An Inspector Calls
J.B. Priestley (1945)
“A mysterious inspector dismantles a wealthy family's respectability in a single evening — and Priestley dismantles an entire class system in three acts.”
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An Inspector Calls
J.B. Priestley (1945) · 72pages · Modernist / Post-War · 3 AP appearances
Summary
In 1912, the prosperous Birling family celebrates daughter Sheila's engagement to Gerald Croft when Inspector Goole arrives with news that a young working-class woman, Eva Smith, has killed herself by drinking disinfectant. Through relentless questioning, the Inspector reveals that every member of the family — and Gerald — bears responsibility for Eva's destruction. Arthur sacked her from his factory for striking; Sheila had her dismissed from a shop out of petty jealousy; Gerald kept her as a mistress then abandoned her; Sybil refused her charity aid when she was pregnant and destitute; Eric got her pregnant and stole money to support her. After the Inspector leaves, the family discovers he may not have been a real police inspector at all. The older Birlings celebrate their escape from scandal, but Sheila and Eric are permanently changed. Then the phone rings: a girl has just died, and a real inspector is on his way.
Why It Matters
Premiered in Moscow in 1945 (the Soviet Union staged it before Britain, recognising its socialist content) and opened in London in 1946. It became a staple of British theatre and education almost immediately. The 1992 Stephen Daldry production at the National Theatre was a cultural event that ran...
Themes & Motifs
Diction & Style
Register: Formal Edwardian dialogue with class-stratified registers — upper-middle-class propriety masking moral bankruptcy
Narrator: No narrator — the play is entirely dialogue and stage directions. Priestley's authorial voice emerges through the Ins...
Figurative Language: Low
Historical Context
Set in 1912 (Edwardian England), written in 1945 (end of WWII), creating a dual timeframe: The dual timeframe is the play's structural genius. Set in 1912, it depicts the confident, class-bound Edwardian world at its most complacent. Written in 1945, it is performed for an audience that ...
Key Characters
Talking Points
- Why does Priestley set the play in 1912 but write it in 1945? What specific dramatic effects does this dual timeframe create that a contemporary setting could not?
- The stage directions specify that lighting should change from 'pink and intimate' to 'brighter and harder' when the Inspector arrives. Why is this lighting instruction one of the most important lines in the entire play?
- Is Inspector Goole a real policeman, a ghost, a time-traveller, a manifestation of guilt, or something else entirely? Does Priestley want you to answer this question, or is the ambiguity itself the point?
- Arthur Birling says 'a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.' The Inspector says 'we are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.' Which philosophy does the play endorse, and how does the structure of the play — not just the dialogue — make that argument?
- Eva Smith never appears on stage. Why does Priestley keep her absent? What would be gained or lost if she appeared — even in a flashback or a silent role?
Notable Quotes
“The Titanic — she sails next week... unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.”
“But these girls aren't cheap labour — they're people.”
“We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”
Why Read This
Because the question 'Am I responsible for people I have never met?' is the defining moral question of your generation — from climate change to global supply chains to social media pile-ons. Priestley wrote this play about 1912 for a 1945 audience...