an inspector calls essay conclusion

Miss Huttlestone's GCSE English

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How to crack the ‘An Inspector Calls’ essay: a suggested structure

Happy easter year 10 and 11. i do hope you’re channeling your energy into some purposeful literature revision and that re-reading ‘an inspector calls’ is an integral element of this process. you see, swatting up on the literature texts means knowing the texts inside out , upside down (impressive) and front to back; it’s not enough to have read the texts once with me in class, the examiners can tell a mile off a student who knows the texts from those who have merely regurgitated what their teacher has told them about it., so in leaving the knowing of the text up to you and your independence now, i thought i’d put together a one stop shop for how to structure a top band ‘an inspector calls’ essay in exam conditions – this i can help with. here goes….

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STEP ONE: The Introduction In your introduction, you need to set up the parameters for debate – your big bossy idea that will be constantly referred back to in the main body of your essay. This means you need to outline your argument and show that you know exactly what the question is asking you. You will also need to show how you are going to focus your answer.

If you are asked about a character, you should provide an overview of this character’s importance to the play and his/her function . if you are writing about a theme, you should talk about how that theme pervades the play and the reason you find it important. if you are asked about the opening or ending of the play, you should ensure you open by talking about its significance to the play as a whole., here’s an example of a meaningful, purposeful introduction:, what is the function of sheila in an inspector calls sheila has been celebrated as the most dynamic character in the play by many readers and viewers of ‘an inspector calls’. this is because she is deliberately crafted as a mouthpiece for priestley as well as being a physical representative of the younger generation – a generation that has the potential power to aid the socialist progression of society. whilst she has been raised as a member of the upper middle class, she is able to shake off her capitalist views in favour of a more socialist perspective, encouraging her family to recognise the importance of looking after those in less privileged positions. sheila, by the end of the play, is indeed the very portrait of change priestley sought in a post ww2 context. .

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Step two: The main body of your essay for a character based essay:

As my highly scientific diagram of a veggie burger above suggests, the main body of your essay is the most essential – it carries the sustenance, the weight to the ideas posed in your introduction. for character questions you might want to break it down like this:, section 1: how the character is presented before the inspector’s arrival – contrast with another character e.g. sheila vs her mother, section 2: how the character is presented when they hear news of eva smith or daisy renton – compare and contrast with other characters;, section 3: how the character is presented during their interrogation – compare or contrast with another character and also discuss how the inspector treats them., section 4: how the character is presented at the end of the play once the inspector leaves – compare and contrast with other characters., for each of the sections identified above, you need to do the following: – provide a clear topic sentence, e.g. when we are first introduced to sheila, we feel…..; – provide at least one piece of evidence from the play, ideally 2-3; – analyse the evidence (the language) and provide inferences about the character, using analytical verbs from your word bank; – contrast or compare with another character; –  explain how priestley may want us to feel about the character and how this connects to his ideas., for some of the sections, you need to also: – discuss a dramatic device used at this point in the play e.g. stage directions. entrances and exits, props etc. – introduce contextual information to develop your interpretation of character. , approaching a theme based question:, a typical question might appear like this:, how does priestley present the theme of conflict in an inspector calls, the structure for an essay on themes is fairly straightforward. you need to decide on 3-4 ways in which the theme is presented and then examine each of these in turn. try to have something unusual up your sleeve for your final paragraph. remember, that for each section of your essay, you need to follow the same rules as above also., here are two visual examples of how you can approach themes:.

THEMES

Essays on structure / specific scenes

Sometimes, you will be offered a question which is a little unusual so expect the unexpected. it may ask you to consider a part of the play and its relationship to a whole, or it may draw your attention to a structural device. these questions can be more challenging in terms of how to organise your response., an example: how is the opening of an inspector calls effective in setting up the events and ideas in the play, in order to tackle this, you will need to decide on four key aspects of the opening scene to explore, but you will still need to talk about the play as a whole since the question asks about the scene’s importance to the events and ideas presented later. here is an example plan for tackling this question:, 1. the use of lighting – the mood created and how this changes later in the play; 2. the use of props – how atmosphere is created and what these props symbolise, linking to ideas later in the play and context of edwardian era; 3. the stage directions and what we learn about each character merely from first impressions – how these are then demonstrated later in the play; 4. edna – her voice and lack thereof; 5. birling’s big, bold speeches; 6. the sharp ring of the doorbell – how it provokes a change in events, mood, ideas, and how it links to what happens at the end of the play; 7. any early foreshadowing..

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The Tricky Conclusion If in doubt, leave it out! A conclusion is important in drawing your ideas together, but  there is little worse than a bad conclusion! If you are simply going to waffle and repeat  yourself, stick to a very brief and compelling single sentence to round off your essay.

If,  however, you wish to gain access to the higher levels of the mark scheme, you need to  develop a carefully crafted conclusion to your debate. you should draw together your  ideas to formulate your overall view on the theme or character, and ideally say something compelling to leave your essay on a high. the conclusion is to give your essay a sense of completeness and let your readers know that they have come to the end of your argument. it might restate the thesis in different words, summarise the main points you have made, or make a relevant comment about the literary work you are analysing, but from a different perspective. do not introduce a new topic in your conclusion., example conclusion:, what is the function of sheila in an inspector calls by the time we reach the final moments of the play, sheila has fallen silent, along with the rest of her family. however, this is not the silence of guilt; it is the telling silence of defeat: she has tried desperately to convince her family to “learn something” and reproaches them like a parent when she exclaims “it frightens me the way you talk”, but all of her efforts have been in vain. we see her as a reformed character and recognise priestley’s cry for help from his audience – we are all left wanting to help sheila in her quest to change the stagnant dangerous attitudes of the upper middle class – attitudes that repress the lower class citizens of society. therefore, we can see that sheila’s function is not merely to teach simple lessons about looking  after thy neighbour, but political lessons: we need to learn from the mistakes of our past, which led to two harrowing world wars, and seek to create a more caring and inclusive society., so you see, in the end all essays have a process and a logic behind them. just make sure you’re saying something passionate and telling throughout. never forget that the play is a construction and serves a political purpose. the characters aren’t real people but serve metaphorical and allegorical functions. your essay must be well structured sure, but it must also be a display of your passion for the text itself – let this shine through the formalities.  .

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Secondary English teacher in Herts. View all posts by gcseenglishwithmisshuttlestone

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an inspector calls essay conclusion

An Inspector Calls Essays

One of the best things you can do to revise for any english exam is to read examples of essays. below you'll find a range of essays which you can read at your leisure., though there are always benefits in reading essays, becoming use to "active reading" is also important. to do this, use one of these strategies to help:, print the essay off and highlight key phrases or pieces of analysis that you like, keep some notes on the ways the essays use key vocabulary, cherry-picking the best phrases for use yourself, note down the structures of the essays but making a note of the focus of each paragraph, remember that there are hundreds of ways to write a successful essay, as the examples below will highlight. but they all manage to link the big ideas of the play with the language and structure; they all write about priestley's intentions and the audience's responses; they all recognise that this play is written to make a political point, not just to entertain the audience., a) how does priestley explore responsibility in an inspector calls , in the play, priestly wanted the audience to take responsibility for each other, to see that society was "one body." he wanted the audience in 1945 to recognise that although there had been positive changes since 1912, he didn't want them to regress and, in fact, wanted them to demand even more social reform., firstly , priestley uses the inspector to demonstrate to his audience that morality is a much more admirable quality in a person than mr birling's selfish manner. in act 3 mr birling offers "thousands" to help eva, though the inspector tells him that he is “offering money at the wrong time.” this shows that the inspector has the moral high ground and, although from a lower class, is holding all the power over the birling's treasured reputation. to the audience it would be obvious that birling should have given the money earlier, that it was inevitable that eva would end up costing him. it is also revealing that birling wouldn't give eva smith a small pay rise as it would have meant he couldn't "lower prices" but when it came to saving his status he was prepared to “give thousands.” by this stage, mr birling seems quite flustered and somewhat embarrassed as although in the outside world his authority is growing in his own home he can't control a man of “that class.” from a psychoanalytic perspective you could argue that this reflects birlings upbringing and the values that he was taught to respect as a younger man when he worked had and was kept poor in a way that taught him the value of hard work. in this way, mr birling feels that all the people who have money deserve it while the people who don't have money clearly don't deserve it. also, it is from his background that birling being taught to prioritise materialistic things could be the root of his difficult relationship with eric; he comes across as very cold and unforgiving which possibly reflected onto his son. this could easily be a subconscious cause of eric's addiction (looking for escape and comfort in the absence of his father's approval) and be linked to why eva viewed him to be more juvenile than gerald. the need for superficial things in his life like power and wealth is portrayed in the play as quite harmful and only something which will hold a person back, the inspector seems to be free from all these hindering social constructs and is definitely a much more favourable character because of this., in spite of their strong differences in beliefs, both mr birling and the inspector are very self-assured characters who are equally set in their ways . this is not mirrored in the younger characters like eric or sheila. priestly emphasizes a message directed towards the younger generations that they are the hope for change. throughout the play birling refuses to accept the need for reform or responsibility , he represents the stereotypical man of his age and class that priestley uses to contradict sheila's growing outward-looking empathy. when she promises the inspector that she will “never never do it again to anybody” she is acknowledging her privileges and shows that she understands how people must take responsibility for each other. i would say that her materialistic upbringing and the damage that has done makes her incredibly naive and impacts hugely on her opinion of others' worth. when talking about eva smith in act 1 one of the first things she asked was “is she pretty” from this line alone it is clear to the audience where her priorities lie and what kinds of values were instilled in her from a young age probably by her shallow mother. priestly highlights that it's the duty of the young to bring about reform and for this to happen they firstly need to realise the older generations won't do it for them. he also stresses that it's not ok for people like the birlings to take credit for their achievements but never accept responsibility for the consequences of their profit., priestley uses the contrast between age groups and class to explore universal divides caused by pride, reputation and lack of accountability, things that mr and mrs birling value highly but sheila is willing to let go of by accepting her mistakes and returning gerald's engagement ring (also rejecting her father's business interest in gerald.).

Examiners commentary:

The simple, clear first paragraph is fine.

The second paragraph, however, contains some interesting points that could be related to the question but which aren't. As a result, a lot of what's good in this paragraph is lost. This could have been easily fixed if the student had remembered to continually link their points back to the question.

The third paragraph is an improvement in that it does mention responsibility more often and has some interesting observations about the generation gap.

The third paragraph feels unfinished and unclear - it sounds like it's saying that Mr and Mrs Birling value accountability highly, or that the view a "lack of accountability" highly, neither of which are true.

AO1: Lots of AO1, though it isn't connected to the question often enough

AO2: Not enough AO2 at all - hardly any specific language analysis

AO3: Nothing of note outside of the first paragraph

Grade: This is a difficult essay to grade. There are lots of interesting points, especially about how our upbringings affect our outlook, but they're not always linked to the question which means they won't score as well as they should. Also, a complete lack of AO2 causes real problems. This is probably a G5 though with a few minor changes it could easily be pushed up two grades.

B) How does Priestley explore responsibility in An Inspector Calls ?

