling] Nothing much has happened![Birling] Who here will suffer more from it than I will?[Birling] You dont seem to have learnt anything.[Sheila] Well, if he wasnt, it matters a devil of a lot. Makes all the difference.[Birling] hasnt

changed.

Points
Wrong about many things, even though hes a hard-headed business man. o E.g.// War, labour trouble, Titanic, Russia, 1940 o Dramatic irony as audience knew what happened, they lived through it. Is frightened by the Inspector and taken, unable to overcome him. Doesnt change at all: o Start = I gather theres a pretty good chance of a knighthood.[Birling] o End = Therell be a public scandal.[Birling] Starts off the chain of events. A firm believer in capital. o For lower costs and higher prices.[Birling] Believes, like Gerald, that women should be protected from unpleasant things. o (Sharply) Sheila, take your mother along to the drawing-room.[Birling] Doesnt want the women to hear Erics story. Believes in every man for himself. o Community and all that nonsense.[Birling] o A man has to make his own way.[Birling] A social climber. o His wife is his social superior. In terms of ideologies hes the complete opposite of the Inspector (and so Priestley).

Sybil Birling
Quotes
About fifty, a rather cold woman and her husbands social superior. Really the things you girls pick up these days![Mrs. B] Doesnt think young girls should be exposed to things. Also shows her to be quite traditional. Girls of that class.[Mrs. B] It would be much better if Sheila didnt listen to this story at all.[Mrs. B] Go and look for the father of the child. Its his responsibility.[Mrs. B] I did nothing Im ashamed of or that wont bear investigation.[Mrs. B] (With feeling) Mother, I think it was cruel and vile.[Sheila] o Sheila challenging her mother, showing shes on the Inspectors side and has changed since the beginning. It wasnt I who turned her out of her employment.[Mrs. B] She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position.[Mrs. B] Shows her dislike of lower class women. As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money![Mrs. B] I accept no blame for it at all.[Mrs. B] But I didnt know it was you I never dreamt.[Mrs. B] o Dramatic change when she realises it was Eric. Finally been cracked. Theres every excuse for what your mother and I did.[Birling] Didnt I say I couldnt imagine a real police inspector talking like that to us?[Mrs. B]

Points
Shes her husbands social superior.

Very traditional about her views. o Really the things you girls pick up these days![Mrs. B] Not willing to accept any responsibility at all and so is the hardest person for the Inspector to come up against. o I did nothing Im ashamed of[Mrs.B] o It wasnt I who turned her out of her employment.[Mrs. B] Condemns Eric and makes his entrance very dramatic. o Go and look for the father of the child. Its his responsibility.[Mrs. B] She doesnt change at all. Shes still stubborn and traditional at the end of the play. Her only sorrow is that she condemned Eric but quickly tries to right it and soon forgets about it. Shes the one who finishes off Eva Smith. Represents, like Birling, the older generation and the Inspectors (and Priestleys) opposite in viewpoints.

Sheila Birling
Quotes
A pretty girl in her early twenties very pleased with life and rather excited. Yes except for all last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you. At the start Sheila is too shy to properly challenge Gerald and get the truth out of him. Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along.[Birling] I think that was a mean thing to do.[Sheila] pushing above Birling. But these girls arent cheap labour theyre people.[Sheila]. Feeling more sympathy, asserting her views. I fell I can never go there again. Oh why had this to happen?[Sheila]. Theyre [the young ones] more impressionable.[Inspector] shows their capacity to change. He [The Inspector] knows.[Sheila] It would be much better if Sheila didnt listen to this story at all.[Mrs.B] Your daughter isnt living on the moon. Shes here in Brumley too.[Inspector] Im not a child dont forget[Sheila] - Bit more assertive. (with feeling) Mother, I think it was cruel and vile.[Sheila] o Sheila challenging her mother, showing shes on the Inspectors side and has changed since the beginning. You dont seem to have learnt anything.[Sheila] Was he really a police inspector?[Sheila] doesnt matter to her but it does to her parents.

Points
Starts off pleased with life. Undergoes a big change. Becomes on Inspectors (and thus Priestleys) side, starts questioning Gerald. o How did you come to know this girl Eva Smith?[Sheila] She challenges her parents. This is key to the plays message. o (with feeling) Mother, I think it was cruel and vile.[Sheila] Represents the young who have the power to change. This is key to the plays message. So does Eric.

