English, Media & Film Studies

Section B of the English Literature GCSE is on a play. This post will look at AN INSPECTOR CALLS.

BBC Bitesize revision have a really useful site on this play with lots of resources and revision tips. Click here to go to it.
http://www.bbcbitesize/

You will have to answer TWO questions on An Inspector Calls. The first is an EXTRACT question. An extract from the play will be reprinted, and you will be asked a question on it. In your answer, you should quote a lot from the extract and track how the play and characters change throughout it. You must answer on the WHOLE extract, not just the beginning or end.

The other question will be based on the WHOLE PLAY. This is the question where it would be handy to have memorised some quotes. If you look through this website, I have put together some of the key quotes for each character. Don't try and rewrite long quotations in the exam, or get too bothered about memorising. Short, one or two word quotations are best, as they prove you have a deep understanding of the play. For example, saying something like 'Mr Birling thinks that community is a lot of "nonsense"', or 'Sheila grows increasingly "hysterical" as the play continues.'

As ever, try and focus on EXPLAINING, not describing. Don't fall in to the trap of just retelling the play. Instead of saying "Mr Birling sacks Eva from her job at the factory and Sheila gets her sacked from her job at the shop", say "Mr Birling and Sheila are both responsible for Eva losing a job, but their motives are very different and they react differently when the Inspector explains the results of their actions."

An Inspector Calls - sample whole text question

Here is a sample question for the whole text question, followed by a model answer. You would be expected to write for about 40 minutes for this question.

Write about the character of Mr Birling and his importance to the play.

You may want to consider:

His views and beliefs at the start of the play

The way he reacts to the Inspector

His attitude at the end of the play.

Mr Birling’s views and beliefs at the start of the play show us that he is an arrogant and conceited man. He is very concerned with his place in society and within his family. We know this at the start of the play when he tells Gerald, with great pride, that he may soon receive a knighthood from the Queen.

He enjoys talking a lot, making other people listen to him and telling the younger people in the play how to live their lives. For example, just before the Inspector arrives he speaks at length, in a very didactic manner, to Eric and Gerald, explaining how a man should put himself first and not worry about the community and society, as if we ‘were bees in a hive’ This shows us that he does not worry about the position of those less fortunate, or less wealthy than him, and he dismisses people who do think like this as ‘cranks’. Priestley ridicules these beliefs by including within this speech the statement ‘Look at the Titanic! Absolutely unsinkable!’ – when in fact the Titanic sank shortly after the period the play was written in. Mr Birling can be seen as the main representative of a set of beliefs that Priestley sees as responsible for some of the catastrophes of the early 20th century.

Mr Birling’s reaction to the Inspector shows us his concern for status, as he is constantly trying to influence the Inspector by dropping the names of important local policeman and politicians. This shows us how self-important he is and how he thinks that his power and influence can overcome the law. However, the Inspector is not concerned at all by these names, which seriously affects the attitude and behaviour of Mr Birling. He gets angrier and angrier at the Inspector, calling him ‘officious’ and threatening to report him. There is a definite clash of authority and beliefs between the two men, which again can be seen as the clash between the two main ideas of Socialism and Capitalism.

Finally, Mr Birling’s behaviour at the end of the play shows us that he has not learnt anything at all from the night’s events. At the end of the play, he is less concerned with whether or not he might have been responsible for Eva Smith’s death than whether or not he will be found guilty. He is more concerned that there might be ‘a public scandal’ and that his ‘special reason’ for not wanting a scandal – ie, his knighthood – will be put in danger. He still believes that he can carry on the way he did before, not worrying about other people, sacking the workers in his factory and using his power and influence to ensure nothing is investigated. Therefore, the importance of Mr Birling to the play is to show how strong and unshakeable his beliefs are, but also to show how such beliefs will always end in catastrophe and disaster.

An Inspector Calls - sample extract question

Here is a sample extract question with a model answer. You would be expected to write for about 20 minutes for this question.