Priestley presents a strong message about responsibility throughout the play. he wants us all to take more responsibility for each other., firstly, he uses the character of mr birling to convey the ignorance of those who refuse to take responsibility. we can see this when mr birling says, “community and all that nonsense”. the use of the noun “nonsense” shows the audience that mr birling is mocking socialists and those who believe society should be a community. you can almost hear his sarcastic tone as if ‘community’ is an absurd idea. the word “all” also highlights his belief that anything to do with community, such as helping others and being responsible for one another, is ridiculous. this links to when he says, “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.” the repetition of the pronoun “his” emphasises that he only takes care of his possessions and doesn’t think twice about others. also, it exposes to the audience his sense of higher class entitlement linked to his lack of responsibility for things that are not directly his fault. the audience of 1945 would have been shocked because by this time, after the labour movement and war, people were becoming more open-minded about mixing social classes and community responsibility. this links to priestley’s message because he was a socialist and believed people should have equal rights., in contrast to mr birling, priestley uses the character of sheila to present those who are willing to take responsibility. we see this in the line, “i’ll never, never do it again to anyone”. the repetition of “never, never” reveals that sheila feels guilty and deeply regrets her actions. it also tells the audience that she is open-minded about changing how she behaves, regardless of her social class. the use of the noun “anyone” reveals that she doesn’t care if the person is upper class or lower class. she doesn’t want to put anyone in that position again and has taken full responsibility. if this play had been shown in 1912, the audience may have been more likely to agree with the birling’s ideas and would have thought sheila may be acting foolishly. however, the audience of 1945 would have been more sympathetic towards sheila because at this time, society was shifting towards the creation of the nhs, the introduction of education for all and the building of social housing. this reflected how society was coming together more and caring more for the poor instead of brushing them aside., similarly, the character of inspector goole is the main voice of responsibility in the play and is the voice of priestley himself as he is trying to show the birling family that being upper class doesn’t make them any less responsible for the community than the next person. this sense of responsibility is also reflected in the stage directions when the light goes from “pink and intimate” and “brighter and harder”, when the inspector enters. immediately, this tells us that the i nspector has a presence on the stage and that he has come to say something important. perhaps it is about bri nging light to the things that the upper classes like to hide in the shadows, or the harsh lighting works almost like he is interrogating the family. the spotlight is now on them and what they have done., additionally, priestley conveys a message of responsibility through the inspector when he says, “we are members of one body.” the noun “members” highlights that we are all joined together and if one member falls, then it brings everything down. furthermore, it links to the idea that community is like a family who should take care of each other no matter what. it could also have religious connotations because in the last supper jesus said, “this is my body that will be given up for you, take this in memory of me.” here, jesus said that people should eat the bread because it would bring everyone together and he always believed that people should be equal. in 1912, people were very divided and the poor would rarely move up to the higher classes. priestley was aiming to ensure that the shifts in society happening in 1945 were strengthened and that everyone felt that responsibility for others was important..

Really clear structure, with a clear target for each paragraph

Doesn't make a wide range of points but has a quote to backup each point and explores the quote in depth

Each section ends with something about the context

Though each point is presented with a quote attached, this could have been improved with some other references from the play even if those quotes or references weren't analysed in depth

AO1: Not much AO1 really, no real refernces to key moments of plot

AO2: Lots of great AO2 - quotes analysed in depth

AO3: Good AO3, all key points linked to context

Grade: A really neat, clear and well organised essay. A lack of AO1 is a problem, as is the fact that although each paragraph was linked to an idea connected to responsibility the link isn't always made clear. However, there's loads of AO2 and AO3 so it would be a comfortable G7. With a couple of sentences added to each paragraph which referenced a few key moments of plot it would go up to a G8.

C) How does Priestley explore responsibility in An Inspector Calls ?

