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1. Priestley presents younger generation is more sympathetic and emotional whereas he presents the older generation as more callous.

2. Priestley presents the generation of having a lack of trust towards the older generation.

3. Priestley conveys a common theme that the older generation look down on the younger generation.

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An Inspector Calls

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This article is about the play. For other uses, see An Inspector Calls (disambiguation).

An Inspector Calls is a play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed - in Russian - on 6 July 1945 at Moscow's Kamerny Theatre in the Soviet Union[2]. Interviewed about this[3] Priestley said that the play would have had its premiere in London but a theatre could not be found. Shortly after the play had been completed, Priestley and his wife were guests at a dinner at the Soviet Embassy in London and a discussion led to Priestley's providing an official with a copy of the script.

An Inspector Calls

Written by

| J. B. Priestley

Date premiered

| 6 July 1945

Place premiered

| Moscow, Soviet Union

Original language

| English

Subject

| A mysterious inspector interrogates a wealthy English family about their responsibility for the death of a young working class factory girl.[1]

Genre

| Drama

Setting

| The Birlings’ home in Brumley, England; April 1912

The play was first performed in english at the Old Vic on 1 October 1946. It is one of Priestley's best known works for the stage and is considered to be one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre. The play's success and reputation have been boosted by a successful revival by English director Stephen Daldry for the National Theatre in 1992[4] and a tour of the UK in 2011–2012.

The play is a three-act drama which takes place on a single night in April 1912,[5] focusing on the prosperous upper middle-class Birling family,[6] who live in a comfortable home in the fictional town of Brumley, "an industrial city in the north Midlands".[5] The family is visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole, who questions the family about the suicide of a young working-class woman, Eva Smith (also known as Daisy Renton). Long considered part of the repertory of classic drawing room theatre, the play has also been hailed as a scathing criticism of the hypocrisies of Victorian and Edwardian English society and as an expression of Priestley's socialist political principles. The play is studied in many schools in the UK as one of the prescribed texts for the English Literature GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education).

Contents

Synopsis

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At the Birlings' home in April 1912, Arthur Birling – a wealthy factory owner and local politician – and his family are celebrating the engagement of daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft, the son of the owner of one of Birling's competitors, Crofts Limited. Also in attendance is Arthur's wife Sybil and their children Sheila and Eric, both in their early twenties. Eric, the younger, has a drinking problem that is not discreetly ignored and is a major part of the play. After dinner, Arthur speaks about the importance of self-reliance. He talks about his impending knighthood and about how "a man has to look after himself and his family."

A man calling himself Inspector Goole arrives, interrupting the evening and explaining that a woman called Eva Smith has killed herself by drinking strong disinfectant. He implies that she has left a diary, naming members of the Birling family. Inspector Goole produces a photograph of Eva and shows it to Arthur, who acknowledges that she worked in one of his mills. He admits that he dismissed her from Birling & Co. 18 months ago for her involvement in an abortive workers' strike. He denies responsibility for her death.

Sheila then enters the room and is drawn into the discussion. After prompting from Goole, she admits to recognising Eva as well. She confesses that Eva served her in a department store, Milwards, and Sheila contrived to have her fired for an imagined slight. She admits that Eva's behaviour had been blameless and that the firing was motivated solely by Sheila's jealousy and spite towards a pretty working-class woman.

Sybil enters the room and Goole continues his interrogation, revealing that Eva was also known as Daisy Renton. Gerald starts at the mention of the name and Sheila becomes suspicious. Gerald admits that he met a woman by that name in the Palace Bar. He gave her money and arranged to see her again. Goole reveals that Gerald had installed Eva as his mistress, and gave her money and promises of continued support before ending the relationship. Arthur and Sybil are horrified. An ashamed Gerald exits the room. Sheila acknowledges his nature and credits him for speaking truthfully but also signals that their engagement is over. After Gerald returns, Sheila hands the ring, which Gerald had given her earlier in the evening, back to him.

Goole identifies Sybil as the head of a women's charity to which Eva had turned for help. Despite Sybil's haughty responses, she eventually admits that Eva, pregnant and destitute, had asked the committee for financial aid. Sybil had convinced the committee that the girl was a liar and that her application should be denied. Despite vigorous cross-examination from Goole, Sybil denies any wrongdoing. Sheila begs her mother not to continue, but Goole plays his final card, making Sybil declare that the "drunken young man" who had made Eva pregnant should give a "public confession, accepting all the blame". Eric enters the room, and after brief questioning from Goole, he breaks down, admitting that he drunkenly raped Eva before meeting with her several times later and then stole £50 (purchasing power of £5610 in 2018 pounds)[7] from his father's business to help her when she became pregnant. When Eva realised that the money had been stolen, she refused it. Arthur and Sybil are outraged by Eric's actions, and the evening dissolves into angry recriminations

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“Mr Birling represents the predudiced and pompous way that many people of his class used to view the poor.”

