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.”
Short 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.
Detailed Summary
The play opens on an evening in spring 1912 in the dining room of the Birling family's comfortable home in Brumley, an industrial city in the North Midlands of England. Arthur Birling, a wealthy manufacturer and local magistrate, is celebrating the engagement of his daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft, ...