Priestley explores ideas about responsibility through the way the birlings behave towards eva smith. arthur birling explains the family’s capitalist philosophy when he says ‘a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own’ which suggests that he feels that he only has responsibility for his own family and himself . this is reinforced by the way the birlings treat eva smith. first of all, arthur fires her from his factory to make an example of her because she asks for higher wages and dares to take responsibility for others by speaking up on their behalf. it is revealed that arthur’s prime motive is to keep wages down so that he could make more profits. priestley reinforces this through arthur’s constant repetition of ‘hard headed man of business’, to remind the audience that he is representative of capitalism and the damage it causes. the word ‘business’ is later used by birling to refer to the death of eva smith as he states how her death is ‘horrid business’ which emphasises the message that birling only sees people’s lives in terms of profit. priestley is showing the audience that a blind belief that generating profits and prosperity for the good of everyone is fundamentally wrong as it causes innocent people to suffer tragic consequences., although all the birlings are responsible for eva’s mistreatment and death in some way, they react differently when they find this out from the inspector. mr and mrs birling do not change and are only concerned about their reputation - the possible ‘scandal’ or arthur’s ‘knighthood’. however, priestley’s intention is give the audience a message of hope as sheila and eric do recognise that they have behaved badly by the end of the play and therefore he is suggesting that it is the younger generation that have the responsibility for adopting more socialist principles. through the younger birlings’ attitudes, priestley suggests that socialism is the modern way and that it is young people who will change society for the better., this change of views in the younger generation is also shown through the play’s structure as eric dramatically exits the stage at a crucial point suggesting he is struggling to contain his guilt over his mistreatment of eva smith. likewise, sheila is struggling with her guilt and tries to show that she has changed by directing others to realise their own responsibility in eva smith’s suicide. for example, sheila warns her mother not to ‘build up a wall’ this metaphor describes the separation of the social classes as mrs birling believes she is superior to the lower classes. the irony is that the opposite is true as priestley reveals how mrs birling’s behaviour is morally wrong – she punished a pregnant girl by refusing her charity when she needed it the most just because the girl used her name and in doing so angered mrs birling., through using the form of a morality play, priestley is able to identify what each family member’s sins and how it was these sins that they demonstrated and caused their mistreatment of eva smith. for instance, eric’s lust for eva smith meant that he forced himself upon eva and then his sloth – his inability to earn his own money meant he stole money from his father instead of facing up to his responsibility and earning money himself. by the end of the play, priestley shows that eric fully accepts his responsibility and describes how he cannot even remember his assault of eva as being a ‘hellish thing’. the use of this metaphor implies he is being tortured by his own guilt and knows he has been committed to hell due to his sins., priestley constructs the inspector’s role as that of a priest as he extracts all the confessions from the birlings and attempts to force them to accept their responsibilities through asking questions which challenge their capitalist way of life and challenges their edwardian values of social class and hierarchy. in addition, the inspector’s language has religious tones to it as he warns the birlings and gerald croft that if they do not stop exploiting the poor, they will learn their lesson with ‘fire, blood and anguish’. there is an inference that they will be punished in hell for not caring about the way those less fortunate are treated. through the inspector’s voice, the audience hear the socialist message that the birlings are being taught and we left knowing that this is a warning to us all – we need to accept responsibility and take better care of others around us., how does sheila change during an inspector calls, - summary paragraph, - stage directions, - confrontation with the inspector – she takes responsibility, - standing up to her parents, - the young are more impressionable, - ending – grown up, throughout inspector calls, sheila is the character who changes the most. at the beginning of the play she is a young, naïve girl who is happy to be told what to think and do; by the end she is the only character who really takes responsibility for the death of eva and is happy to tell her parents that she thinks they are wrong., the stage directions describe her as being “very pleased with life” a phrase which reflects her luxurious upbringing. she’s also described as being “excited” an adjective that suggests she is looking forward to her life. in both these respects she could be viewed as being ignorant to the reality of what her luxury costs others, or how difficult the times ahead will be., sheila refers to her parents as “mummy” and “daddy,” nouns that are associated with young children and not young adults; she is also told off by her mother for squabbling with her brother, a fact that reinforces our vision of her as being infantilised by her parents. sheila is then given a ring by her fiancé gerald. “is it the one you wanted me to have” she asks him, a phrase that suggests she wasn’t really interested in what she wanted but only what gerald wanted her to have. throughout the opening she is presented as a child, with no real desires or wishes of her own. in many respects, she is the traditional rich young woman – without a real mind of her own by virtue of her gender., when the inspector arrives, he explains how her spoilt behaviour in a shop led to eva being sacked. “then i’m really responsible,” she accepts, quickly recognising her role in the girl’s downfall. also, she observes that the inspector is getting ready to speak to gerald next and pushes this through, asking direct questions to gerald and working out the reasons why he wasn’t where he said he was the summer before. in both these cases, she is showing independent thought – by accepting responsibility even when others don’t and by pushing gerald against his wishes., during their time with the inspector, her parents and gerald repeatedly try to send sheila out of the room to protect her from his news – her mother argues that she is “looking tired,” something that we would only really say to a very small child. sheila repeatedly refuses, arguing that she will stay until “i know why that girl killed herself.” here, she clearly shows herself standing up to her parents, sticking to her desire to discover the truth of the situation., at one point arthur argues that the inspector is making “quite an impression” on sheila, suggesting that she’s coming around to the inspector’s way of thinking. “we often do on the young ones,” the inspector replies, suggesting that his socialist values are more affective on younger people. this reflects a view of priestley’s which was that socialism and left wing values are more impactful on younger people, a fact that’s often reflected in even modern opinion polls where right wing conservatives tend to be older. this is also shown in how, by the end of the play, mr and mrs birling remain unchanged by the arrival of the inspector, while their children change – even gerald admits that the events “affected him,” before he reverts back to his old ways., even after the inspector leaves, sheila continues to push his ideas trying to make sure that her family don’t forget him. she claims they are beginning to “pretend” that nothing has happened, clearly accepting that things won’t be the same again. her use of the verb is interesting as well, as games of “pretend” are really childish things. it seems that the girl who was once infantilised is now accusing her parents of playing make-believe. she also argues that her parents “don’t seem to have learnt anything,” behaving almost like a school mistress arguing that a lesson has been missed. she also says, in response to a speech from eric in which he accepts responsibility, that he makes her feel a little less “ashamed” of them, a word which really shows just how powerfully sheila sees her parents’ remorseless behaviour., her frustration is clear throughout the ending, where she says her parents’ behaviour “scares” her. this clearly references the inspectors closing words about “fire and blood and anguish” which referenced the years of war that would follow the period between the play being written and being performed. the audience at this point would doubtless be agreeing with sheila regarding her fear. her parents continue to ignore her desire to grow up, infantilising her again by suggesting that she’s just “tired” and “hysterical,” though they can’t ignore her final words when she refuses gerald’s ring again which clearly shows that she has grown up enough to express herself completely, how does priestley present mrs birling as an unlikeable character (high level response), priestley presents mrs birling as an unlikable character as she doesn’t change throughout the play. in acts 1 and 2 she doesn’t say much about the tragic death of eva at all, showing her lack of remorse., on the other hand, characters like sheila do realise the horror of the suicide. in act 2, gerald says “sorry, i’ve just realised a girl has died”. this is ironic [sic] as he had found out in act 1, but it had only sunken in in act 2. the word “sorry” shows he feels embarrassed about his emotional side, as many men of the time (1912) did., sheila also changes throughout, creating a stark contrast to her mother. in act 1 she refers to her mother as “mummy” like when she says “mummy, isn’t it a beauty” this shows she was dependant on her and worried about material things. she later says, “but these girls aren’t cheap labour, they’re people” to mr birling, showing his daughter isn’t afraid to voice her opinion but her mother is. in act 2, sheila says, “we really must stop these silly pretences”. the inclusive pronoun “we” not only presents sheila as the family member doing the right thing and trying to influence others, as her mother should, but also involves the audience, trying to give them a message. the noun “pretences” is significant as it was mrs birling who pretended not to remember eva smith., when she was shown the photo it was evident that mrs birling didn’t change throughout as at the end of the play in act 3 gerald suggests that “he’s been had”, and the birlings are keen to accept it, whilst sheila and gerald remain guilt-stricken. the audience of the time, in 1945, would have just experienced the war and realised everyone must start taking care of one another. they may have not been so quick to change, as, at the time, only rich, most-likely capitalist, people would have gone to the theatre to see the play, whereas a modern audience is more diverse and open., priestley also presents mrs birling as an unlikable character as she is dismissive towards many different groups. for example, she says “a girl of that class” when her part in the suicide is revealed. the noun “girls” shows mrs birling’s views that working class girls are undeserving of names. this derogatory comment would have infuriated an audience of 1945 as the working class were extremely beneficial during the war, though the class divide was massive in 1912. she is even misogynist, like mr birling, who says “clothes mean something different to women”. she says “sheila and i had better go to the drawing room”, which shows her views on women’s place in society, due to gender roles. she also says men have to spend a lot of time working away, but sheila challenges it and says she won’t get used to it. it is obvious priestley has used the younger generations as a symbol for more open-minded people as eric also challenges mr birling on war. mr birling says the titanic is “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”. the repetition and qualifiers enhance the dramatic irony as he was wrong about both of these things. it is almost as though priestley is mocking people like mr birling., mrs birling also has capitalist views which don’t change throughout the play. she believes in a social hierarchy as seen in the stage directions before the play begin, where the characters are placed around a rectangular table which gives power to those at the top and bottom, and when she says, “be quiet and let your father think of what we should do next”. the imperative verb “be” shows how she is even being rude towards her own children., this contrast with shelia’s feminism, which was popular due to the suffragette movement in 1912, significant after 1945 as many women helped the war effort and important to a modern audience who have achieved so much. mrs birling uses her powers for bad as she “influenced” the committee to refuse eva help., priestley uses the play as an allegory for his socialist views. by inducing a sense of hatred towards mrs birling he allows the audience to see the flaws in a capitalist mind-set. priestley, having served in the war himself, developed strong socialist views. this is reflected in the inspector, who is a mouthpiece for priestley as he uses the metaphor, “we are all part of one body” to imply everyone should look after one another. priestley had a popular radio programme which was cancelled for being too “left wing” by the bbc. as time progresses, the audience becomes more socialist and the play is more effective., priestley presents mrs birling as having double standard. this can be seen in the quotation, “i’m sorry eric… didn’t know”, after finding out it was her son she was talking about when she said he should take full responsibility for eva’s pregnancy., despite stage directions calling for pink, intimate lighting at the beginning, mrs birling never seems to be intimate with her children. when the inspector asks if eric drinks, she says “of course not, he’s only a boy”, which shows she is either lying or not close with her family. however, sheila says he’s been “steadily drinking for two years”, showing she is either trying to get him into trouble or is keen to get him help. either way, she is closer with him than his own mother. the siblings also exchange comments when she calls him “squiffy”. the colloquialism has mrs birling unaware of the changes and reluctant to change her mind-set. this also foreshadows the importance of alcohol in the play as it was the cause of eric’s behaviour., how does priestley present the views of the inspector in an inspector calls (high level response), inspector goole is presented as an omnipotent, powerful figure throughout the whole play; his presence immediately has the power to change the light and cheerful atmosphere of the birlings' dinner party. the lighting changes from "pink and intimate" to "brighter and harder" once the inspector arrives. here, priestley's use of the adjectives "pink and intimate" suggests a warm and happy atmosphere whereas the adjective "harder" opposes this. priestley uses the inspector as a dramatic device. not only could it be argued that the inspector is an immensely powerful figure but also that priestley uses the stage directions that inspector goole's arrival to act as a symbol for how he wants society to improve. the lighting before the inspector arrives suggests that the birling family – who are a stereotypical portrayal of a middle class family – were happy whilst they were ignorant to the working class. the lighting change tells us how priestley wants society to change; he wants society to stop being ignorant to the working class., furthermore, j. b. priestley uses the inspector to convey that he wants society to change and become more empathetic towards the working class instead of perceiving them as being disposable. when the inspector arrives, he tells the birling family about eva smith’s suicide in which she drank a lot of strong disinfectant that “burnt her inside out”. priestley’s language persuades the audience to feel immense sympathy not only for eva smith but also for all of the working class; it could be argued that eva smith’s suffering and suicide is used as a metaphor to highlight the continuous struggled faced by the working class, throwing into relief the issues within society and how these problems are ignored by the wealthier classes. priestley’s gory imagery alternately makes the audience feel guilty because they may realise how ignorant they have been to ignore the struggles of the working class and persuade them to change by being more empathetic., priestley suggests that a pressing issue with the twentieth century society is that people are reluctant to take responsibility for their actions. this view is encapsulated through the use of the elder members of the birling family, arthur birling and his wife mrs birling – who do not take responsibility for their actions towards eva smith. however, priestley uses the inspector to try to change this. the inspector states that if we share nothing else, “we have to share our guilt”. here priestley uses the personal pronoun “we” to give society a sense of unity, implying everyone must do the same and follow the inspector’s teachings. ‘an inspector calls’ was set in 1912, a time in which society was divided by not only gender but by social class. priestley wants the middle and upper classes to transform from abusing their power to dominate and exploit the working class to instead being more responsible for their actions and treating people more sympathetically ., priestley uses the inspector to convey the consequences of what will happen if members of society do not change. he states that we will be “taught” in “fire and blood and anguish”. priestley’s use of a triplet of nouns act as metaphors for the two world wars. the entire play is used as a motif for the wars; if society proceeds to not improve the way in which members of society treat each other, the world wars will repeat in an endless cycle until we learn. here, the inspector is presented as an omnipotent being. ‘an inspector calls’ was written and first performed at the end of the second world war therefore the contemporary audience will have experienced the perpetual suffering that comes with them. priestley uses the inspector to make the audience fearful as they are persuaded to think that the inspector is a god-like character imposing judgement on society. this will persuade all audiences to change their actions and embrace socialist ideologies of caring for other members of society which is what priestley intended them to do., priestley wants the middle and upper classes to stop being selfish and exploiting the poor for their own financial gain, but instead be more generous and empathetic towards other members of the working class. the inspector is almost an impartial figure in the play because he does not fit into the distinct levels of society. this gives the audience the impression that the inspector is an unbiased figure; they will be persuaded to listen to him and change their views., compare priestley’s presentation of eva smith and shelia birling., in the play ‘an inspector calls’ we see a family called the birlings that consist of many different characters, personalities and beliefs. we only begin to see these different aspects when the family begin to learn how each one of them was involved in causing the chain of events which led a girl, eva smith to commit suicide. there are two characters in particular who are very different in the way that they live their lives and their own outlook on life. these two characters are eva smith and shelia birling., shelia is the daughter of sybil and arthur birling. they are a well-known family in brumley and are in the public eye constantly because of the position her father holds within the town as he is on the bench and the owner of the big birling and company and is due to marry gerald croft whose parents are very well-known also., eva smith is almost the opposite of the social scale to shelia. she has no friends or family to rely on and is quite an independent woman. she struggles to get by and is unable to cope with the strains that she is forced to be under at her age., at the beginning of the play we see shelia at the table with her family and how she is influenced by her family’s thoughts. she was quite childish and used petty excuses for her actions ‘i told him that if they didn’t get rid of that girl, i’d never go near the place again’. this shows that shelia had the same approach about how to treat others of the lower class as her father, which is not a good quality that shelia and arthur birling share., when we first hear of eva smith in the play we learn about the time that she experienced while working at birling and company. she was outspoken, resilient and gutsy as she led a group of workers on strike in an attempt to get higher wages ‘she’d had a lot to say-far too much- so she had to go’., there we see the huge difference in the lives that each of them live, but it is the way that shelia changes as the play goes on and learns more about eva smith’s life., once shelia knows more about the family’s effect on eva’s life she becomes more defiant, and mature. she begins to stand up to her parents who still look down on eva. she realises that there is no need to treat a person the way that the birling family did, no matter whether it was the same girl or not ‘everything we said had happened really hadn’t happened. if it didn’t end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. but it might have done.’ she has a more compassionate approach to eva and her life as she learns about the suffering that this girl the same age as herself had to go through., priestly shows the importance of caring for others within your community by showing that if the birling’s had looked after eva smith and treated her with any respect then maybe it would have prevented her suicide, because she would have been in a lot happier state of mind. this also takes place near to every one of us. if you treat one person unacceptably then you never know what effect that may have on them and others around them, if you do your bit to treat every person with decency that you meet then you will have no regrets with what you have done., priestly also shows through shelia that she was the next generation, with the new ideas of how people of another class should be treated and how the other birling’s are still living in the old, traditional frame of mind, which is harsh and uncaring to others. whereas shelia would be a middle aged woman when priestly wrote the book, he wanted to show the difference of views between the younger and older generations of 1912., shelia birling and eva smith are very different characters, but it is the effect that they can have on each other’s lives which highlights priestley’s views about community., to what extent could you argue that mr birling is the most important character in an inspector calls , as the ‘head of the household’ mr birling is, arguably, the central character to an inspector calls. throughout the beginning of the play he displays the kind of arrogance that priestley expected to see from a selfish capitalist; throughout the exchange, he is completely unapologetic about the death of eva; and after the inspector leaves, he tries his hardest to get out of trouble. also, if you argued that an inspector calls is really a morality play, then you could see mr birling as representing the deadly sins of greed and pride, both things that priestly attacked capitalists for., at the beginning of the play, mr birling is described as “heavy looking” which immediately reminds us of a large, well fed, rich man, enjoying the luxuries of life. his “easy manners” but “provincial speech” remind us that although he is now rich (as symbolised by his knowledge of manners) he is from working class roots (provincial means from the country, or of a lower class.) mr birling is one of those men who had made money during the industrial revolution and, priestley argues, was then exploiting the working classes for his own profit., during the opening exchanges over dinner, birling shows off to gerald croft – his daughter’s new fiancé – by mentioning some rather expensive port he bought, and then gives a long and stuffy speech about how lucky his children are to be born into a time of such good fortune. throughout the speech priestley uses a lot of dramatic irony as he mentions birling’s belief that there would be no labour issues (despite the fact that the russian revolution was just five years away;) there would be no war in germany (despite two being on the horizon,) and – in a moment of comedy – that the titanic was “unsinkable.” throughout this speech, audience members are reminded of how little we know about the future, and how important it is that we prepare for the unexpected. birling is shown to be arrogant, small minded, and selfish; all features that a socialist like priestley would expect to see in a capitalist like birling., priestly times the inspector’s arrival so that he cuts birling off during one of his selfish rants: “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself,” he is saying as the doorbell rings. his initial response to the inspector is immediately defensive: he delivers a short speech detailing the members of the local police force that he knows, and the fact that he used to be mayor. the inspector seems uninterested though. throughout their exchange birling makes it clear that he feels no responsibility saying a number of times that he had nothing to do with this “wretched” girl’s