“He is someone that is fixated on his personal wealth and his reputation, this portrays him as a symbol of capitalist values”

“He is also shown to be callous and cold-hearted. This is seen through his reaction to learning that the inspector is not actually a real inspector, and that nobody had actually committed suicide. He showed no remorse, even though he is well aware of the anguish that he put someone through”

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The audience is taught to treat all people equally and not to be pompous and prejduced against poor people

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How does Priestley present misogyny in AIC

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How does Priestley present misogyny in AIC

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Priestly uses meggarty to respesent the exploitation of women in the upper class and how it is dismissed
"She only escaped with a torn blouse”
~~~
Prietley uses dramatic irony in order to portray male ignorace in regard to their treatment on women.
"The Germans don’t want war”
"Unsinkable” [titanic]
~~~
Priestley uses Mr Birling in order to portray the objectification of women made by men which can be seen when he refers to Eva as just another one of his “several hundred young women” who work as a part of his “cheap labour”
~~~

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Birling takes advantage  of Eva and the factory workers as they are poor and he has more power than them

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How does Priestly present hypocrisy in An Inspector Calls?

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How does Priestley present the relationship between Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft in An Inspector Calls?

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How does Priestley show the importance of time?

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How does Priestley show the importance of time?

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1. Point - Cyclical nature of the story (shows the pitfalls of refusing to change, ie. that if change is refused, no progress will be made)
Topic sentence - Priestley uses the cyclical nature of An Inspector Calls in order to demonstrate the lack of progress that is caused by a reluctance to change.
Moments - Inspector Goole’s initial appearance and the final phonecall from the infirmary
Dramatic technique - Cyclical structure
Context - Priestley’s desire for society to change after aftermath of WW2

2. Point - Dramatic irony reveals the shortsighted failings of a capitalist mindset
Topic sentence - Priestley exemplifies the irresponsible, shortsighted nature of capitalism through his use of dramatic irony.
Moments - Mr Birling’s advice to Gerald and Eric about the future
Dramatic technique - Dramatic irony
Context - Priestley’s message of socialism being the more responsible and thoughtful choice for a better future

3. Point - The rigid structure of the interrogations exemplifies the consequences of the Birling’s and Gerald’s actions.
Topic Sentence - Priestley uses the methodical structure of the interrogations to clearly show the consequences of the events of Eva Smith’s/Daisy Renton’s life.
Moments - Sequence of interrogations
Dramatic Technique - Linear Structure with flashbacks
Context - Priestley’s desire to convert his upper class audience to Socialism and show them the result of a lack of responsibility

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How does Priestly present hypocrisy in An Inspector Calls?

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How does Priestly present hypocrisy in An Inspector Calls?

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key moments:
When Mr Birling talks about the Germans not wanting war and the titanic being unsinkable
Mr and Mrs Birling still showing respect for Gerald despite the revelation of his mistress
The inspector’s last speech

context:
Made in 1945, after 2 world wars and the titanic had sank, but set in 1912 before they all happened
In 1912 upper class people having mistresses would be common
In 1945 Clement Attlee, the labour leader, had just become prime minister with a landslide majority, showing that there was a change from capitalism to socialism in the UK. Priestley was one of the writers that advocated socialism and made an inspector calls to show the flaws of the capitalist way

topic sentences:
One place where Priestley shows hypocrisy is when Mr Birling talks about how bright the future is at the start of act one.
Priestley also showcases the hypocrisy in the Edwardian era with the characterisation of Gerald in act 2.
Priestley tells the audience more explicitly about the hypocrisy of old capitalist ways and not to follow the in the Inspector’s chilling last speech in act 3.

techniques:
Dramatic irony - Mr Birling talks about how the titanic it unsinkable and the Germans don’t want war when they had both happened by 1945
Adjectives- Mrs Birling is ‘staggered’ when learning that Alderman Meggarty does inappropiate things to women at the palace variety bar , suggesting she’s acting as she secretly knows it happens all the time
Religious connotations - The inspector sounds god like in his final speech to give a chilling warning to the audience to not commit the mistakes the previous generation made like ‘we are all members of one body’

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Explore the importance of the inspecctor in an inspector calls

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Explore the importance of the inspecctor in an inspector calls

