SHORT PLOT SUMMARY: Mr and Mrs. Birling are a wealthy family celebrating the engagement of their daughter Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft, but all excitement is disrupted when an Inspector has a long line of questions to ask them, about the death of Eva Smith…
In troduction: After re-reading the play I found that there were a number of remarks referring to the First World War. Even though the play was written in 1945 after the Second World War. Priestley’s main intentions were to show the audience that Social status says nothing about some ones quality of life. Priestley also creates the idea that society cares or doesn’t care. He tried to include an element of what was going on in the world and included that in his play. He even uses the Inspector to symbolise his feelings towards society. "We don't live alone, we are members of one body...responsible for each other" This equality is a dominant principle of socialism.
CONTEXT: Both Priestley’s grandparents worked in cotton mills; this
could be why he knew about the bad pay received by workers and the demand for higher wages. In 1908 two thousand cotton workers went on strike, the character Eva Smith worked in a cotton mill and her employer was Mr. Birling. Priestly also lived through the Russian Revolution, which occurred in 1917 where workers were revolting against capitalists. This is relevant to the play, as Eva Smith may have been demanding for higher wages too. In 1945 it was the end of the Second World War where 55 million people died. I don’t find it strange that Priestley chose to show his play in this year as feeling of war was strong and the thought of what had happened would be in the back of the audiences’ minds. Therefore, after the play the audience may have thought twice about what they did and the consequences of their actions could have even lead to death.
HOW THE PLAY BEGINS: At the start of the play the audience is lulled into a false sense of security as the Birling’s are celebrating the engagement of their daughter Sheila to Gerald. Priestley is setting the scene of the play making it seem very welcoming. Therefore the initial view of the Birling family is a good one. There wealth is also discovered in the stage directions at the start of the play when the Birling’s “parlour-maid” clears the table of “champagne glasses, and replacing them with a decanter of port, cigar box and cigarettes”.Though the view of the Birling family is soon about to change as Priestley unravels clever twists in play…THE INSPECTOR: The Inspector met any stereo-typical images that one would have of an Inspector, you can also see that the Inspector is a passionate socialist by the way the Inspector line of enquiry alters, it turns to a more personal line- as though he believes entirely in what he is saying. The play runs parallel to what was happening to society at the time and each uncaring action/statement is backed up with subsequent consequences.
THE BIRLINGS: At the beginning of the play Mr. Birling says to Gerald “you ought to like this port, Gerald. As a matter of fact, Fincheley told me it’s exactly the same port as your Father gets from him.” The audience is able to see that he is just a man who likes to please those above him. He would probably buy something with the influence that someone else was buying it as well. This is one of Mr. Birling weaknesses and the audience is able to see this.
Mrs. Birling is a typical motherly character who cares about the welfare of her children even though they have little respect for her; Shiela and Eric, her children, are both strong in mind and although they are the youngest characters, they show a great deal of maturity often more so than their own parents!
GERALD CROFT: Croft, is the partner of Sheila Birling, and the scale of his relations with Eva Smith in slowly unravelled as the play unravels.
EVA SMITH: Eva Smiths character may be the most powerful as she is constantly mentioned through out the play and even though the audience doesn’t see her they are able to imagine what her presence may have held. The Inspector plays a great part in reminding the characters the horrors of her death and died after “several hours of agony”.
IS IT A SUCCESS ? I think that Priestley was successful in underlining an important message at the back of his play. When I saw a rendition of the play the Inspector sometimes actually turned to the audience and spoke some of his words which I found very effective. Overall, I was impressed with the involvement the audience had in Priestley’s play and I think the dramatic irony used through out the play was a resounding success.
I hope you enjoyed this review and enjoy the play even more!
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hi there , i have got to write an essay for my coursework about an inspector calls and your review has reminded me of a few things i need to include. Thanks again and a great review!!
Best Regards
Mike Goodwin
TheChocolateLady 12.09.2004 17:18
I've seen this on stage, but very long ago. I really should take a read of it sometime soon.
PJE_ 12.09.2004 03:58
One of my favourite plays, and an excellent contradiction to Maggie Thatcher's infamous comment that "there is no such thing as society only individuals and families".
Advantages: Exciting and interesting read, with detail language and witty dialogue. Disadvantages: Breaks the veneer as a story and becomes a preaching ground for Priestly's socialist views.
Sep 11th, 2004
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