death. the use of this adjective is interesting as “wretched” can mean poor or downtrodden, but it can also mean disliked and disgusting; birling, we have to assume, feels both are true. at one point he argues, perfectly summarising priestley’s feelings about the attitude of people like birling: “i can't accept any responsibility. if we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward.”, during the remainder of the play, mr birling continues to reveal himself as being selfish and without regret. he is continually worried about the threat to his dreamt of knighthood and, when the chance arises, is even happy to direct all the blame at his young son, eric. he also tries to bribe the inspector, offering him “thousands” now it has all gone wrong, despite the fact that he wouldn’t pay her even a few shillings more at the time. throughout act 3, it is mr birling who leads the campaign to recognise the inspector as being a fraud and he is the most relieved when it turns out that there is no dead girl. however, unlike sheila, he isn’t relieved that no-one had died but is simply pleased to have saved his own hide., however, as the main character in the play mr birling receives both the opening and closing lines. in the end, it is him who is stuck, holding the phone and revealing that there is and “inspector on the way,” and in many ways it is him that the audience will be most pleased to see get his just deserts., what is the role of the inspector in an inspector calls , an inspector calls is a parable that was set during the belle époque (meaning the beautiful period) which lasted from 1870-1914. in the play, a family have their dinner party interrupted by an inspector who comes to visit. though this is a morality play in the traditional sense, its moral compass is very much set by the author’s belief in socialism ., the inspector arrives at a critical point. mr birling, the patriarch of his family, is delivering a lecture to his son and future son-in-law, about how “men must look after themselves…” in this way he is exposing his deep selfishness – one that priestly believed was at the heart of all capitalists. at this point there is a “sharp ring on the doorbell,” the adverb perhaps foreshadowing how the inspectors arrival will cut through the birlings’ veneer of respectability ., almost as soon as he arrives, mr birling reminds him of his own social standing – that he used to be mayor and has played golf with the chief inspector. the fact that mr birling is threatening the inspector is barely concealed , though the inspector brushes it aside. as a morality play, all the characters in an inspector calls represent something else - an ideal or social group or class. here, the birlings represent the wealthy and privileged elite while the inspector represents the newly educated middle classes, who would rise up and form a bridge between the elite and the working classes below them. the inspector, as becomes clear, is here to ensure that the birlings do not get away with how they treated eva smith., the inspector is described as giving an “impression of massiveness.” this is interesting as it makes it clear that he isn’t massive but should give that “impression.” as a direction this is a bit of a nightmare for a casting agent . he shouldn’t be big, but should have a gravitas that makes him seem huge. fortunately, however, priestley has written a part that gives every opportunity for moral superiority for an actor., also, from the moment he arrives the stage directions call for the lighting to change from “pink and intimate” – perhaps reflecting the rose - tinted spectacles through which the birlings view the world – and to something more “harsh.” perhaps this change is designed to highlight how the inspector’s arrival puts the birlings behaviour in the spotlight or exposes the lies they kept hidden in the shadows ., the first to fall to his inspection is mr birling, who sacked eva after she arranged for a strike amongst his workers while they demanded more pay. though birling admitted that she was a good worker, he clearly saw his profits threatened by her behaviour and made an example of her. mr birling’s children, however, do not share his selfishness and, as his son points out, “why shouldn’t they try for higher wages we try for bigger profits.” in many ways this quote exposes the selfish, unreasonable nature of capitalists : that they see their own right to desire more profits as god given , while those who resist are “troublemakers” and “cranks.”, after mr birling, the inspector turns to sheila, who had eva sacked from her job in a local department store. it is clear from the story – which sheila tells – that she was jealous of eva’s good looks. it is also clear, however, that sheila deeply regrets her actions. not long after this, mrs birling comments that sheila’s feelings have been changed and claims that the inspector has made an “impression” on her. this is a telling word – an “impression” is something that is the result of pressure, as though she’s been bullied into seeing things differently; but it is also something that often disappears over time. mrs birling’s feelings are clear: that the inspector’s ideas have affected sheila, but only fleetingly . the inspector replies dryly , acknowledging that he will often have an effect on the young. in many ways this reflects the old adage that young people are more socialist by nature, gradually turning to the more self-centred right as they grow. this is certainly the point that is being made by priestley, as the inspector affects the younger generation far more than their elders., after sheila, he turns to gerald who, again, reveals his own role in the death of eva. by this stage she is known as daisy renton – a name that perhaps reflects the fact her position: daisies are simple flowers that call to mind the innocence of daisy chains; while the appearance of “rent” in her name reminds us of what she did to her body in order to survive., the play continues to get darker as the inspector turns to mrs birling. under pressure she tells the inspector, and the audience, about how she turned away a young pregnant woman and that if the inspector was doing his job properly he should be chasing down the father. at this point, the audience know that she is talking about eric and are tensely waiting for the big reveal. in many respects it is also at this point that the audience is forced to reflect on the nature of this play: up until this moment, the action seems relatively realistic and, although the focus has been on only one character at any time, the focus has shifted around the room without any seeming construction . this time, however, the structure is too neat to be believed; it’s too well constructed to maintain the illusion of realism , and we know that we are watching a parable in which the inspector has an almost divine control over the action., after exposing the family’s “crimes” the inspector finally delivers his closing speech, which has all the hallmarks of a sermon that is delivered to the audience as much as it is to the family. in it, he reminds us of all the eva smiths and john smiths there are in the world, and that we are “one body.” here, the inspector is addressing both the audience in 1945 and the audience in 1912. the telling difference was the two world wars, during which the working classes proved themselves to be every bit as strong and resilient as their “social superiors.” the sense of national bonding that took place during the wars led to significant social changes in the uk, not least the creation of the nhs and the welfare state, and it was characters like the inspector (and priestley) who made sure this happened., his final warning, however, that “if we do not learn this lesson we will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish,” has a slightly different meaning in the two time periods. for the family in 1912 it was prophetic ; but for an audience in 1945 it would have been suggesting that the wars were almost a punishment for their behaviour, and a way of suggesting that if they didn’t embrace socialism now then the wars, and all the horrors that came with them, would return again., at the end of the play, the birlings receive a phone call which tells them that a real police inspector is on the way, to talk about a girl who has recently died. this final moment raises questions about the role of the inspector goole we’ve just watched, and it is at this point that his name seems important: is he a goole, or a ghoul, or something else from some other world is he some angelic messenger send to bring divine judgement that question is never answered, though the audience – or the young ones at least – should have no doubts that his understanding of the world is from a “higher” place., another essay on the role of the inspector in an inspector calls ., this essay's structure is as follows:, a summary paragraph, how the inspector is introduced, mr birling and the inspector – good for ao2, a “panic” paragraph – without quotes – that picks up on some key moments from the rest of the play – good for ao1, the inspector at the end, in the play an inspector calls, a police inspector brings judgement to a rich family who live in 1912. the play is a morality play, in which each of the characters represents a particular role or opinion. in this morality play, the inspector promotes a socialist understanding of the world in a way that reflects the views of the play’s author jb priestley., when the inspector arrives he cuts off mr birling’s lecture when he is saying that “ a man must look after himself and his family …” this interruption symbolises the way that inspector is going to stop mr birling’s views. also, it says that there is a “ sharp ring on the doorbell .” the word “ sharp ” suggests that the inspector will cut through mr birling’s selfish ideas. also, from the moment he arrives the stage directions call for the lighting to change from “ pink and intimate ” to something more “ harsh .” this is because the birlings see the world through as being nice and friendly while the inspector will bring a “ harsh ” judgement on them., in the play, the inspector works as a foil to mr birling’s selfish capitalism. at the beginning of the play, mr birling calls socialists “ cranks ” – which means crazy – and says that if we all listened to socialists we’d be like “ bees in a hive .” this remark criticises socialists as bees lack individuality, they work almost like a big machine, and only do what they’re told and mr birling doesn’t want the world to be like this. the inspector, however, believes that we are “ members of one body ” and that we are “ responsible for each other .” in this way, the inspector is talking about the socialist ideas which suggest that because we all live together we should look after each other. in fact, he goes on to suggest that if we don’t learn to do this we will “ taught it in fire and blood and anguish .” this is clearly a reference to the two world wars which were fought between the time the play was set and when it was written. it is also telling that mr birling didn’t think the wars would happen – he would probably have referred to that as being an idea from some kind of “ crank .”, at the beginning of the play mr birling threatens the inspector by saying that he plays golf with the chief inspector. the inspector, however, doesn’t care and carries on his investigation. throughout the play, the inspector acts like he doesn’t care about the characters social standings and only wants to focus on the facts. he is someone logical and he doesn’t care what people think of him. he just wants the truth about eva’s death. he also has a habit of looking “hard” at the person he is addressing. this is because he is inspecting them, almost as though he’s looking through them and into their soul., in the end the inspector leaves and we are left unsure as to whether he was real or not. however, because his name is inspector goole – which sounds similar to ghoul (which is a kind of spirit or ghost) – the audience would be within their rights to think of him as a kind of spiritual prophet or divine messenger., a third essay on the role of the inspector in an inspector calls , jb priestley uses the story of an inspector calls to contrast the differences between upper/upper-middle and working class people in society during the edwardian times. the inspector questions the birling family to think about the consequences of their actions on others – predominately the working class and people whom they believe to be inferior to them. priestley uses the inspector to make society question their morals and think about accepting responsibility for their actions. each character reacts differently to the inspector and priestley uses this to represent capitalist vs socialist ideals., - nice opening – clear and specific and leaves the examiner comfortable that you know what you’re doing. may be a bit long – though it is all meaningful, when the inspector enters the birling household, the stage directions states that the lights change from ‘pink and intimate’ to ‘brighter and harder’. this shows how the presence of the inspector changes the atmosphere and how he is here for a purpose. the lighting change from ‘pink and intimate’ to ‘brighter and harder’ almost shows how the inspector is going to burst the birling’s protected, capitalist bubble. the idea of the lights being ‘brighter and harder’ create the idea of a spotlight shining on the birling family and how the inspector is there to expose them to the truth. in the stage directions, it also says that the inspector ‘creates an impression of massiveness’. this shows that although the birling’s are superior to him in class, the inspector still holds the authority over them all. it could also be foreshadowing that the inspector is going to create a lasting ‘impression’ over the birling family and impact their lives hopefully for the better., - super cool lots of detail, specific things being said and focusing on sections of the text. this is what you want to do, in act one, mr birling makes several threats to the inspector about his connections with the chief constable. this shows how mr birling feels threatened and uncomfortable with the inspectors presence. he tries to assert his authority over the inspector to protect himself and his pride as he’s being questioned by someone who is inferior to himself. he doesn’t want to damage his reputation and all he is thinking about is himself. this represents the capitalist society and how they refuse to think of any but themselves and how they will go to any measure to protect their reputation. mr birling also tries to emphasise his importance to the inspector by mentioning gerald and his family name. he says, “perhaps i ought to explain first that this is mr gerald croft – the son of sir george croft – you know, crofts limited.” by mentioning gerald’s family name, it shows how mr birling is trying to intimidate the inspector. also, mr birling could be mentioning the croft name to try to make himself feel more in control of the situation and back in the superior position in the room. priestley uses the reaction of mr birling to the inspector to represent how people of the upper capitalist class use their positions of power as an excuse to be ignorant to their actions. priestley wanted make people aware of this to questions their own ignorance., - again, this is great. you show a clear understanding of the relationship between birling and the inspector and clearly explain the power dynamic in the room, at the end of the play, the inspector makes a big final speech to the birling family. it opens with a reminder that there are thousands of “john smiths and eva smiths” in the world. this reminds the audience that we all have to accept responsibility for our actions and realise it is not enough to only think of ourselves but we must think of others as well. the inspector then goes on to say that “we don't live alone. we are members of one body. we are responsible for each other.” these three concise sentences summarise the lesson priestley was trying to convey to the audience. by keeping the sentences short but powerful, it leaves a lasting impression on the birling family but more importantly, the audience. this links to the beginning stage direction of the inspector creating an ‘impression of massiveness’. he then warns the family (and audience) that if ‘men don’t soon learn their lesson they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish’. this is a reference to the many years of war that had taken place between when the play was set and when it was performed. it could be seen to be served as a warning to the people that they need to change their actions or history will repeat itself., - really good as well. you’ve focused in on specific techniques here and shown a clear understanding of how those techniques have effects., overall, this is a very good essay – it’s got a wide range of detailed quotes, points and pieces of analysis. it could be improved with a few moments where you zoom in on specific words and explore the meaning of them – think about mr birling saying he “can’t” take responsibility, or mrs birling saying she “won’t” take responsibility and the inspector saying “we are responsible.” this kind of link will push this essay up into the 8-9 category., what is the significance of the ending in an inspector calls , in effect, ‘an inspector calls’ has arguably three endings, or climaxes. the first is the final speech of the inspector, before he exits dramatically, walking ‘straight out’. the second is as the family think it all may have been a ‘fake’. the third represents the justice in the final words of the play., priestly ensures that the inspector says little in the way of moral judgment until just before he exits. this in itself increases dramatic tension – the audience is waiting for a confrontation which is dependent on all the facts of the story finally emerging. his final speech is based on the great moral authority he has gained through the entirety of the play and is in a sense cathartic. as an ‘inspector’, he is symbolic of the moral and legal authority of the police force. ‘inspecting’ carries the idea of sifting carefully though the actions of the birlings in a detailed and objective manner. priestley adds objectivity and legal precision to the inspector’s character; thus by the climax of his investigation, we, the audience, instinctively trust his moral conclusions also. there is a sense of relief in hearing the birlings finally being condemned for their actions., the inspector’s final speech is, in tone, almost a sermon. the frequent use of blunt, short diction is combined with imperatives which make him seem almost a preacher or a prophetic figure, as he tells the birlings to “remember this”, and tells them that “we are responsible for each other.” although he uses often the first person plural to emphasise their common humanity, he is also accusatory with his use of ‘you’ as he threatens them with what will come if they fail to learn this lesson. the imagery priestley draw from is biblical by nature. from the eucharist service, the inspector uses the biblical metaphor that we are all “members of one body”. the well-known nature of this metaphor makes it seemingly self-evidently true to the audience. the apocalyptic imagery that follows is equally well-known, as the inspector promises “fire and blood and anguish”. the tricolon is heavily emphatic and emotive – the birlings’ rejection of it, which follows swiftly, creates a further sense of their moral vacuity. this sermonic end to the inspector’s presence onstage makes him seem a didactic mouthpiece for the play – he speaks in effect as much to the audience as to the birlings. although it is a relatively brief and restrained speech, nonetheless it is a powerful end – it seems – to the drama., birling’s absence of moral epiphany is enacted in the second ‘ending’ of the play in the ‘huge sigh of relief’ he emits when he discovers that the inspector is not actually from the police station. he rejects the inspector’s final words through this stage direction which creates a dramatic hyperbole that it is impossible for the audience to miss. eva smith’s name suggests that she represents all of the ordinary humanity, eva suggesting eve of genesis, symbolically the mother of humanity, and smith being a stereotypical working-class surname. thus birling’s ‘huge’ indifference is, symbolically, to the suffering of any human being, particularly those who are his socially inferior. indeed, his estimations of people’s worth have been entirely based on their money or their social connections; early on in the play he attempts at first to threaten the inspector by explicitly ‘warning him that the chief constable, colonel roberts, is an ‘old friend’ of his. birling’s ‘relief’ therefore is that his place in society is not damaged after all – even though it is based on corruption and inhumanity towards whose who are weaker and more socially vulnerable than him. thus birling has learned nothing at all in the play., further, birling is ‘triumphant’ when he decides that the story is nothing more than ‘moonshine’. ‘triumph’ suggests victory and winning – birling’s delight is based on his perception that he will not be in any way held to account for his misdeeds. ‘moonshine’ is a dismissive colloquialism – priestley uses this to emphasise that there is no emotional impact whatsoever on birling for the suffering of eva smith and those whom she represents. this is accentuated by mrs birling’s suggestion that in the morning eric and sheila will be as ‘amused’ as they are. the tragedy of what happened to eva through her circumstances and through the undeserved actions of others is in effect diminished to a joke. priestley ensures that this anticlimactic interpretation of the play’s events by mrs birling is morally repugnant to the audience. the older birlings and gerald are villainesque, antagonistic figures., sheila is partly redeemed from the birling’s self-seeking immorality. sheila’s response to birling’s ‘relief’ is to accuse him of ‘pretending’ that all is well. this accusation of play-acting creates an ironic role-reversal, as though birling is the one childishly refusing to engage with reality, and she becomes the parent-figure who rebukes him for his immaturity. this childishness is not an indication of birling’s innocence, but of his lack of responsibility. sheila is the youthful one in the conversation, but she is the one who is vulnerable to the corruption of her parents, and she lacks meaningful power. partly also because of her gender, she is, like eva, the victim of birling’s philosophy of greed – and yet the awakening of her moral awareness is presented as a coming-of-age epiphany. she learns to reject the selfishness and inhumanity of her parents as she realises that all the working-class are intrinsically human beings. she absorbs the relatively complex moral didacticism the inspector represents with regards to the interconnectedness of human society. this is particularly shown by her quoting the exact words of the inspector’s apocalyptic list of consequences if the rich fail to heed the social situation: she quotes his words of ‘fire and blood and anguish’. although she shows no explicit awareness of the social apocalypse of which the inspector warns, she recalls what ‘he made me feel’. her emotional engagement is presented in ironic juxtaposition with her parents’ emotional disengagement. priestley redeems her partly to show the morally repugnant nature of the birlings’ lack of redemption, through juxtaposing their response with hers., the unrepentant birlings are presented by priestley as grotesque not only through their failure to realise their wrong-doing, but also, and more importantly in their seeking of moral superiority over eva smith and the workers she represents. the callous self-righteousness they exhibit is best portrayed in mrs birling’s rhetorical question, ‘why shouldn’t we’ when sheila asks how they possibly can continue as they were before. the fact she considers the question to need no actual answer indicates her moral blindness – it indicates her assumption that the rightr of the powerful to abuse the poor is irrefutable and self-evident. priestley, through the drama, shows how society creates moral indifference to the working-class., the superficiality is also epitomised in gerald’s statement that ‘everything is all right now.’ this bland cliché becomes ironically extremely emotive for the audience as we know that the lack of a moral compass for the birlings and gerald means that others will be treated just as eva was. the superficiality of this analysis has great dramatic power to repulse the audience – and perhaps to begin to effect the social change priestley desired., the third and final ‘ending’ is mysterious. at one level, it satisfies the audience’s hope that there will be justice for eva. by instructing the actors to look ‘guiltily’ around, priestly ensures that the moral indifference of the second ending is not the concluding note of the play. birling speaking on the phone when the person has ‘rung off’ indicates also that his social authority is over; creating the sense that there is justice has lost what he really cared about. the inspector’s semi-comical surname, ‘goole’ also seems relevant right at the play’s climax. there is the suggestion that he did indeed in some way represent supernatural forces intervening in the birlings’ lives to bring justice for eva. however, the play by its nature ends inconclusively. in effect, we are left on a cliffhanger wondering what the ‘real’ police inspector will do. perhaps this reflects priestley’s aim for the audience to think about the play’s social message. the ending of ‘an inspector calls’ is a strong statement of the responsibility of those who seek money and social rank at the expense of humanity. it is strongly didactic and powerful., check this essay.