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The Inspector is in his fifties, dressed in a plain dark suit. He initially seems to be an ordinary Brumley police inspector, but (as his name suggests) comes to seem something more ominous, perhaps even supernatural. J. B. Priestly writes The Inspector "need not be a big man, but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness." The precise nature of his character is left ambiguous by Priestly, and it can be interpreted in various ways.
The Inspector knows is aware that Sheila feels guilty, and had underlined that before she realised, and lets her feel guilty and admit she cannot bare to be responsible for the girl's death. She is struck by the truth of what the Inspector says, showing that he is a powerful, manipulative and interesting character.

Priestley describes him as speaking "carefully, weightily ... and [he] has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before he speaks."

2/4: Priestley's Message (intended affect on the audience)

He is Priestley’s voice – he represents Priestley's strong moral views. His job is to make the characters change their attitudes, face up to what they have done and start taking responsibility for each other – see his final message in the play.

He heightens drama – his entrances and exits are well timed in order to create maximum tension (e.g. at the end of Act 1 when he walks in on Gerald and Sheila’s conversation).

He controls the structure of the play – each revelation moves the play one step forward.

3/4: Inspector Goole's Character Development/changes

Inspector Goole's character doesn't change. He always remains assertive throughout the play. However, he seems to gain more control over the characters as the play progresses.

4/4: Inspector Goole: Quote Bank (Analysis)

| ​​Scroll down for a list of his quotes. Or read ahead for (very!) important quote analysis.He arrives at a critical time – to interrupt Mr Birling and his selfish views: ‘a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own – and – We hear the sharp ring of a front doorbell.’ The Inspector’s role is to show that this is not the case.The Inspector uses the pronoun 'we' wheras Mr Birling and Mrs Birling use 'I'. Priestley creates a division between the Birlings selfish desires and Priestley's own message of collective responsibility.He is described in the stage directions as giving ‘an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness’. He takes charge immediately from Mr Birling and remains in control throughout. Mr Birling attempts to regain control, but fails as the Inspector quickly regains his control (The Inspector interrupts Birling ‘cutting through, massively’). Goole remains solid as each of them breaks down and nothing distracts him from his purpose.He is clearly there to challenge and investigate. He has a habit of ‘looking hard’ at the person he is interrogating before starting to speak. This unnerves the characters.He directs the investigation carefully, dealing with ‘one line of enquiry at a time’. Therefore, he is controlling the structure of the play.He is a teacher – to teach each character (and the audience) of the importance of social responsibility.Goole might have made a reference to the Bible in his statement "We are members of one body". His assertion suggests a moral character, with Biblical characteristics of compassion and love. He uses aggressive, shocking language to make the characters feel guilty for the part they played in Eva Smith’s death: ‘she died in misery and agony’4/4: Inspector Goole: Key Quotes Bank

1. “Need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.”

2. “He is a man in his fifties, dressed in a plain darkish suit of the period. He speaks carefully, weightily and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking”

3. “Two hours ago a young woman died in the Infirmary. She’d been taken there this afternoon because she’d swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant. Burnt her inside out, of course”

4. “A chain of events” lead to Eva Smith's suicide.

5. “...It’s better to ask for the Earth than to take it”

6. “...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 bedroom”

7. (To Gerald) “And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?”

8. “A girl died tonight. A pretty, lively sort of girl, who never did anybody any harm. But she died in misery and agony- hating life-”

9. “If there’s nothing else we have to share our guilt”

10. “Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges”

11. “You’ve had children. You must have known what she was feeling. And you slammed the door in her face”

12. “And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don’t need to know any more. Neither do you. This girl killed herself- and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it. (He looks from one to the other of them carefully) But then I don’t think you ever will. Remember what you did”

13. “But remember this. One Eva Smith has gone- but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.”

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How does Priestley present the generation gap in An Inspector Calls?

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How does Priestley present the generation gap in An Inspector Calls?

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Q7.
The low-key beef between the the older generation, Sybil and Arthur Birling, and the younger generation, Shiela and Eric Birling. Gerald Croft is somewhere in between.

Mrs Birling being snobby and looking down on the younger generation.
“Really the things you girls pick up on these days” Mrs Birling 2k16

Eric not trusting and not feeling comfortable talking with his father about personals stuff.
