One dinner, one Inspector

Set in 1912, the play unfolds in real time over one evening at the wealthy Birlings' home, celebrating Sheila's engagement to Gerald Croft:

• Act 1: Mr Birling toasts progress and dismisses talk of war. Inspector Goole arrives to investigate the suicide of a young woman, Eva Smith. Mr Birling admits he sacked her for asking for higher wages; Sheila admits she had her fired from a shop out of jealousy.
• Act 2: Gerald confesses he kept Eva (as "Daisy Renton") as his mistress. Mrs Birling admits she used her charity committee to refuse Eva help when she was pregnant and desperate.
• Act 3: Eric reveals he got Eva pregnant and stole money. The Inspector delivers his warning and leaves. The family then learns there may be no such Inspector — and no dead girl at the infirmary. But a final phone call announces a girl has just died and a real inspector is on his way.

How did Mr Birling harm Eva?

Who's who

• Arthur Birling — wealthy capitalist factory owner; arrogant, selfish, "hard-headed businessman"; refuses responsibility.
• Sybil Birling — his cold, class-obsessed wife; head of a charity that turned Eva away.
• Sheila Birling — their daughter; begins spoilt but learns and accepts guilt — Priestley's hope for the young.
• Eric Birling — their son; drinks heavily, got Eva pregnant, but like Sheila comes to feel remorse.
• Gerald Croft — Sheila's fiancé, from an aristocratic family; Eva's former lover; ultimately unchanged.
• Inspector Goole — the mysterious, morally forceful investigator; Priestley's mouthpiece for social responsibility.
• Eva Smith / Daisy Renton — the working-class victim, never seen on stage; represents all exploited poor.

Match each character to what they did / are

Tap a character on the left, then tap the matching fact.

Who does Priestley present as hopeful?

Four themes to master

• Social responsibility — the play's core message: "We are members of one body." We are responsible for each other, not just ourselves.
• Class — the wealthy Birlings exploit and dismiss the working-class Eva; Priestley attacks class inequality.
• Gender — women (Eva, Sheila) are controlled or exploited by powerful men; explores the vulnerability of women in 1912.
• Age & generation — the young (Sheila, Eric) can change; the older generation clings to the old, selfish ways.

Priestley the socialist: the Inspector's message is Priestley's own — that a fairer, more collective society is needed. Mr Birling's confident wrongness makes capitalism look foolish.

The Inspector's core message

1945 looking back at 1912

Priestley wrote in 1945 but set the play in 1912. That gap is deliberate and creates dramatic irony:

• Written 1945: just after WWII, as Britain elected a Labour government and built the welfare state — a moment for a fairer, collective society.
• Set 1912: Mr Birling confidently calls the Titanic "unsinkable" and dismisses war talk — the 1945 audience knows he is disastrously wrong.
• Priestley was a socialist who believed in social responsibility over selfish capitalism; the Inspector voices his views.
• Rigid Edwardian class & gender roles in 1912 left women like Eva powerless and disposable.

Why the Titanic line matters

How Priestley builds the play

Key methods to name, and short quotations to learn:

• Dramatic irony — Birling's "unsinkable" Titanic; his "the Germans don't want war."
• The Inspector as a device — his name "Goole" (ghoul) hints he may be supernatural; he controls the pace, "one person and one line of enquiry at a time."
• Cyclical structure — the final phone call restarts the whole investigation, trapping the unrepentant.
• Foreshadowing / warning — "fire and blood and anguish" foretells the world wars if society won't learn.
• Stage directions & lighting — "pink and intimate" before, "brighter and harder" after the Inspector arrives.

Explain the cyclical ending

Plot, character, theme or context?

Tap the category each statement belongs to.

Match each idea to its theme

Tap an idea, then tap the theme it best supports.

Method & effect (AO2)

What to take into the exam

You've drilled the knowledge for An Inspector Calls. Press Finish to see your score — then practise turning it into method-and-effect essay paragraphs.