There are drastic differences that are seen in people who are born in different generations. One may argue that the younger generations are more impressionable and naive while the older generations are very hardheaded and assertive. By creating characters like Sheila and Eric with a large age gap between Mr. and Mrs. Birling in the play An Inspector Calls, tension is created through their differences clashing. J.B. Priestley’s use of contrasting characterization within the Birling family in the play An Inspector Calls creates tension and communicates his theme that one must take into consideration the consequences of their actions and take responsibility for them.

The Birling’s children, Erica and Sheila, are presumed to be very naive and still listening and agreeing with their parent’s words due to their ages. Yet, thought the play both Eric and Sheila prove to be mentally mature and responsible while directly reflect the inspector’s message. Eric Birling was caught up in the complicated situation relating to the death of Eva Smith through his role in impregnating her. Although he is ashamed, he steps up to the plate and confesses his actions and even admits to the fact that “I wasn’t in love with her or anything”, yet he understands that his actions did produce consequences and he takes responsibility for them. He insists on giving her enough money to keep her going, even though it included stealing money from his father (Priestley 50). This action was done unjustly, yet it shows how determined Eric was in order to fix his mistake and take responsibility for his actions- exactly what the Inspector teaches. Sheila Birling, the sister of Eric, also starts out by admitting to her role in the death of Eva. She expresses her sorrow and regret for her actions stating how “It was my own fault… and if I could help her now, I would” right away (24-25). Even though she did not take action like Eric did, she still takes responsibility for her actions and shows that she really does care about the consequences she was unable to attend to. As the play continues and everyone finds out that inspector Goole was a fake, the parents of Sheila and Eric both start to downplay the events of that evening. Suddenly the tension starts to rise as soon as the children speak directly against their parents stating “if you must know it’s you two who are being childish” (55). Sheila is so disgusted by the actions of her parents, that her character takes an unpredictable turn and she evolves into a brave young woman annoyed enough to scold her own parents. Even Eric states directly to his parents that “well, I don’t blame you. But don’t forget i’m ashamed of you as well. Yes- both of you” (54). The characters Sheila and Eric create tension in the play through their differences regarding their view on taking responsibility that contrasts greatly with their parents. The fact that the younger generation is standing up to the older generation and doing unconventional actions like scolding them, the main theme of the novel is clearly represented.

The older generation in the Birling family consists of strong characters: unlikely to sway in their ideas easily, hard headed, and arrogant. Arthur too is confronted about his dealings with Eva Smith, but immediately states that “the girl has been causing trouble in the works. I was quite justified (19). Here, he is seemingly ok knowing that she was forced to kill herself all because of something that started out with him originally and a sign of regret is not to be found. The younger generation, prominently Sheila is verbally pointing out her contrasting viewpoint directly saying (to Mr. Birling) “I think it was a mean thing to do” (21). Tension is created as a result of her comment, but in a way she forces her father to re-examine at his actions by him hearing an opposite viewpoint and internally contemplate her and the Inspector’s message. Another situation that increases the tension overall is when Sheila hears her father describe Eva as cheap labour, and automatically she jumps in stating “but these girls aren’t cheap labour – they’re people” clearly showcasing the differences in the mindset of the two generations (19). Lastly, Mrs. Birling gets confronted with her mistake and does admit to her actions. Her arrogance shows through when she plainly lays out her thoughts to the inspector that “if you think you can bring any pressure to bear upon me, Inspector, you’re quite mistaken. Unlike the other three, I did nothing I’m ashamed of or that won’t bear investigation… You have no power to change my mind” and like Mr. Birling does not have a hint of regret in her (44). Sybil Birling is blinded to the problems within her household and herself, and therefore tension is created when she directly contradicts the viewpoints of her children. The theme of the play is brought out because of this, when the children start to argue their point about accepting responsibility for their actions’ consequences.

Through tension between the characters, the main theme that we don’t live alone, are members of one body, and are responsible for each other is revealed. Sadly for this to be revealed, tension is built greatly dividing the Birling family- the younger vs the older generation. The children desperately try to get their parents to accept what they believe is the inspector’s lesson and purpose for visiting, yet Arthur and Sybil are set on the idea that they are just “the famous younger generation who know it all. And they can’t even take a joke” (72). Although it may be true that the inspector is not real and the older generation will never learn, the main theme is being communicated successfully to the audience. By looking at Mr. and Mrs. Birling and the way they instigate an attack on themselves by their children, the audience feels disgusted by them and the theme reaches the audience.

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Here's a Free Grade 8/9 Inspector Calls Essay

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an inspector calls essay conclusion

How Does Priestley Present Selfishness in An Inspector Calls?

In the morality play, An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents selfishness through the seven deadly sins to expose how the bourgeoisie, or the Birling family, exploit the proletariat, who are victims of their sins. Perhaps Priestley does this to criticise the destructed and unequal society in 1912 to argue for a Socialist reform

Priestley primarily portrays selfishness through the sin of greed in Mr Birling where ‘a man has to make his own way’, during his speech. The use of the pronoun ‘own’ is effective as it connotes individualism and self-gain, thus highlighting Mr Birling’s devotion to benefitting only himself and that he prioritises his individual success. Moreover, his individualist principles reflect and embody ideas of Capitalism, the antithesis of Priestley’s message of Socialism, to reinforce his selfishness through his political beliefs. Mr Birling showcases this throughout the play, even during his daughter’s engagement where Gerald ‘was just the kind of son-in-law I (he) always wanted’. Interestingly, the use of the pronoun ‘I’ becomes almost stylistic for Mr Birling as he measures the importance by constantly referring back to his benefit. In this case, Mr Birling considers his daughter’s benefit as an afterthought, augmenting his selfishness as he portrays it through his societal role as both a father and a member of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, Mr Birling illustrates the pinnacle of greed as he desires success, wealth and reputation over anything where ‘there’s a very good chance of a knight-hood’, suggesting how he’s attempting to convince Gerald of his bourgeoisie status to boost his business, emphasizing his greed. Perhaps Priestley does this to criticise how disingenuous and inconsiderate Capitalist bourgeoisies were, as they embody political morals that focus solely on their own benefit and no one else’s. This may encourage Priestley’s audience in 1945 to share a hatred for Mr Birling’s political ideals of Capitalist greed and ownership to believe in a more Socialist society which Priestley promotes in this play. 

Priestley further portrays selfishness through the sin of lust in Gerald where he describes Eva Smith as ‘young and fresh’. The use of the descriptive adjective ‘fresh’ is effective as it connotes purity and fertility, thus Gerald uses a euphemism to suggest Eva Smith’s virginity at the time, illustrating Gerald’s selfish lust as he uses Eva to satisfy his own sexual needs and hedonistic tendencies. Moreover, the adjective ‘fresh’ suggests a food-like nature, suggesting Gerald’s misogynistic objectification towards Eva and that she is solely used to fulfil his selfish lust, implying that Eva, a female proletariat, is a victim of Gerald’s sinful lust. Therefore, Gerald uses his masculine, aristocratic role to exploit Eva Smith’s lack of agency as something to be used as a possession and to be consumed. Gerald also further demonstrates this, describing Eva Smith as having ‘soft brown hair and big dark eyes’, until he ‘[breaks off]’. The use of the stage direction represents an abrupt break-off in speech, representing that he only had a physical attraction to Eva, thus causing an emotional reaction when ruminating about it. Interestingly, Gerald almost embodies lust as Eva’s value is only determined by the sexual satisfaction that Gerald achieves, reinforcing his selfishness as he prioritises his own desires. Within Priestley’s childhood, he witnessed the ‘pompously religious men’ who were ‘ill-using young women’, and perhaps Priestley reflects this by constructing Gerald’s selfish and sinful lust to criticise how men misuse their social status to exploit inferior women who are vulnerable. Therefore, Priestley encourages the audience to criticise Gerald’s selfishness and ultimately also criticise the unequal society caused by the patriarchy so that he can further promote his Socialist agenda. 

