An Inspector Calls - Revision

Remember that An Inspector Calls is Section A of the Literature: Exploring Modern Texts exam. 

You have 45 minutes to answer the question and there will be a choice of two questions, there are a total of 30 marks.

Previous exams have tended to have a question on character and one on theme or stage directions.  However, it is unwise to assume or question-spot.

The assessment objectives tested for An Inspector Calls are FLITS

Form

• An Inspector Calls is a play and therefore you must show your examiner an understanding of this.  ALWAYS refer to the audience's reaction to characters and action.
• Refer to stage directions at some point in your essay; the stage directions at the commencement of Act 1 are very rich for characterisation and setting.  Also, the different ways the stage directions are used throughout the play to show the way the characters are meant to act e.g Inspector (cutting in massively) - for an A/A* you should aim to include and analyse some stage directions as well as dialogue.
• Stage directions are for the actors and director. 
• The form is also a detective play and a thriller. 
• The play appears to have a detective (the Inspector) and the 1940s audience would be used to detective films and expecting certain things of this genre of play: that the Inspector would sum everything up and point to the killer.  The questions at the end of Act 3 subvert this genre and make it interesting.  The audience wouldn't have been expecting any questions at the end of the play.
• It also appears to be a traditional whodunnit, but in this play everyone dunnit (sorry). This is also a change from generic expectations. You could link this to a question about 'responsibility' and show that this demonstrates the theme of responsibility as so many people are responsible for the death.

Language

• Remember language involves analysing the effect of certain words and language techniques for A/A*
• Priestley uses dramatic irony (where the audience knows more than the character) both for humour and to undermine Mr Birling's credibility ('the Titanic ... unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable' and 'I say there isn't a chance of a war').  This may be metaphorical for his complacency in the face of the storm gathering over his family: he doesn't see the Titanic sinking nor WW1 and WW2, neither does he foresee his family's ruin that very night.
• Look at the parallels and juxtapositions between what Birling says and what the Inspector says (Birling: 'if you don't come down sharply on some of these people, they'd soon be asking for the earth!' ....  Inspector 'They might. But after all it's better to ask for the earth than to take it')
• Metaphor: 'Eva Smiths and John Smiths' - Smith is the most common surname in English and represents workers as 'smiths' were originally industrial workers (think blacksmiths, goldsmiths etc).  Additionallly, Eva may link to Eve - the first woman, or all women. John was the most popular English name for men.  Therefore, Eva Smith is metaphorical for all workers.

Please remember that if you get a character question you MUST look at the language in the stage directions to Act 1 describing that character.  Please learn that 'portentous' means 'pompous' or 'arrogant'.  Do not analyse words you do not understand.

Ideas / Intentions

• Priestley was a socialist and his ideas / intentions are based around making the audience question social responsibility.
• He juxtaposes an upper middle class family ('dessert plates ... champagne glasses ... decanter of port, cigar boxes and cigarettes') with the absolute poverty of the working class ('these young women counting their pennies in their dingy little back bedrooms')
• There is an interpretation that the Inspector presents Priestley's viewpoint: 'We are members of one body.  We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish'.
• He is NOT entirely hostile to the upper-middle class.  There is more sympathy for Sheila and Eric who do learn the Inspector's lessons than Mr & Mrs Birling and Gerald, who do not.

Themes

This is an excellent summary of the themes in the play - click here

• Social and personal responsibility - this is a key theme. (Inspector: 'Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges',  Mrs Birling: 'Go and look for the father of the child. It's his responsibility.' Sheila: 'And I know I'm to blame - and I'm desperately sorry - but I can't believe - I won't believe - it's simply my fault in the end - she committed suicide'). The click here for the BBC Bitesize on reponsibility
• Social class - get the class names right: Eva/Daisy is working class; the Birlings are middle class and the Crofts are aristocrats or upper class. Click here for some relevant information on Bitesize
• Sex discrimination - Eva/Daisy has less power because she is a woman. When she loses her job for striking she has very little choice but to have sexual relationships with Gerald and Eric for money. Ironically, Mrs Birling is horrified by this. There are suggestions throughout the play of a hypocrisy in this society and that many rich, married men such as the Alderman are visiting the playhouse to meet prostitutes.
• Age / The Generation Gap - Eric and Sheila are dismissed for being young and impressionable by their parents BUT tend to be more insightful than their parents too.
• The Supernatural - one interpretation is that the Inspector is a supernatural being; a ghost? - compare 'ghoul' and 'Goole' or some sort of angelic figure as he speaks in religious imagery 'And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish'. Also, consider what the Inspector is there to inspect: a crime or the families' consciences?
• Time - this play was performed in 1946 and set in 1912. This gives Priestley the opportunity to use dramatic irony as the audience would know exactly what had just happened (WW2). However, is there an interpretation that the reason the final phoncall from the informary comes through is because the family have not learnt their lesson?
• Truth and lies - the family's 'happiness' is built on lies - Gerald has been having an affair with Eva whilst courting Sheila.  Eric has been stealing and lying.  However, how far do the family also lie to themselves and not know their own faults?

Structure

• The play is in three acts and at the end of each act is a denouement where the audience find out a juicy piece of information just before the curtain falls (in Act 1 it is Sheila finding out about Gerald's affair; in Act 2 it is the realisation that Eric is the father of the baby; in Act 3 it is that a girl has died at the infirmary and an inspector is on the way...).  This builds tension and makes the audience thrilled to see more.
• The Inspector inspects each character separately.  This allows the audience to see the character's involvement in Eva/Daisy's story unfold but also allows the 'false' ending in Act 3 where it appears to Gerald ('But how do you know it's the same girl?' ... 'How do you know it's the same photograph?').
• The effect of the false ending is to unsettle the audience: we feel frustrated that the family have 'got away with it' and relieved that a girl hasn't died. Then, at the end when the final telephone call comes in we are more shocked.  Is this Priestley trying to teach the audience about collective responsibility and caring for others?
• The Inspector arrives at exactly the point when Mr Birling has just said we are not responsible for each other: 'a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own [we hear the sharp ring of a doorbell]' - is this because Inspector Goole is truly supernatural?