AN INSPECTOR CALLS
CHARACTERS
Although there are only a few key characters in 'An Inspector Calls' each one can be analysed in detail and has a different purpose in the play. Priestley crafts each character to show a different part of society and make the audience question their own beliefs and politics based on how they react to each character's actions. Click a character to find out more
THEMES
CLASS
Whether it is the embarrassing Birling sucking up to Gerald or the way a working class woman's life is valued as worth less than a middle class reputation, Priestley exposes the idiocy of it all.
RESPONSIBILITY
A woman has died. Or has she? The exit of the inspector at the end leaves us with no doubt about who takes responsibility for their actions and who shows genuine shame in their previous actions.
AGE
Inspector Goole puts old and young in different corners of the ring as soon as he steps through the door. All he has to do is wait for them to fight it out and expose the truth with every punch they land. What is Priestley telling us about the different generations?
GENDER
Life for woman had changed dramatically in the 33 years between when the play was set and when it was first performed in 1945. Priestley takes his audience back in time to show them the challenges their mothers would have faced
FAMILY
What is worth more to the Birlings, their family members or their family name? Priestley shows us what Mr Birling really meant when he said a man "has to look after himself - and his family."
SYMBOLS
THE RING
The engagement ring will symbolise love and eternity. Its loop never ends like the love in a relationship.
Sheila's ring however also symbolises ownership. Gerald will take her possession from her father and the ring she wears will be a constant reminder that she is her husband's. Sheila rejecting the ring shows her rejection of both Gerald and perhaps a wider patriarchy.
THE DOORBELL / TELEPHONE
The bell marks the arrival of the inspector. The telephone later ringing marks another detective coming to investigate. The ringing of these two objects symbolises that the Birling family cannot avoid the consequences of their actions by isolating themselves in their wealth home.
The telephone, a relatively recent arrival in people's houses, may also represent the world is changing for people like the Birlings.
THE DISINFECTANT
The most gruesome image of the play comes from the inspector describing how Eva Smith took her own life. Symbolically this would represent a cleansing, but it destroys Eva. Perhaps instead it symbolises her trying to clean herself of the Birlings as they and their like are the ones who have polluted Brumley.
THE PALACE BAR
This bar is a microcosm for the reality of society despite the very polite public image of the Birlings. It is where desperate women have to sell themselves to eat and feed their children. It is also where "respectable citizens" like Alderman Meggarty, Gerald and Eric show their immorality and true selves. It seems that wealthy men think they can do anything in the Palace Bar without having to worry about the consequences.
EVA SMITH / DAISY RENTON
Priestley uses a symbolic name for the character we never meet. She isn't one person, but symbolically all vulnerable women of this time. Smith is a traditional working class surname and comes from the role of a blacksmith. Eva perhaps links to Eve, the first woman God created according to the bible. Eva represents all working class women.
Her later name, Daisy Renton could also be symbolic. A flower, such as a daisy, would connote beauty and delicacy. However daisies are also weeds, perhaps symbolising Eva's place in society as unwanted. They are also white connoting her innocence. Renton, like rent, could symbolise how all the men tried to pay her either for her work or her body in one way or another.
QUOTATION ANALYSIS
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