An Inspector Calls is a play written by John Priestly in 1945, about a wealthy family, the Birling’s, who is questioned by a mysterious inspector about the suicide of a young woman, Eva Smith. In the play, Mrs Birling is most to blame for Eva’s suicide, in fact, in the play Eric, her son, blames her for Eva’s death, saying ““Then- you killed her. She came to you to protect me- and you turned her away-yes, and you killed her-and the child she’d have had too- my child- your own grandchild- you killed them both- damn you, damn you-”. Three major reasons why Mrs Birling is most to blame are that she refused to help Eva when she was her last hope, she showed no remorse or blame for her actions, and she blamed others for Eva’s death.
The first reason that Mrs Birling is most to blame is that she refused to help Eva Smith when Eva came to her for help. As a major member of a charity group designed to help poor woman who needed help, Mrs Birling used her influence to refuse to help Eva when she came for help. In an Inspector Calls, Mrs Birling says “I wasn’t satisfied with the girl’s claim…so I used my influence to have it refused. And in spite of what’s happened to the girl since, I consider I did my duty” (An Inspector Calls, pg. 44). Mrs Birling refused to help Eva because she was prejudiced against her after Eva called herself Mrs Birling. Furthermore, Mrs Birling used her influence on the charity board to make them refuse Eva help, and she refused to help her even though she
An inspector calls is a morality play that challenges the ideas of an upper class Edwardian audience,preistley achieves this both through the attitudes of the play but also through his implementation of personal morals. Sheila is initially presented as the stereotypical Edwardian daughter but soon freely presents her emotions, without the need for approval from her parents.
In An Inspector Calls the theme of gender inequality is explored comprehensively. In the play, most of the women are portrayed as feeble characters, unable to make decisions for themselves. Many people often think this of Sheila, who the men feel needs protecting from lots of things, like the information that a girl has committed suicide. The play was set in 1912 when the patriarchal society was the norm. So the women that were in the play would have been seen as possessions to their husband and therefore did not work or have careers. However it would have been accepted for women to participate in charity work as Mrs Birling was. Apart from that, women would have been simply seen as wives and mothers not workers and fighters. Women did not have the same rights as men most notably women did not even have the right to vote. The
This is evident in “We are responsible for each other.” The inspector implies that everyone is responsible for one another, utterly contradicting Mr. Birling’s speech before he came in. The inspector is the most conflicting character in the entire play as he stands cool and hard before the Birlings and the audience and unveils the consequences of their actions on those below them. The dramatic irony reinforces that the inspector is in fact voicing Priestley’s message out, therefore emphasizing the effect. Furthermore, the inspector is presented as the figure of authority in the play. This is reinforced in "massively taking charge as dispute erupts between them." He is the only character that calms down the household when an argument breaks. He also expresses no interest towards Mr. birling’s authoritative friends and disregards his threats. The stage directions reinforce that when capitalism destroys everything, socialism is the only answer. Both contemporary and modern audience is left in a conflicting situation as he creates conflict in the play between other
Mr birling was the most to blame as he started the chain of misfortunate events of Eva Smith’s life which eventually lead to her suicide.
In the play “The inspector calls” written by Presley, the story is set in 1912, and describes a family in the middle class. Eric, the son of Mr. Birling is one of the key characters in the play
In the play An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses different characters to portray women. At the start of the play, Sheila is seen as fragile, materialistic and inferior to the men in her life, which is typically the view of higher-class women. This is followed by the perspective of lower class women having excellent morals yet being disposable, which is seen through Eva Smith’s character. This contradicts to Mrs Birling’s control on others and her strong social class views.
Mrs Birling is also plays a vital part in Eva’s death because she was selfish and shows no concern or consideration to Eva at the commission committee meeting. She also has the inability to put herself in other’s shoes. She was not supportive to a pregnant, unmarried woman. Instead, she was insensitive and didn’t approve of Eva. She says ‘I blame the young man who was the father of the child’, and this goes to show, she makes assumptions quickly, and doesn’t want to be blamed for anything.
soon find out that Eva worked in his factory, and how she was fired by
An Inspector Calls is a three-act drama, which takes place on a single night in 1912, and focuses on the Birling family, who live in a wealthy but not particulary homely house in Brumley. The story begins when the mysterious Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family. The idea of the play, and particularly the role of the inspector, is to try to bring the Birling family to understand that they have a moral responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, if not a legal one. In Act Three, the Inspector tells the Birling family: “The girl killed herself and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.” But who was really the
Mrs Birling is a “cold” woman. This is show by her not wanting to take responsibility for her part in the death of Eva Smith. This is also show as when Eva comes to her organisation looking for help she not only refuses her herself but used her “influence , as the most prominent member of the committee” to have everyone else refuse her help too. This makes her seem a heartless woman that uses her power of being rich and upper class to get thing her way. She refuses Eva for the petty reason that she comes to the committee under the name of “Mrs Birling”.
I am Eva Rapaport . I was the only child . I was born to non-religious Jewish parents . I was born on October 27th , 1929 . My father was a journalist and my mom loved taking trips . I have a cousin that is two years older than me that I loved spending time with . FOUR MONTHS LATER , my dad was harassed by the Gestapo or the secret state police , that turned out bad . I was always getting called bad names by my best-friends because I was Jewish and I was different from them . My friends never wanted to be by me and they never wanted to talk to me unless they was criticizing me . They told people they couldn’t be around me .My parents soon said we had to escape , so , we eventually evacuated by trains . During my third grade year , there were
Priestley’s Main Aim in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ to enhance the message that ‘we don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’. This is something Priestly felt strongly about and he succeeded in representing his views through the character of the Inspector in the play itself.
command at the end of Act I and the start of Act 2, and the end of Act
John Boynton Priestley was born in Bradford, Yorkshire on September 13th 1984. The play “An Inspector Calls” was written by him in 1945, and came onstage in 1914. An Inspector calls, is a play that revolves around the apparent suicide of a young woman called Eva Smith. In the play, the unsuspecting Birling family are visited by the mysterious Inspector Goole. Priestley uses a variety of different techniques, especially language and quotations, to contrast and elicit differing responses to Mr Birling and Inspector Goole.
In the play 'An Inspector Calls', many contrasts and paradox's are present and at the centre of them all is the character known as Inspector Goole. However, the inspector is not any ordinary inspector. I believe that the inspector is used as a device by Priestley to explore the wider themes of the play and to depict other characters true personalities. This essay will explore some of the techniques Priestley presents the inspector in An Inspector Calls.