Priestley presents the effects of selfishness directly through the character of Eva Smith, as he constructs Eva to be a symbol of proletariat suffering in 1912. Through Eva being a victim of the sins, she ‘died in misery - hating life’. The use of graphic adjectives of ‘misery’ and ‘agony’ is effective as it depicts Eva’s gruesome and horrific suicide, further augmenting her suffering as a proletariat but also encouraging the reader to visualise her ‘agony’ and sympathise too. Moreover, the contrast between Eva ‘hating life’ and Sheila, the daughter of the Birlings, who is ‘excited [for life]’ illustrates how Eva’s suffering is determined by her proletariat status and her lack of economic independence is ultimately what leads to her demise. Interestingly, the method of Eva’s suicide using ‘disinfectant’ where she ‘burnt her insides’ is effective as it may symbolise Eva attempting to purify herself as disinfectant connotes cleansing. Therefore, Eva Smith believes that she is impure through the sexual exploitation of Gerald and Eric, implying the sin of lust. However, her supposed impurity may suggest that her suffering is a culmination of Birling’s selfishness, also presenting her as a victim of their deadly sins. Perhaps Priestley uses Eva Smith as a universal symbol of proletariat suffering as this may derive from the biblical nomenclature of Eva relating to ‘Eve’, perhaps showing the parallels of Eve representing mankind to Eva Smith representing the proletariat class and their suffering. By demonstrating a brutal death for Eva, Priestley consciously depicts the detrimental effects of the Birling’s selfishness and the destructive nature of the class hierarchy in 1912. Therefore, Priestley argues for a Socialist society which promotes social responsibility, so that as a society, everyone from each class can provide for one another, helping repair the oppressive class hierarchy. 

Overall, Priestley portrays selfishness through the Birlings’ that commit deadly sins towards Eva Smith, ultimately being symbolic of the proletariat's suffering. Priestley uses characters as direct embodiments and vessels of these sins to criticise 1912’s selfish society and promote his Socialist political agenda. 

My Comments

This is 937 words long.

It is almost impossible not to get a grade 9 if you write that much.

It doesn’t always make total sense because the vocabulary is trying too hard. Destructed is wrong. Bourgeoisie, bourgeois and a member of the bourgeoisie are sometimes confused. Upper class would score just as many marks, and you would always use it correctly.

Proletariat is often used instead of proletarian. Working class would do just as well, and you would always use it correctly.

I hate big, fat paragraphs. New paragraph for a new topic or idea. This helps the reader follow the argument, rather than get lost in it. The same is true, I suspect, for the student writing the essay.

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ChatGPT Training

Can you correct any errors of vocabulary or grammar in this essay?

Your essay is well-written and articulate, but there are a few suggestions for refinement:

In the morality play, "An Inspector Calls," Priestley presents selfishness through the seven deadly sins to expose how the bourgeoisie, or the Birling family, exploit the proletariat, who are victims of their sins. Perhaps Priestley does this to criticize the destroyed and unequal society in 1912 to argue for Socialist reform.

Priestley primarily portrays selfishness through the sin of greed in Mr. Birling, where 'a man has to make his own way' during his speech. The use of the pronoun ‘own’ is effective as it connotes individualism and self-gain, highlighting Mr. Birling’s devotion to benefiting only himself and prioritizing his individual success.

Mr. Birling showcases this throughout the play, even during his daughter’s engagement where Gerald 'was just the kind of son-in-law I (he) always wanted.' The use of the pronoun ‘I’ becomes almost stylistic for Mr. Birling as he measures the importance by constantly referring back to his benefit.

Therefore, Mr. Birling illustrates the pinnacle of greed as he desires success, wealth, and reputation over anything where 'there’s a very good chance of a knighthood,' suggesting how he’s attempting to convince Gerald of his bourgeoisie status to boost his business, emphasizing his greed. Perhaps Priestley does this to criticize how disingenuous and inconsiderate Capitalist bourgeoisies were, as they embody political morals that focus solely on their benefit and no one else’s.

Priestley further portrays selfishness through the sin of lust in Gerald, where he describes Eva Smith as ‘young and fresh.’ The use of the descriptive adjective ‘fresh’ is effective as it connotes purity and fertility, illustrating Gerald’s selfish lust as he uses Eva to satisfy his own sexual needs and hedonistic tendencies.

Gerald uses his masculine, aristocratic role to exploit Eva Smith’s lack of agency as something to be used as a possession and to be consumed. Gerald also further demonstrates this, describing Eva Smith as having ‘soft brown hair and big dark eyes’ until he ‘[breaks off].’ The use of the stage direction represents an abrupt break-off in speech, showing that he only had a physical attraction to Eva, causing an emotional reaction when ruminating about it.

Therefore, Priestley encourages the audience to criticize Gerald’s selfishness and ultimately also criticize the unequal society caused by the patriarchy so that he can further promote his Socialist agenda.

Priestley presents the effects of selfishness directly through the character of Eva Smith, as he constructs Eva to be a symbol of proletariat suffering in 1912. Through Eva being a victim of the sins, she ‘died in misery - hating life.’ The use of graphic adjectives like ‘misery’ and ‘agony’ is effective as it depicts Eva’s gruesome and horrific suicide, further augmenting her suffering as a proletariat and encouraging the reader to visualize her ‘agony’ and sympathize too.

Moreover, the contrast between Eva ‘hating life’ and Sheila, the daughter of the Birlings, who is ‘excited [for life],’ illustrates how Eva’s suffering is determined by her proletariat status and her lack of economic independence is ultimately what leads to her demise.

By demonstrating a brutal death for Eva, Priestley consciously depicts the detrimental effects of the Birlings’ selfishness and the destructive nature of the class hierarchy in 1912. Therefore, Priestley argues for a Socialist society that promotes social responsibility so that as a society, everyone from each class can provide for one another, helping repair the oppressive class hierarchy.

That’s interesting! ChatGPT immediately decided to make the essay more concise - too many words to say what you mean.

It still isn’t using proletarian.

What is the term for a member of the proletariat?

The term for a member of the proletariat is "proletarian."

Rewrite the sentences which use proletariat incorrectly and replace it with proletarian.

Certainly! Here are the sentences with "proletarian" replacing instances of "proletariat" where needed:

"...exploit the proletarian, who is a victim of their sins."

"...illustrating Gerald’s selfish lust as he uses Eva to satisfy his own sexual needs and hedonistic tendencies, treating her as a proletarian."

"Moreover, the contrast between Eva ‘hating life’ and Sheila, the daughter of the Birlings, who is ‘excited [for life],’ illustrates how Eva’s suffering is determined by her proletarian status..."

"Therefore, Priestley argues for a Socialist society that promotes social responsibility, so that as a society, everyone from each class, including the proletarian, can provide for one another, helping repair the oppressive class hierarchy."

Go back to the essay that began this chat. Apply the following criteria to give it a mark out of 30 and explain why you have awarded that mark. Level 6 Convincing, critical analysis and exploration 26–30 marks Level 5 Thoughtful, developed consideration 21–25 marks Level 4 Clear understanding 16–20 marks

To provide a fair evaluation of the essay, I'll assess it based on the criteria you provided:

Convincing, critical analysis, and exploration (26–30 marks):

The essay demonstrates a high level of critical analysis, exploring the themes of selfishness and the exploitation of the proletariat in "An Inspector Calls" thoroughly. The writer successfully connects specific examples from the play to broader social and political contexts. The analysis is convincing and supported by well-chosen quotations. The exploration of Priestley's intentions and the societal implications of the characters' actions is comprehensive.

Thoughtful, developed consideration (21–25 marks):

The essay shows thoughtful consideration of the characters and their actions, delving into their motivations and the consequences of their behaviors. The connections between the characters' actions and broader societal issues are well-developed. The writer effectively explores the impact of selfishness on the proletariat, using specific examples to support their points. The consideration of Priestley's intentions and the historical context is well thought out.

Clear understanding (16–20 marks):

The essay demonstrates a clear understanding of the play's themes, characters, and Priestley's social commentary. The writer effectively uses quotes and examples to illustrate their points. The arguments are logically presented, and there is a coherent structure to the essay. However, there may be some areas where the analysis could be more nuanced or where connections between examples and broader themes could be further developed.

Considering the above criteria, I would award the essay a score of 25 out of 30. The essay provides a thoughtful and convincing analysis of the themes of selfishness and exploitation in "An Inspector Calls," exploring the characters' motivations and actions in the context of the play's social and political commentary. The analysis is well-developed, but there is room for a bit more nuance and depth in certain areas to reach the highest level of critical analysis.

Ok, that’s interesting. It seems ChatGPT has understood the wording, but not the marks of the mark scheme.

Let’s try again, without the marks.

Which group of words best describes the essay? Convincing, critical analysis and exploration: Thoughtful, developed consideration: Clear understanding

The group of words that best describes the essay is "Convincing, critical analysis and exploration." This is because the essay demonstrates a high level of critical analysis, providing a convincing exploration of the themes in "An Inspector Calls" and effectively connecting specific examples to broader social and political contexts. While the essay also exhibits "Thoughtful, developed consideration" and "Clear understanding," the emphasis on convincing analysis and exploration aligns more closely with the overall evaluation provided.

Like I said:

It is almost impossible not to get a grade 9 if you write that much!

But, what if you wrote the 567 word version?

ChatGPT gives it the same grading:

The phrase that best describes the essay is "Convincing, critical analysis, and exploration." This is because the essay demonstrates a convincing analysis of the themes in "An Inspector Calls," including critical examination and exploration of the characters' motivations and the broader societal implications.

We can tell from this that it would get a lower mark in Level 6, but it would still be a grade 9.

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An Inspector Calls: Overview ( AQA GCSE English Literature )

Revision note.

Nick Redgrove

English Senior Content Creator

An Inspector Calls: Overview

The An Inspector Calls question is part of Paper 2, Section A of your GCSE. For this, you are required to write one essay-length answer to one set question. This can seem daunting at first, but this page contains some helpful information, and links to more detailed revision note pages, that will enable you to aim for the highest grade. This page includes:

Who was J.B. Priestley?

An Inspector Calls plot summary

A brief overview of what is required in the exam

An Inspector Calls characters

An Inspector Calls context

An Inspector Calls themes

An Inspector Calls quotes

Top tips for the highest grade

John Boyton Priestley was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter and broadcaster. Priestley was born in Bradford, England on 13th September 1894 and died at the age of 89 on the 14th August 1984. Priestley’s career as a playwright began in the 1930s and theatre became the form for which he was most renowned. 

An Inspector Calls is Priestley’s best-known and most-performed play and was written in 1945. 

Many of Priestley's plays were associated with 'drawing room' theatre which emerged during the Victorian period, whereby the events occur in a single room which would have been intended to be recreated in one’s own house. This genre of plays was developed as a result of the widespread practice of entertaining visitors at home during this time and is clearly evident in An Inspector Calls, whereby all of the action takes place in the Birlings’ dining room. Priestley was also interested in subverting narrative structures and in the theories of time and An Inspector Calls is typically seen as one of his 'Time Plays', in which the characters are encouraged to look back at their past actions.

Social responsibility in An Inspector Calls is a recurrent theme throughout many of Priestley’s plays and it is one of the most prevalent themes within An Inspector Calls, with the role of the Inspector used to highlight that all actions have consequences. For further ideas about this theme and others explored in the play, please see the An Inspector Calls: Themes page.

An Inspector Calls is a three-act play set in the dining room of the Birlings, an affluent family living within the fictional and industrial city of Brumley, in the north of England. The play is set in 1912, just two years before the First World War. Inspector Goole is the stranger who visits the affluent Birling family and confronts them with their complicity in the suicide of a young woman named Eva Smith. 