How does Priestley build the drama and tension in this extract?

From page 47: ‘MRS B: I’m sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for this at all’ to the end of Act Two.

Think about:

• What Mrs Birling says and how she behaves

• What Sheila says

• The effect on the audience.

In this extract, JB Priestley builds drama and tension through the use of dramatic irony. Mrs Birling does not realise until the very end of the scene that her own son is responsible for Eva Smith’s pregnancy. However, Sheila and the audience begin to realise this before her. So, when she says things like ‘I blame the young man of the child she was going to have’, we realise that she is unknowingly incriminating herself and her son. This makes it tense and exciting, because we want to see what will happen when she eventually does realise that the person she is being so harsh on is her own son.

In this extract, JB Priestley builds drama and tension through having Sheila realise the truth of the situation long before her mother. Sheila is constantly interrupting trying to explain to her mother that by blaming the father of the child she is only blaming her own son. For example, she says ‘Mother – stop – stop!’ and ‘But don’t you see -’ As well as her words, the stage directions show that she is getting increasingly ‘agitated’ and ‘hysterical’ in attempting to warn her mother about what is happening. This is very tense and dramatic because Mr and Mrs Birling misinterpret her words and just assume she is overexcited. They assume she is being silly, when in fact she is the closest of all of the Croft family to true insight at this point.

In this extract, the effect on the audience is that we are eagerly, nervously, awaiting the moment of recognition when Mrs Birling will see that her own son is the person she has criticized so thoroughly. Mrs Birling has been so arrogant and smug before this that there may even be an element of excited anticipation, as we long for her to get her comeuppance and realise the hypocrisy of her callous and unsympathetic views on life. We desperately want to see how she will react when the Inspector reveals that the ‘chief culprit’ is her son. Her eventual understanding of the truth comes slowly and dramatically – first she is still ‘triumphant’, then she is ‘frightened’ as the truth begins to dawn, and then finally she retreats to ‘agitated’ denial as Eric appears at the door and his guilt emerges. The scene ends at this dramatic, climactic moment, which has overturned the certainties and smugness of Mrs Birling.

An Inspector Calls - historical context and allegory

Understanding the historical context is key to understanding An Inspector Calls. If you are sitting the Higher Tier, it will be especially important to show your understanding in the exam.

An Inspector Calls was written in 1946 but set in 1912. This means that there is a lot of opportunity for DRAMATIC IRONY - this is when the audience know more than the characters. There is lots of this in the first scene, when Mr Birling explains to the dinner party his beliefs on the world - that the Titanic won't sink, that there'll never be war, and that workers won't go on strike. For an audience watching this in 1946, all these predictions proved catastrophically wrong.

An Inspector Calls isn't just about the Birling family and an odd inspector. It's an ALLEGORY. An allegory is a story in which people and things represent bigger ideas and themes about life. The Inspector's speech near the end gives us the clue to this. 'One Eva Smith is gone, but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us' (56)

So, Eva Smith represents all poor and working class people who are being exploited. The Birlings represent all the privileged and wealthy upper classes who exploit them.

Priestley also tries to link the attitude and actions of the Birlings with the catastrophes of the First World War, the Second World War, and the plight of poor people in Britain. When the Inspector, in his crucial final speech, refers to the 'fire and blood and anguish' that will follow if he is not listened to, the tragic thing is that this 'fire and blood and anguish' did happen, in the form of two world wars, revolutions and social unrest.

All allegories have a moral, or a message. The message Priestley is putting across is that the system for running society that the Birlings represent is unfair and will lead to horrible conflict. The system the Inspector represents is much fairer. Broadly speaking, the Birlings represent Capitalism, and the Inspector represents Socialism. This is a controversial argument, and one that is still hotly debated today. But you don't have to agree with Priestley to understand his motives in writing the play.

An Inspector Calls - Mr Birling

Mr Birling is the father of the family and owner of a factory. He sacked Eva when she went on strike after demanding more money.

