An Inspector

Calls
By J.B Priestley
Presented by Fahd Azad
Sr.4B - 10211

Introduction
The play "An Inspector calls, a play, was

written by J.B. Priestley in 1945. It is set in 1912

in a Midland Industrial Town called Brumley.
J.B Priestley was an English author, novelist,

playwright, scriptwriter and a social

commentator.
J.B Priestley likes to focus on a question How

should the society be organized? in this play,

An Inspector Calls.

Characters

Inspector Goole

- He is in his fifties and is dressed in a plain dark

suit. He initially seems to be an ordinary Brumley police inspector, but (as his
name might suggest) comes to seem something more ominous--perhaps even
a supernatural being. The precise nature of his character is left unknown by
Priestley, and it can be interpreted in various ways.

Mr. Birling

Mr. Birling is hard headed business man as he claims. He

is married to Sybil Birling/Mrs Birling with whom he has two children, Sheila
and Eric.

Sybil Birling

She is married to Mr. Burling. Shes shown in this play

as her husbands social superior. Priestley describes her as, about fifty, rather
cold woman..

Sheila Birling

Sheila is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.. Birling and the

sister of Eric. She engaged to be married to Gerald Croft. Priestly describes her
as, A pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather
excited..

Eric Birling

Eric is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Birling and the brother of
Sheila. Hes described by Priestley as, in his early twenties, not quite at ease,
half shy, half assertive

Gerald Croft

- Gerald is the son of Lord Croft. Hes introduced in the

play as Sheilas fianc. Priestly describes him as, an attractive chap about
thirty ... very much the easy well-bred young-man-about-town.

Eva Smith

Eva Smith is the woman who the Inspector claims worked

Responsibility
The

wordsresponsibleandresponsibility
are used by mostcharactersin the play
at some point.
Each member of the family has a

different attitude towards responsibility.

It is a vital and the most important

theme in this play.

J.B Priestley offers us a choice between

socialism in which the rich are

compelled to share their wealth, or
through capitalism where you are
allowed to keep more of your money.

Inspector Gooles point of view

towards responsibility.
The Inspector wanted each

member of the family to share

the responsibility of Eva's
death: he tells them,"each of
you helped to kill her.
However, his final speech is

aimed not only at the

characters on stage, but at
the audience too when he
says, 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

Mr Birlings views Towards

Responsibility
Mr. Birling represents the older generation and is a firm

capitalist.
He shows no regret in firing Eva Smith from her job and is
not affected but her suicide either. Hes been portrayed to
show no guilt
over Eva Smiths death, who after all was a person also.
We see none
of Mr Birlings good character instead we see him as
dishonest and
cold.
Hes totally unaware of the effects of his actions on other
people.
He doesnt care about the low wages of the workers and
celebrates ripping of his workers and customers. lower
costs and higher prices

Sybil Birlings view Towards Responsibility

Shes portrayed as an ignorant, adamant snob.
She looks down on the lower class and

hypocritically judges them more harshly than any

her own family.
She is an icily impressive woman, arguably the
only one of all the Birling Family to almost
completely resist the Inspector's attempts to
make her realize her responsibilities.
Like her husband, Mrs Birling has only her own
view
in thought and is clearly uninterested by the
needs of others, no
regret is felt and it seems that she is totally
unmoved by the wholeincident, only caring when

Sheila and Erics views Towards

Responsibility
Sheila and Eric represent the younger generation and dont

share the same capitalist thoughts like their parents.

By the end of the play, they both admit to their involvement
and their guilt in the death of Eva Smith.
J.B Priestley uses the personalities of Sheila, Eric and the
Inspector to deliver the message that everyones a human
and deserves equal rights.
Sheila is portrayed as being sorrowful and remorse, as she

feelsgreat guilt for the actions that she committed. She

agrees with theInspector of her pride when he says, You
used the power you had, topunish the girl.
Although Eric is portrayed as a young and immature guy,
he felt guilty and shame aboutwhat he had done. When he
discovers that his mother had turned heraway, his guilt and
remorse turn to anger. Then you killed her, Shecame to
you to protect me, my child, your grandchild, you killed
themboth.

Gerald Crofts views Towards

Responsibility
He is not as willing as Sheila to admit his part in the girl's death

to the Inspector and initially pretends that he never knew her.

Hes a bit like Mr.Birling and wants to protect his own interests.
He did have some genuine feeling for Eva Smith/Daisy Renton,
however: he is very moved when he hears of her death. He
tells Inspector Goole that he arranged for her to live in his
friend's flat"because I was sorry for her;"she became his
mistress because"She was young and pretty and warmhearted - and intensely grateful."
Despite this, in Act 3 he tries to come up with as much
evidence as possible to prove that the Inspector is a fake because that would get him off the hook.
It is Gerald who confirms that the local force has no officer by
the name of Goole.

Conclusion
The question asked throughout the play is: who is responsible for the suicide ofEva Smith?
Who is to blame? The arc of the play follows the gradual spreading of responsibility, fromMr.
Birling, toMr. BirlingandSheila, toMr. BirlingandSheilaandGerald, and so on and so
. forth
Each of the characters has different opinions about which of them is most responsible for the
girls suicide.Mrs. Birling, most extremely, ends up blaming her own son, by suggesting that
the person most responsible is the man that impregnated the girl, before realizing that the
.person in question is Eric
In the end, theInspectortries to explain to the Birling family the shared responsibility that they
should feel for the girls death, into a plea for something like Socialism: 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. The
lesson of theInspector, and of the play at large, is that our actions have an influence
beyond themselves and therefore that we arealready responsible for each other so long as
. we are responsible for ourselves and our own actions
o
The play contends that Socialism simply recognizes and builds upon this truth, in deprivatizing wealth and power and thus building an economy and politics on the foundation of
.shared responsibility

Though responsibility itself is a central

theme of the play, the last act of the play

provides a fascinating portrait of the way
that people can let themselves off the
hook. If one message of the play is that we
must all care more thoroughly about the
general welfare, it is clear that the
message is not shared by all.
By contrasting the older Birlings and

Gerald with Sheila and Eric, Priestley draws

out the difference between those who have
accepted their responsibility and those
who have not.

Thank You
For being a great audience

Any Questions?