Inspector Goole arrives just as the Birlings are celebrating Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft's engagement. While the Inspector informs that a young woman committed suicide by drinking disinfectant, the family is bewildered as to how they are connected. As the plot progresses, each character begins to realise their connection to Eva, and as the play concludes and the mysterious Inspector departs, an ominous phone call notifies them that another police inspector is on his way. For a more detailed summary, please see the An Inspector Calls: Plot Summary page.

How is An Inspector Calls assessed in the exam?

Your GCSE Paper 2 requires you to answer four questions in 2hr 15min. Within that time, you have approximately 45 minutes to plan, write and check your An Inspector Calls essay

Paper 2 is worth 96 marks and accounts for 60% of your overall GCSE grade

The An Inspector Calls essay is worth 34 marks in total, because it also includes 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar

Section A of Paper 2 contains the An Inspector Calls question and you are required to answer one question on the play from a choice of two 

It is a closed-book exam, which means you will not have access to a copy of the text in your exam (and there is no printed extract from the text on your question paper, unlike in Paper 1)

You will be asked a question that asks you to analyse and write in detail about an aspect of An Inspector Calls

Your answer will need to address the play as a whole

For a much more detailed guide on answering the An Inspector Calls question, please see our revision notes on How to Answer the Modern Prose and Drama Essay Question .

The characters you should focus on when revising An Inspector Calls are:

Arthur Birling

Sybil Birling

Sheila Birling

Eric Birling

Gerald Croft

Inspector Goole

When considering Priestley’s play, or any other text, it is critical to understand that characters are deliberate inventions made by a writer for a purpose. These characters frequently represent concepts or belief systems, and a writer, such as Priestley, uses them to explore these ideas and views. For more details on the characters in An Inspector Calls, please see the An Inspector Calls: Characters revision notes page.

At GCSE, it can be difficult to understand what context actually is. Examiners define context as the ideas and perspectives addressed by a writer through their text, not as historical information or facts and details about a writer. Therefore, for the An Inspector Calls context you should not write information about England in 1912, or facts about Priestley’s life, but instead refer to ideas about:

Capitalism and Socialism 

Responsibility

Lots of these ideas and perspectives are universal, so your own opinions of them are valid, and will be rewarded in an exam. For a detailed breakdown of the contextual topics listed above, see the An Inspector Calls: Context page.

Understanding the themes in An Inspector Calls is one of the best approaches any student can take when revising the play. This is because to get the highest mark on your exam, you need to take what examiners call a “conceptualised approach”: a detailed and perceptive exploration of Priestley’s ideas and intentions. The key themes in An Inspector Calls are:

Capitalism versus Socialism

Generational divide

There are of course more themes than just those listed above that are investigated by Priestley in An Inspector Calls, and you are encouraged to explore these too. However, the above list makes a great place to start, and detailed breakdowns of each of these themes can be found on our An Inspector Calls: Themes page.

Although you are given credit for including quotations from An Inspector Calls in your answer, it is not a requirement of the exam. In fact, examiners say that “references” to the rest of the play are just as valid as direct quotations: this is when students pinpoint individual moments in the play, rather than quoting what the characters say. In order to select references really successfully, it is extremely important that you know the play itself very well, including the order of the events that take place in the play. This detailed act-by-act breakdown of the plot will help you to revise the chronology of An Inspector Calls.

However, it can also be useful to revise a few quotations from the play that can be used in a variety of essays on different themes and characters. For an analysis of each of these quotations, see our An Inspector Calls: Key Quotations page.

Please see our revision pages on the modern text exam for guides on:

Structuring your An Inspector Calls essay

An Inspector Calls methods and techniques

How to include context in the An Inspector Calls essay

Understanding the An Inspector Calls mark scheme

An Inspector Calls model answer

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Author: Nick Redgrove

Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.

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“An Inspector Calls”: Theme of Social Responsibility Essay

  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment

Introduction

“An inspector calls” is one of the plays produced immediately after the end of the Second World War in 1946. During this period, most scholars and human activists were majorly concerned with the welfare of the less privileged individuals within society (Priestly et al., 1992).

The poor individuals in the United Kingdom did not have people who could fight and address their grievances, leading to most leaving a low-quality life. Priestly wanted to address the issue of classism and how poor individuals can be empowered to climb up the social ladder. He advocates for successful individuals to help poor individuals to live a quality life in the community (Priestly et al., 1992).

Priestly also encourages that it is an individual’s responsibility to ensure that those close to them are safe and always available for each other when need be. This paper strives to highlight how Priestly has portrayed the theme of responsibility in different scenarios within the play.

Good neighborliness is when one cares about the well-being of those who are around them when things seem not to be okay on their side. One of the major points where Priestly portrays the theme of social responsibility is whereby Sheila feels a sense of duty when she realizes that she has a role to play in the death of Eva Smith. She tells Gerald to stop looking at her angrily since he also has once been involved in circumstances that are shameful (Priestly et al., 1992).

Sheila finally admits and agrees to be held culpable for her actions and talks out the truth. However, Gerald is also blaming her for various faults while he has declined to take responsibility for his actions that also contributed to the demise of Eva Smith (Priestly et al., 1992) . The target audience can learn the importance of taking responsibility for various aspects and how their actions may impact the well-being of other individuals.

When one lives a responsible lifestyle, members of the community will not be worried much about them compared to those who are careless with their lives. Priestley also explores the theme of social duty when Mr. Birling fails to take responsibility for various actions that led to Eva Smith’s death. His sentiments suggest that everyone should be held responsible for their own life and well-being (Priestly et al., 1992).

Individuals who take the responsibility of taking care of others mostly land into awkward situations in case an unlikely event with a devastating effect occurs to the individuals. Dr. Priestley strives to encourage the target audience to ensure utmost self-care and responsibility to maintain a good relationship with others within the community since there will be no unnecessary blames.

Putting one in an individual’s shoes is one of the major ways of understanding other people’s struggles. In the play, some of the characters also display social responsibility in some instances. For example, Erick feels socially responsible for some of his actions in the final parts of the play (Priestly et al., 1992). This indicates that Erick possesses some sense of social responsibility to ensure that other individuals within the society are always safe.

Erick’s mother and Gerald have withdrawn from being involved in Eva Smith’s incident, but he still insists that something could have been done to salvage Eva Smith’s actions that cost her life (Priestly et al., 1992). He takes Eva Smith’s Matter very seriously and even urges her mother to be responsible for the unfortunate occurrence too. The reader can learn that nobody can understand other people’s struggles unless they go through the same experience.

Responding quickly to other individuals’ struggles is also a major aspect of ensuring effective social responsibility and good neighborliness. Mrs. Birling, who is a close individual to Eva Smith as well, also elaborates on the theme of social responsibility when she fails to take control over the events that contributed to the death of Eva Smith. Even after being questioned by the inspector and the inspector elaborating that she had a responsibility to undertake during the process, Sybil Birling still does not want to take the responsibility. This can be seen when he negatively remarks on Erick’s sentiments by saying that he is ashamed of him (Priestly et al., 1992).

Telling Erick that she is ashamed of him indicates that she does not care about the inspector’s investigation and the impact the investigations have on other members close to Eva Smith (Priestly et al., 1992). This context enables the reader to stop being greedy and self-centered individuals and instead act responsibly when dealing with other individuals in the community.

In conclusion, responsibility is considered one of the most significant social characteristics since it enables individuals to care for other people. Human beings have universal rights, ensuring that no individual is subjected to circumstances against human rights.

Priestly also highlights how individuals in higher positions and social class should effectively use their influence by positively impacting community members. One should always adhere to the principle of supreme morality when dealing with fellow human beings. The target audience can understand that social responsibility begins with good and productive neighborliness.

Priestly, J. B., John Braine Priestly, & Bezant, T. (1992). An inspector calls . Heinemann.

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an inspector calls essay conclusion

An Inspector Calls: A* / L9 Example Intro + Paragraph

Here are some samples of an essay on An Inspector Calls, on the theme of responsibility. I wrote these myself as a teacher to show students an example of the standard required to get a high level at GCSE. I’ve also broken down the structure below so you can see what to put into each paragraph and how to organise all of your ideas – this is the most important thing for getting a high level in an essay !

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How does Priestley explore the theme of responsibility in the play?  

An Inspector Calls Intro

EXAMPLE INTRO: 

Responsibility is a very important theme in An Inspector Calls, as the Inspector reveals one by one that all the Birling family are partly responsible for Eva’s death. Eva represents the lower classes, and Priestley uses the tragic ending of her character to spread his message about social responsibility, a message which is delivered by the Inspector himself, who acts as a mouthpiece for Priestley’s own views on socialism and equality. Overall, the audience realizes that their actions affect other people’s lives, so they are responsible for looking after and caring for everyone in society. 

An Inspector Calls: Character Revision

EXAMPLE MIDDLE PARAGRAPH: 

  • Point (one sentence that answers part of the question, your idea)
  • Evidence (quotes/references that prove your point) 
  • The technique (language features/dramatic features/structure features)
  • Explanation (analysis – how/why the evidence proves the point)
  • Development (context/alternative interpretations)
  • Link (linking back to the argument/thesis in the Intro)
Priestley uses Mr Birling’s character as an example of the selfishness of the middle classes and their lack of responsibility to others. In the play, Mr Birling believes he is only responsible for himself and his family. This is demonstrated when he says “A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”. This suggests he only believes he is responsible for himself and his family because when he says “mind his own business” he is showing a lack of care for other people’s problems. This is also a double entendre as it could also relate to work and business. Priestley also uses alliteration in the play to indicate Birling’s lack of care for others with the noun “man” and verb “mind”. This makes the quotation stand out and highlights that independence is a crucial part of Birling’s character. Birling also reveals his lack of care for others when he says “Community and all that nonsense” and he needed to “keep labour costs down”, as he is saying that he does not believe that everyone should look after each other. He says this in a superior and dismissive tone which indicates his smugness and shows that he thinks he is better than everyone else. This would be bad in terms of responsibility as it suggests that he doesn’t care for others as much as himself and doesn’t have any respect for the inspector or his ideas. I think Priestley demonstrates Arthur Birling in this way to represent the views of upper middle class men of that time, in 1912 when the play was set the middle classes were often capitalists and saw themselves as superior to the lower classes, who they exploited. Priestley makes the audience dislike Mr Birling and view him as selfish, which in turn makes them feel more positive about socialist attitudes, where every member of society is viewed as equal. 

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JB Priestley embedded strong political messages in his play, and you need to understand those well to be able to write a high level essay or exam answer on the text. This course will enable you o revise the major characters and social messages in the play, and go deeper into the themes and context so you can get the most out of each essay

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — An Inspector Calls — Analysis of How Eric Birling is Presented Throughout the Play an Inspector Calls

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Analysis of How Eric is Presented in an Inspector Calls

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an inspector calls essay conclusion

An Inspector Calls

By j. b. priestley.

  • An Inspector Calls Summary

One evening in the spring of 1912, the Birlings are celebrating their daughter Sheila’s engagement to Gerald Croft , who is also present. Husband and wife Arthur and Sybil Birling , along with their son Eric, are pleased with themselves. Birling toasts the happy couple, and Gerald presents Sheila with a ring which absolutely delights her.

Birling makes a lengthy speech, not only congratulating Gerald and Sheila, but also commenting on the state of the nation. He predicts prosperity, particularly referring to the example of the “unsinkable” Titanic, which set sail the week earlier. Birling styles himself as a “hard-headed man of business.”

The women leave the room, and Eric follows them. Birling and Gerald discuss the fact that Gerald might have “done better for [himself] socially”: Sheila is Gerald’s social inferior. Birling confides to Gerald that he is in the running for a knighthood in the next Honors List. When Eric returns, Birling continues giving advice, and he is passionately announcing his “every man for himself” worldview when the doorbell rings.

It is an Inspector, who refuses a drink from Birling. Birling is surprised, as an ex-Lord Mayor and an alderman, that he has never seen the Inspector before, though he knows the Brumley police force pretty well. The Inspector explains that he is here to investigate the death of a girl who died two hours ago in the Infirmary after committing suicide by drinking disinfectant. Her name was Eva Smith , and the Inspector brings with him a photograph, which he shows to Birling—but not to anyone else.