“Not the kind of father a chap could go to when he's in trouble” Eric Birling 2k15

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How does priestly represent misogyny in AIC

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Eva smith had me like 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔

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To what extent as Eva Smith an important character in an Inspector Call

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To what extent as Eva Smith an important character in an Inspector Call

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Eva Smith is important.

key moments:
Mrs Birling rejects Eva from the charity

Mr Birling sacks Eva

Eric forces his way into Eva's Lodgings

Gerald describes how he 'rescued' Eva from the bar.

topic sentences

Priestly uses Eva to show how poorly the lower class were treated.

Priestly uses Eva to show the vulnerability of women at the time.

So Priestley uses Eva's tragic life to caution his audience and promote a sense of collective responsibility.

ALWAYS REFER TO:
1. Collective responsibility
2. Social change

Priestly wants his audience to consider their political view and their morals. He does this by showing how badly treated their lower class were (Eva)

Techniques

you can talk about how Priestly juxtaposes Eva's life with Shelia's in Mill wards to show how bad the lower class life was.

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How does Priestley present the relationship between Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft in An Inspector Calls?

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How does Priestley present the relationship between Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft in An Inspector Calls?

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Plan:

Priestley uses the contrast between the liberal Sheila and the more traditional Gerald to show the audience that even people who may seem honest and "a man about town" can be cruel.

Priestley uses Gerald's unloyalty to Sheila as a tool to show the that socialists such as Priestley are exploited by the upper class, and much like Sheila was, tricked into liking their oppressors again anyway. "I respect you more than ever" < similar to this quote

Priestley uses tense moments to bring out the stony and cool nature of their relationships, and all upper class relationships.
"Get to know each other all over again" < Quote similar to this) Shows that marriages are often just arranged for monetary advantage.

Priestley presents Gerald and Sheilas relationship as slowly dividing, further emphasis the fragile nature of the upper class relationships.

———
Sheila and Gerald’s relationship is seen as unfair, reflecting the prejudices of the time.
Unfair relationship reflects the advantage of power that men held . Also reflects underadvantaged women.
“Nearly any man would have done”
“At least it’s honest” even Sheila thinks that it’s honest, and correct. Reflects oppression.

Priestley depicts the two characters very different reaction to the Insoector to highlight the differences in moral values.
Gerald did not learn, Sheila did learn. Sheila is moral throughout the play, so audience wants to accosiate more with her, so will pick up priestley’s message, like Sheila did.
“That man wasn’t a police officer”
“Everything we said had happened and really happened”

Priestley depicts the relationship as oriented towards monetary gain, highlighting the immoral reasons behind the upper class’s decisions.
Relationship seems constructed for monetary gain, again immoral decisions from rich.
“for lower costs and higher prices”

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How does Priestley present duty in An Inspector Calls

Point 1
- Birling household letting down their duty
- duty to keep labour costs down
- then he’d be entirely responsible

Point 2
- Priestley uses the inspectors closing speech to emphasise his own views on duty and responsibility
- we are all members of one body we are responsible for each other
- each of you helped kill her
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Point 3
- the effect of the inspectors final words is shown by the different characters to what he has said and what has happened
- I don’t see much nonsense when a girl goes and kills herself we did her in all right
- if we were responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with it would be very awkward wouldn’t it

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How does Priestley explore the role of women in An Inspector Calls?

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How does Priestley explore the role of women in An Inspector Calls?

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Priestley presents the lower class women as victims to the misogynistic attitudes in AIC. It is insinuated that Eric raped Eva during his interrogation, sexism is also demonstrated when Eva is harassed by Old man Meggarty.

Gerald’s speech about how he rescued Eva from the bar echoes the idea of male dominance over women. Priestley is critiquing this from the perspective of a socialist, 33 years after the play is set (takes place in 1912, written in 1945)

In the first act of AIC, the women of the Birling household are excluded from smoking cigars and discussing business; Instead, Sheila and Sibyl leave the room for tea. This suggests women are “protected” from the truth, as they were viewed as too emotional and in extreme cases, “hysterical”.

Mr. Birling justifies Gerald’s relationship with Daisy by claiming lots of married men have affairs. The normalisation of affairs is emphasized with Mrs. Birling’s reaction to the well respected men like Old man Meggarty in the Palace bar.