Eric Birling
Quotes
In his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive. It isnt if you cant go and work somewhere else.[Eric] gradually changing his opinion and being a bit more assertive. (Bursting out) Well, I think its a damn shame.[Eric] Inspector then deliberately misunderstands him and Eric therefore completely explains his views, being more assertive and sympathetic to Eva Smith. Theyre [the young ones] more impressionable.[Inspector] shows their capacity to change. He [Eric]s been steadily drinking too much for the last two years.[Sheila] No, of course not. Hes only a boy.[Mrs. B] o No, hes a young man.[Inspector] Go and look for the father of the child. Its his responsibility.[Mrs. B] The ones I see some of your respectable friends with.[Eric] o Clear sense of sarcasm, challenging his father. Mr. Birling doesnt want this mentioned and would rather pretend he never heard anything bad about those people. Because youre not the kind of father a chap could go to when hes in trouble.[Eric] o Standing up to his father. Damn you, damn you.[Eric] Im ashamed of you as well.[Eric] He was our police inspector all right.[Eric] (Shouting) And I say the girls dead and we all helped to kill her and thats what matters.[Eric]

Points
Starts off half shy, half assertive, trying to live up to fathers reputation. Last to be interrogated and father of Eva Smiths child. Undergoes a huge change. Directly opposes his father. Almost attacks him in Daldrys play. o Because youre not the kind of father a chap could go to when hes in trouble.[Eric] Hes condemned by his mother. End of Act Two. o Its his responsibility.[Mrs. B] Represents the young, just like Sheila. Ends up on Inspector (and Priestleys) side.

Gerald Croft
Quotes
An attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town. The kind of son-in-law I always wanted.[Birling] And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?[Inspector] o If possible yes.[Gerald] I was sorry for her.[Gerald] You and I arent the same people who sat down to dinner together.[Sheila]

That man wasnt a police officer.[Gerald] still obsessed with his public image. But how do you know its the same girl?[Gerald]

Points
Sheilas fiance and the only person who actually helped the girl. o In fact, in some odd way, I rather respect you more than Ive ever done before.[Sheila] Neither young nor old so undergoes a small change but is the protagonist in convincing people that man wasnt an inspector. Son of Sir Croft and Birling would like to see them working together for lower costs and higher prices. Generally a traditional capitalist.

Eva Smith / Daisy Renton


I was sorry for her.[Gerald] Then the next time you imagine it, just remember this girl was going to have a child.[Inspector] Each of you helped to kill her.[Inspector]

Structure
Order of interrogation is specifically chosen for maximum impact, particularly Erics. Cliffhangers at end of acts, orchestrated by the Inspector. Set in real time. No gaps between the events on stage, they all happen as they should.

Staging Of The Play


First performance was in the USSR in 1945. Shows it was acceptable for a communist government, this proves Priestly to be a socialist. 1/8/1946 = First performance in London in the New Theatre. At end of WW2 Daldrys performance: o Opening = pathetic fallacy with rain. o 1940s kids, showing the Inspectors knowledge of the future. Inspector is friendly with them, showing his love for the younger generation as he thinks they can change. o Atmospheric music. o Eric almost attacks his father at the end. o Lights up on audience at Inspectors final speech. The light is pink and intimate before the Inspector arrives and then brighter and harder at his arrival.

Uber-Quotes
A man has to make his own way[Birling] Community and all that nonsense.[Birling] But after all its better to ask for the earth than to take it.[Inspector] Girls of that class.[Mrs. B] If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody wed had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldnt it?[Birling] Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.[Inspector] Its his responsibility.[Mrs. B] I accept no blame for it at all.[Mrs. B] Each of you helped to kill her.[Inspector] Theyre [the young ones] more impressionable.[Inspector] Because youre not the kind of father a chap could go to when hes in trouble.[Eric] Well have to share our guilt.[Inspector] Each of you helped to kill her.[Inspector] they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.[Inspector] Im losing all patience with you people.[Inspector] I dont see where I come into this[Birling] Ive got to cover this up as soon as I can.[Birling] Theres every excuse for what your mother and I did.[Birling] Her husbands social superior. I accept no blame for it at all.[Mrs. B] Yes except for all last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you. But these girls arent cheap labour theyre people.[Sheila]. Your daughter isnt living on the moon. Shes here in Brumley too.[Inspector] You dont seem to have learnt anything.[Sheila] It isnt if you cant go and work somewhere else.[Eric]

Im ashamed of you as well.[Eric] He was our police inspector all right.[Eric] (Shouting) And I say the girls dead and we all helped to kill her and thats what matters.[Eric] You and I arent the same people who sat down to dinner together.[Sheila]

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