It is revealed that Eva Smith worked in Birling’s works, from which she was dismissed after being a ringleader in an unsuccessful strike to demand better pay for Birling’s workers. The Inspector outlines that “a chain of events” might be responsible for the girl’s death, and—for the rest of the play—interrogates each member of the family, asking questions about the part they played in Eva Smith’s life. We then discover that Sheila Birling encountered Eva Smith at Milwards, where Sheila jealously insisted that she was dismissed. Sheila feels tremendously guilty about her part in Eva’s death. It becomes clear that each member of the family might have part of the responsibility.

Eva Smith then, we discover, changed her name to Daisy Renton —and it is by this name that she encountered Gerald Croft, with whom she had a protracted love affair. Sheila is not as upset as one might expect; indeed, she seems to have already guessed why Gerald was absent from their relationship last summer. He put her up in a cottage he was looking after, made love to her, and gave her gifts of money, but after a while, he ended the relationship. Gerald asks the Inspector, whose control over proceedings is now clear, to leave—and Sheila gives him back his engagement ring.

The Inspector next interrogates Mrs. Birling, who remains icily resistant to accepting any responsibility. Eva Smith came to her, pregnant, to ask for help from a charity committee of which Mrs. Birling was chairperson. Mrs. Birling used her influence to have the committee refuse to help the girl. Mrs. Birling resists the Inspector’s questioning, eventually forcefully telling him that the father of the child is the one with whom the true responsibility rests.

It transpires, to Mrs. Birling’s horror, that Eric was, in fact, the father of the child, and she has just unwittingly damned her own son. Once Eric returns, the Inspector interrogates him about his relationship with Eva Smith. After meeting her in a bar when he was drunk (he has a drinking problem), he forced his way into her rooms, then later returned and continued their sexual relationship. He also gave her money that he had stolen from his father’s works, but after a while, Eva broke off the relationship, telling Eric that he did not love her.

The Inspector makes a final speech, telling the Birlings, “We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. 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.” He exits.

After his exit, the Birlings initially fight among themselves. Sheila finally suggests that the Inspector might not have been a real police inspector. Gerald returns, having found out as much from talking to a policeman on the corner of the street. The Birlings begin to suspect that they have been hoaxed. Significantly, Eric and Sheila, unlike their parents and Gerald, still see themselves as responsible. “He was our police inspector all right,” Eric and Sheila conclude, whether or not he had the state’s authority or was even real.

Realizing that they could each have been shown a different photograph, and after calling the Chief Constable to confirm their suspicions, Mr. and Mrs. Birling and Gerald conclude that they have been hoaxed, and they are incredibly relieved. Gerald suggests that there were probably several different girls in each of their stories. They call the Infirmary and learn delightedly that no girl has died that night—the Infirmary has seen no suicide for months. Everyone, it seems, is off the hook, even if each of their actions was immoral and irresponsible. Only Sheila and Eric fail to agree with that sentiment and recognize the overall theme of responsibility. As Birling mocks his children’s feelings of moral guilt, the phone rings.

He answers it and is shocked, revealing the play’s final twist: “That was the police. A girl has just died—on her way to the Infirmary—after swallowing some disinfectant. And a police inspector is on his way here—to ask some—questions—”

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An Inspector Calls Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for An Inspector Calls is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

what bad point does Eric reveal about sheila?

Eric says, "She's got a nasty temper sometimes-but she's not bad really."

Why does Mrs Birling initially deny that she recognized the girl in the photograph?

Mrs. Birling denies recognizing the girl in the photograph because she recently denied her appeal for help. It was, in fact, Mrs. Birling's influence that left Eva without assistance.

what does birling tell gerald that he hopes will impress lady croft? act one

Study Guide for An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls study guide contains a biography of J.B. Priestley, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

  • About An Inspector Calls
  • Character List

Essays for An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley.

  • How J.B. Priestley Creates Sympathy for Eva Smith in "An Inspector Calls"
  • Sheila's Evolution in An Inspector Calls
  • What is the importance of the characters Sheila and Eric?
  • Generation vs Generation
  • The Interconnected Nature of Society in An Inspector Calls

Lesson Plan for An Inspector Calls

  • About the Author
  • Study Objectives
  • Common Core Standards
  • Introduction to An Inspector Calls
  • Relationship to Other Books
  • Bringing in Technology
  • Notes to the Teacher
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GCSE AQA English Literature - A Christmas Carol, (full marks) Grade 9 example essays

GCSE AQA English Literature - A Christmas Carol, (full marks) Grade 9 example essays

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Assessment and revision

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3 example essays for GCSE AQA English Literature - A Christmas Carol. The example essays are on: poverty, social responsibility and redemption. These essays are only for example purposes - for you to be able to look and see the type of style and content necessary for a grade 9, and are not intended for people to copy into their exams, for which I am not to be held accountable. For authenticity purposes, I have achieved a grade 9 and full marks in all of my GCSE English Literature examinations 2022, and all 3 of these essays were written by me for practise (not used in my final exam!!). I am not to be held accountable for any small errors.

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COMMENTS

  1. How to crack the 'An Inspector Calls' essay: a suggested structure

    STEP ONE: The Introduction. In your introduction, you need to set up the parameters for debate - your big bossy idea that will be constantly referred back to in the main body of your essay. This means you need to outline your argument and show that you know exactly what the question is asking you.

  2. AQA English Revision

    An Inspector Calls Essays. One of the best things you can do to revise for any English exam is to read examples of essays. Below you'll find a range of essays which you can read at your leisure. Though there are always benefits in reading essays, becoming use to "active reading" is also important.

  3. How Guilt is Presented in "An Inspector Calls"

    Conclusion "An Inspector Calls" masterfully explores the intricate nature of guilt and its impact on individuals and society. The manifestations of guilt in the characters' actions and reactions, the theme of collective responsibility, and the symbolic representation of Eva Smith collectively contribute to the play's exploration of this complex emotion.

  4. Here's a Free Grade 8/9 Inspector Calls Essay

    This is because the essay demonstrates a convincing analysis of the themes in "An Inspector Calls," including critical examination and exploration of the characters' motivations and the broader societal implications. We can tell from this that it would get a lower mark in Level 6, but it would still be a grade 9.

  5. Mr. Birling in "An Inspector Calls": A Character Analysis: [Essay

    Published: Sep 7, 2023. Mr. Arthur Birling, a prominent character in J.B. Priestley's play "An Inspector Calls," is a complex individual whose perspectives and actions offer insight into the prevailing attitudes of his time. This essay delves into the multifaceted nature of Mr. Birling, examining his personality traits, beliefs, and the ...

  6. An Inspector Calls

    Paper 2 is worth 96 marks and accounts for 60% of your overall GCSE grade. The An Inspector Calls essay is worth 34 marks in total, because it also includes 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar. Section A of Paper 2 contains the An Inspector Calls question and you are required to answer one question on the play from a choice of two.

  7. An Inspector Calls Critical Essays

    An Inspector Calls is often compared with some of his earlier dramas, such as Eden End (pr., pb. 1934), also a play about a family facing social change in Edwardian England in 1912.

  8. An Inspector Calls Study Guide

    An Inspector Calls was initially performed in Moscow in 1945, and only subsequently in Britain. Its London premiere was at the New Theatre in October 1946, with a cast including Ralph Richardson. The play was later made into a motion picture. For more on the play's stage history, see the section on A Stage History in this ClassicNote.

  9. Exemplar AQA An Inspector Calls Essays

    This free An Inspector Calls (AQA) English Literature essay explores how J B Priestley presents selfishness and its effects in the play. This GCSE An Inspector Calls essay is based upon the AQA English Literature exam format. This An Inspector Calls essay is a top band, Grade 9 response, linked to the June 2019 AQA exam.

  10. An Inspector Calls Essay Questions

    Essays for An Inspector Calls. An Inspector Calls essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley. How J.B. Priestley Creates Sympathy for Eva Smith in "An Inspector Calls" Sheila's Evolution in An Inspector Calls

  11. Inspector calls essay (pdf)

    Inspector calls essay How is the idea of social hierarchy and self-confidence presented in An Inspector Calls? An Inspector calls, by J.B. Priestley, is an english play set in the fictional town of Brumley, an industrial city in the north Midlands, revolving around the apparent suicide of a young, lower class woman, Eva Smith. During the play, the Birlings; a wealthy, upper-middle class family ...

  12. "An Inspector Calls": Theme of Social Responsibility Essay

    Introduction. "An inspector calls" is one of the plays produced immediately after the end of the Second World War in 1946. During this period, most scholars and human activists were majorly concerned with the welfare of the less privileged individuals within society (Priestly et al., 1992). Get a custom essay on "An Inspector Calls ...

  13. An Inspector Calls Essays

    An Inspector Calls. An Inspector Calls', though set in 1912 in the Edwardian era, was written by J.B Priestley in 1945 as a piece of socialist propaganda to embrace the socialist views becoming more prominent in society, in place of capitalism. The theme of social... An Inspector Calls essays are academic essays for citation.

  14. An Inspector Calls: A* / L9 Example Intro + Paragraph

    An Inspector Calls: A* / L9 Example Intro + Paragraph. Here are some samples of an essay on An Inspector Calls, on the theme of responsibility. I wrote these myself as a teacher to show students an example of the standard required to get a high level at GCSE. I've also broken down the structure below so you can see what to put into each ...

  15. An Inspector Calls: Essay Writing Guide for GCSE (9-1)

    In your GCSE English Literature exam, you will be presented with two questions on J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls, and you will then be asked to pick just one to answer. Of course, once you've picked the question you prefer, there are many methods you might use to tackle it.

  16. An Inspector Calls

    This essay will present an analysis of the play "An Inspector Calls" written by J.B Priestley and discuss the function of the Inspector within the play. I shall in detail look at key themes utilized by the author and suggest key points the author connotes to the readers. "An Inspector Calls" is a play with a varied, both social and ...

  17. Social Responsibility Essay: An Inspector Calls

    The first way Priestley explores the theme of social responsibility is by using the characters as vessels, and the Inspector as a 'mouthpiece' of his socialist views, to transport his moral message to the audience and readers. Priestley introduces the Inspector as someone who "creates an impression of solidarity, massiveness and ...

  18. Essays on An Inspector Calls

    2 pages / 982 words. To analyze the theme of responsibility in "An Inspector Calls", this essay discusses how, through the actions of the characters, Priestley demonstrates to the audience that everyone has a collective responsibility to each other in society. He engages the idea by contrasting the older generation...

  19. Sample Answers

    Sheila uses the metaphor 'not to build a wall'. She is trying to tell her mother not to stop the Inspector's inquiries, but Sybil Birling does not understand and she is annoyed. She is also rude to the Inspector, saying that his comments are 'a trifle impertinent'. The word 'impertinent' shows how her attitude to others is a ...

  20. Analysis of How Eric is Presented in an Inspector Calls

    How is Eric presented in An Inspector Calls? This essay analyzes Eric Birling as an influential and significant character in the play. Priestly uses Eric's character to show the change in the younger generation and his own socialist views of 1912. ... In conclusion, Eric and Sheila show clear disagreement in the older generation's capitalist ...

  21. Social Class Essay: An Inspector Calls

    The Inspector is used as a figure of morality; he is there to make the family realise that they have an easy life resting upon the hard and difficult work of the lower class. As JB Priestley was a socialist and a founder of the Socialist Commonwealth Party, he wanted to see the collapse of the class system. The Inspector tries to make the other ...

  22. An Inspector Calls Summary

    Essays for An Inspector Calls. An Inspector Calls essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley. How J.B. Priestley Creates Sympathy for Eva Smith in "An Inspector Calls" Sheila's Evolution in An Inspector Calls

  23. GCSE AQA English Literature

    These essays are only for example purposes - for you to be able to look and see the type of style and content necessary for a grade 9, and are not intended for people to copy into their exams, for which I am not to be held accountable. ... Grade 9 (full marks) example essays GCSE AQA English Literature - An Inspector Calls All Characters Grade ...