Sheila and Mrs Birling at Milwards reflects how women were sheltered; their biggest concerns are whether a dress “suits them” or not. It shows how naive Sheila is at the beginning of the play and even materialistic. This is also suggested when Gerald gives Sheila the ring, she squeals: “Look mummy, isn’t it a beauty?” This rhetorical question presents Sheila as an unperturbed character.

KEY MOMENTS:

Gerald describes how he ‘rescued’ Eva from the bar (7)

Eric forces his way into Eva’s lodgings (9)

Sheila realises Gerald lied to her (13)

KEY QUOTES:

"Fat carcass”

"Women of the town”

"Well respected”

"Young and fresh and charming”

"Girls of that class”

"Several hundred young women... they keep changing”

" very pleased with life”

TOPIC SENTENCES:

Priestley explores the role of women from many different backgrounds- the working class women (Eva Smith), the” upperclass younger (Sheila) and older (Mrs Birling) generations.

He presents Eva Smith as a victim to misogynistic attitudes with her encounters with upperclass men (Old man meggarty and Eric).

Though seemingly a safer environment than the Palace bar, gender roles are still enforced in the Birling household.

Priestley is critiquing the stereotypes of women by presenting Sheila as a strong and independent character. (Link conclusion to context: 1912 is before women got the vote in Britain, this is when AIC is set. Priestley wrote it in 1945, after this.)

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08 How does Priestly present Eric in An Inspector Calls

Plan: Eric is a young man who is presented with a lack of confidence, one reason for this is his fathers comments. The stage directions within the play describe him as a “half shy” man during his dialogue. Eric is also presented as assertive during his bickering with Shiela across the table. The inspector cauPEWDIEPIEses Eric some emotional distress during his interrogation.

Eric key moments are things such as when he bickers with Shiela at dinner, goes outside for a smoke/drink, more evidence for his drinking habits.

Key quotes:
“Not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble’ ‘You don't understand anything. You never did' - This shows him to be unloved.

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How does Priestley explore Selfishness in An Inspector Calls?

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How does Priestley explore Selfishness in An Inspector Calls?

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Key Points

Key Moments:

Topic Sentences:

Priestley presents selfishness through Mrs Birlings obsession with her status and her distaste for the lower classes.

Selfishness is portrayed through Mr Birlings self importance

At the start of the play, Eric and Sheila are relatively selfish however over the course of the play they begin to feel remorse and sympathy for people like Eva Smith.

The Inspectors last message to the family is about how selfishness from the upper class is causing all their problems. He suggests they learn from their mistakes or they will ‘be taught’ in ‘fire, blood and anguish’.

Dramatic Techniques to analyse:

Context:

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How does Priestly explore responsibility in An Inspector Calls

Context:
In 1946, there was no assistance for people who could not afford to look after themselves. Priestley wanted to address this issue. He also felt that if people were more considerate of one another, it would improve quality of life for all. Priestley wanted his audience to be responsible for their own behaviour and responsible for the welfare of others.

Key Moments:
- The Inspector’s lesson.
- Mr Birling taking no responsibility for Eva’s death.
- Mrs Birling taking no responsibility for Eva’s death.
- Eric taking responsibility for Eva’s death in the final act.

Key Quotes:
- “It’s better to ask for the earth than to take it."
- “If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we'd had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn't it?"
- “I should think not. Eric, I'm absolutely ashamed of you."
- "I don't see much nonsense about it when a girl goes and kills herself. You lot may be letting yourselves out nicely, but I can't. Nor can mother. We did her in all right."

Key Points:
- Here the Inspector is suggesting that it is socially irresponsible to be greedy and 'take' things without permission. This is a practice the privileged Birlings would be used to.
- Mr Birling dismisses the idea that we should be responsible for each other, suggesting that such a situation would be 'awkward'.
- In telling Eric that she is ashamed of him she shows that she has learned nothing from the Inspector’s investigation. The audience would know that she is in no position to be questioning the behaviour of anyone else given her own treatment of Eva Smith and lack of social responsibility.
- Eric clearly shows that he has a sense of social responsibility. Whilst Gerald and Eric's parents are enjoying being in the clear, Eric still takes the matter of Eva's death very seriously. He is even brave enough to tell his mother that she should feel responsible too.

Topic Sentances:
- In An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents responsibility as influential through the Inspector’s lesson.
- Through the character of Mr Birling, Priestley echoes the ignorance and selfishness of the upper class.
- Priestley emphasises the arrogance of the upper class through Mrs Birling’s lack of responsibility towards Eva’s death.
- In An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses Eric in the last act to present responsibility as moral and honourable.