An Inspector Calls - Profiles/Quotes/Essay Plans

Arthur Birling

A proud, pig-headed and stubborn man.
He is not truly upper-class, but he does aspire to be. He hopes to become a ‘Sir’
He runs a successful business, but not as successful or long-running as the Croft business (Gerald’s family)
He probably approves of Gerald, no matter what he does, because he wants to be associated with that family

What he is guilty of

He fired Eva Smith because she led a strike to try and get better pay. Birling saw this as being preposterous (cheeky), and got rid of her. Nowadays, unions and strike action are common. They are what gives the working classes power.

Quotes:

[About Eva Smith] – “She’d had a lot to say – far too much – so she had to go” p.173
Shows his lack of tolerance to working classes

[To Eric] “It’s about time you learned a few responsibilities. That’s something this public-school-and-varsity life you’ve had doesn’t seem to teach you.” P.175

Shows how out of touch he is about his own role in society. He has no right to criticise anyone!
“There’s every reason for what your mother and I did – it turned out unfortunately, that’s all” – near the end of the play, p.208


Sybil Birling

Like her husband she is arrogant and stubborn.
She feels ‘put-out’ that the inspector would even dare to question someone of her class.
She is short-tempered and bad-mannered. She does not think that her family can do any wrong.

What she is guilty of

She refused to help Eva Smith when she came to her charity in desperate need. At the time Eva Smith was pregnant with Eric’s baby, although Sybil did not know this. Eva had called herself ‘Eva Birling’, and Sybil was angered by the idea that a poor person would try to use their family name. Not only did Sybil refuse to help, but she vindictively made sure that nobody else in the organisation helped her either.

Quotes:

[To Sheila] “You’re looking tired, dear. I think you ought to go to bed and forget about this absurd business.”
Shows her lack of responsibility for the situation.

[To the inspector] “You know of course that my husband was Lord Mayor only two years ago, and that he is still a magistrate?”
Shows how she believes that status absolves you from responsibility

[About Eva Smith] “I’ll tell you what I told her. Go and look for the father of the child. It’s his responsibility.”
Shows her lack of care and her refusal to accept responsibility for her actions.

Gerald Croft

Member of the Croft family who are richer and more successful than the Birlings.
He has just got engaged to Sheila.
His father is a ‘Sir’.
He tries to explain his way out of things rather than facing up to his responsibilities.
His family probably see it as a ‘step-down’ that he is marrying one of the Birlings. He could do better.

What he is guilty of

He got chatting to Eva Smith, who at the time was calling herself ‘Daisy Renton’, after calling into a bar which is well-known for being full of prostitutes.
Although he did not ask her for sex, he did leave the bar with her and got chatting to her. He kept her a secret and paid for her to be fed and have a roof over her head. Eventually they had a sexual relationship, but he abandoned her without much warning.

Quotes:
“Inspector, I think Miss Birling should be excused any more of this questioning.”
Shows his desire to cover up the truth

[About Birling sacking Eva Smith] “You couldn’t have done anything else” p.184
Shows his lack of feeling for lower classes.

[When Sheila accuses Gerald of ‘adoring the attention’ from Eva Smith] “I did for a time. Nearly any man would have.” P.192

Sheila Birling

Daughter of Arthur and Sybil.
She is spoilt and selfish at first.
She is very image conscious. She even asks if Eva Smith was ‘pretty’ when she finds out that she is dead, as if that would make her death more upsetting.
She had Eva Smith fired from a clothes shop because she thought that she had seen Eva smirking behind her back when she was trying on a dress.
When she finds out that she is partly responsible, she is very upset and full of remorse.
It appears to change her view on things, and she encourages the others to take responsibility also.




Quotes

“She was a very pretty girl too – with big bark eyes – and that didn’t make it any better.” P.180
Shows her shallow side.