'She suddenly decided to ask for more money…I refused of course…so they went on strike.'(14)

He is very concerned with his social standing and is a bit of a snob. He is convinced he is going to get a knighthood and doesn't want any scandal to get in the way of it - 'there's a fair chance I might find my way into the next Honours List.' (8)

He is quite pompous and arrogant - 'we hard-headed practical men of business' (6)

At the start of the play, before the Inspector arrives, he makes a lot of predictions about the future that we know are catastrophically wrong. This means from the start we know his judgment is not to be trusted. 'The Titanic - unsinkable - absolutely unsinkable (7)'

He starts out representing the viewpoint that is the complete opposite of Priestley's and the Inspector's - 'you'd think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together...community and all that nonsense' (10)

At the end he, along with Mrs Birling, is more concerned about whether the police know if he's guilty. Unlike Sheila and Eric, he doesn't actually care about what he has done to Eva Smith. 'The whole story's just a lot of moonshine'. (70)

An Inspector Calls - Mrs Birling

Mrs Birling is married to Mr Birling and the head of a charity. She refused to help Eva Smith when Eva came to her and told her she was pregnant.

'She needed not only money but advice, sympathy, friendliness. You’ve had children. You must have known what she was feeling. And you slammed the door in her face.'(45)

Sheila criticises her actions. 'Mother, I think it was cruel and vile.'(45)

She is complacent and arrogant and thinks that her treatment of Eva was 'no more than my duty' (60)

Like Mr Birling, at the end she has learnt nothing, and criticises Sheila and Eric for being upset about Eva. 'They're just over tired. In the morning they'll be as amused as we are.'(71)

An Inspector Calls - Sheila Birling

Sheila is the Birlings' eldest child, and engaged to Gerald. She got Eva sacked from a shop job because Eva laughed at how she looked in a hat.

'And so you used the power you had, as a daughter of a good customer and also of a man well-known in the town, to punish the girl just because she made you feel like that?' (24)

Her views change as the play progresses. When she hears what her father has done to Eva, she says 'but these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people' (19)

As the play progresses and the Inspector reveals their complicity with Eva's death, Sheila gets more and more agitated, and her parents call her 'hysterical.' (48)

At the end she repeats the words of the Inspector's last speech - 'fire and blood and anguish' (71), and unlike the elder Birlings is genuinely changed by the night's events.

An Inspector Calls - Eric Birling

Eric is the Birlings' youngest son, an alcoholic. He had a short affair with Eva, got her pregnant, and then stole money from his father's firm to give her.

There is a suspicion that he treats Eva violently. 'I’m not very clear about it, but afterwards she told me she didn’t want to go in but that – well I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty – and I threatened to make a row' (52).

He blames his father for his predicament. ‘you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble’ (55)

He gets more and more agitated as the truth is revealed and also blames his mother. ‘your own grandchild – you killed them both – damn you, damn you’ (55).

At the end, like Sheila, he has been genuinely changed by the night’s

events and is upset that his parents don’t feel the same way. ‘I agree with Sheila. It frightens me too.’ (71)

An Inspector Calls - Gerald Croft

Gerald is engaged to Sheila. He had an affair with Eva after she was sacked from the shop.

At the start, Gerald seems to agree with Mr Birling that there is no possible link between them and Eva. ‘After all, we’re respectable citizens, not criminals.’ (22)

When his story comes out, he does seem to have treated Eva better than the others, certainly better than Eric. Eva falls in love with him. ‘She told me that she’d been happier than she’d ever been before – but that she knew it couldn’t last.’ (39)

'She became my mistress. She was young and pretty and warm hearted – and intensely grateful.’ (37)

Even then, he rejects any responsibility for Eva. ‘I hadn’t set eyes on the girl for at least six months. I don’t come into this suicide business.’ (26)

Later, he is the character who discovers the truth about the Inspector, but it is left unclear if he has been changed or not by the night’s events.