“And probably between us killed her!” p.188
Shows her willingness to accept responsibility

“[Bitterly] I suppose we’re all nice people now” – when discovering that the inspector is a fake. P.189

Eric Birling

Son of Arthur and Sybil
Early on in the play he appears to take the ‘moral high ground’ appearing to be educated and tolerant compared to his parents.
Later on, we find out that he has a few secrets which no one knew anything about.
Firstly he has a drinking problem which nobody had any knowledge of.
However, most importantly, he got Eva Smith pregnant when he picked her up in the same bar that Gerald had met her in. Eric was not so gentlemanly about things, and he had sex with her on the first night that they met. Eric tried to keep the whole thing secret.

Quotes:

“He could have kept her on instead of throwing her out. I call it tough luck!” p.173
“I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty” p.203
[To Sybil] “You don’t understand anything. You never did. You never even tried to.” P.207


Themes and points you can make about them!

Political views

*Priestly is a left-wing writer, meaning that he believes all classes should be treated equally and have equal rights.
*When this play was set, the working classes had little or not rights and set conditions in the work place.
*The play was written at a time when the world had recently witnessed revolutions in the likes of Russia, where the working classes took over and established communism.
*When this play was written, the people of Britain were in a time of change, where people had been forced to work together to overcome a common enemy. The message from Priestly is clear. Learn from past mistakes, and start to take responsibility for the way we treat each other.

Class and social divide

*The classes in this play are hugely divided in the way they live and the way they are treated.
*Tellingly, the true ‘upper class’ – the Crofts – are not in the play. They are missing, earning their money and reputation from afar. Even Gerald goes missing for a large part of the play.
*The Birlings aspire to be upper class. Mrs Birling is ‘offended’ when someone of working class uses her family name. Mr Birling is desperate to be a Knight. The Birling parents seem not to be bothered by the fact that their future son-in-law has cheated on their daughter with a prostitute…simply because he is of a higher social class.
*Those of lower class are hardly featured in the play. Though she is arguably the main character, Eva Smith is not present to ‘speak for herself’ – representing the way working class people were treated. The maid is also working class, but an extremely minor character with little or no importance to the play.
*All of the characters, through their ruthless actions, prove their attitude to the lower classes by walking all over them and not hearing their side of the story. Gerald appears to be the only one who treats Eva with any dignity at all, but even he lets her down.
*Eva Smith’s baby is never considered to be a ‘lost Birling’, because it belongs to a lower social class.

Responsibility

*The inspector seems to want all characters to take responsibility for what they have done. He never threatens them with criminal charges. The punishment, for those who accept their blame, is the guilt which they feel.
*Each character is partly responsible for Eva’s death. As a group, they have brought about her demise. You must comment on all of these individually if it comes up.
*The idea is that they all were responsible as a group, but that if any one of them had shown her the concern she desired, she would probably have been ok.
*Not only are they responsible for Eva Smith’s death, but they also do not take responsibility for each other. Eric has a drinking problem which no one has noticed. Sheila’s parents don’t care for her well-being on discovering Gerald’s affair.
*They have a skewed sense of responsibility. Mr and Mrs Birling almost see it as their duty to send Eva Smith away, as if she is a ‘trouble-maker’ for wanting fair treatment.

Gender

*Women were not listened to in the work place. Perhaps if Eva Smith was a man, she may have had more success starting the strike. At the time the play was set, women didn’t even have the vote!
*Arthur Birling is referred to as ‘Birling’, as if he doesn’t even need a forename – being a man and all…
*The way Eric and Gerald treat Eva is appalling, and is representative of the ‘old-fashioned’ male character which post-war Britain would have been trying to stamp out.
*The only working class people in the play are women (Eva and the Maid)
*Many characters refer to Eva’s looks as if it makes a difference to how she should be treated. Gerald only helps Eva because she is pretty. Sheila feels more guilty that Eva is dead when she knows that she was pretty.

The Inspector

*Is he a ghost? InSPECTOR Goole (Ghoul)
*Is he a representation of Priestly in the play? He certainly shares the same political standpoint.
*Who is he challenging? The characters or the audience?