An Inspector Calls: Characters
An Inspector Calls: Characters
J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls (1945, set in 1912) examines the responsibility of a wealthy family for the death of a young working-class woman, Eva Smith. Each character represents a different attitude toward social responsibility.
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Inspector Goole
The Inspector is the play's most enigmatic character. He may be a real police inspector, a supernatural figure, or a manifestation of collective guilt.
How He Is Presented
- "Creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness" — his stage direction establishes him as an immovable moral force
- He speaks "carefully, weightily" — every word is deliberate and authoritative
- He controls the pace and direction of the interrogation, not the Birlings
- His name — "Goole" — sounds like "ghoul" (a spirit), hinting at his supernatural nature
His Function
| Role | How it works |
|---|---|
| Moral judge | He forces each character to confront their responsibility |
| Voice of Priestley | His speeches directly express Priestley's socialist message |
| Catalyst | He does not create the family's guilt — he reveals it |
| Dramatic device | He controls the structure of revelations, building tension |
Key Quotation
"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."
This is the play's thesis statement. The phrase "fire and blood and anguish" prophesies both World Wars (the play is set in 1912 but written in 1945 — the audience has already lived through both wars). Priestley warns that ignoring social responsibility leads to catastrophe.
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Sheila Birling
Sheila undergoes the most significant transformation in the play, moving from a naive, privileged young woman to a morally aware individual who accepts responsibility.
Her Journey
| Stage | Character traits | Key Moment |
|---|---|---|
| Beginning | Playful, materialistic, naive | Excited about her engagement ring — "Oh — it's wonderful!" |
| After revelation | Shocked, guilty, empathetic | Had Eva fired from Milwards out of jealousy — "I'll never, never do it again" |
| Mid-play | Increasingly perceptive | Realises Gerald's affair before he confesses; begins to see through her parents |
| End | Morally transformed | Refuses to accept her parents' dismissal of responsibility — "You're pretending everything's all right" |
What Sheila Represents
Sheila represents the younger generation's capacity for change. Priestley uses her to show that people can learn from their mistakes if they are willing to listen and reflect. Her transformation is a model for the audience.
Key Quotation
"But these girls aren't cheap labour — they're people" — Sheila recognises the humanity that her father's capitalist mindset ignores. This single line encapsulates Priestley's message.
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Mr Arthur Birling
Mr Birling is presented as a pompous, self-important capitalist whose predictions are dramatically ironic — proving him foolish to the 1945 audience.
How He Is Presented
- "Heavy-looking, rather portentous man" — the stage direction suggests he is physically and intellectually weighty but not genuinely impressive
- "A hard-headed practical man of business" — he sees everything through the lens of profit and self-interest
- He is deeply concerned with social status — obsessed with a possible knighthood and his connection to the Crofts
Dramatic Irony
Priestley makes Birling ridiculous through dramatic irony — his confident predictions are all wrong:
| Birling's Prediction | What actually happened |
|---|---|
| "The Titanic — she sails next week — unsinkable" | The Titanic sank on 15 April 1912 |
| "There isn't a chance of war" | World War I began in 1914; WWII in 1939 |
| "We're in for a time of steadily increasing prosperity" | The Great Depression hit in the 1930s |
This makes the audience distrust everything Birling says — including his views on social responsibility.
His Role in Eva's Death
- Eva Smith worked in Birling's factory
- She was one of several workers who asked for a pay rise from twenty-two shillings and sixpence to twenty-five shillings a week
- Birling sacked her — he sees workers as costs to be minimised, not people to be respected
What Birling Represents
Birling represents the old, capitalist establishment — self-serving, blind to social responsibility, and resistant to change. He learns nothing from the Inspector's visit.
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Eva Smith / Daisy Renton
Eva never appears on stage but is the play's moral centre. Her story is told entirely through the other characters' accounts.
Her Journey
| Stage | What happened | Who was responsible |
|---|---|---|
| 1910 | Sacked from Birling's factory for asking for higher wages | Mr Birling |
| Late 1910 | Sacked from Milwards after a customer complained | Sheila |
| 1911 | Had an affair with Gerald Croft, then was abandoned | Gerald |
| 1911 | Was used by Eric Birling, became pregnant | Eric |
| 1912 | Applied for help from a charity committee, was refused | Mrs Birling |
| 1912 | Committed suicide by drinking disinfectant | All of them |
What Eva Represents
- The exploited working class — everyone uses her and discards her
- She has no voice in the play — just as the poor had no voice in Edwardian society
- Her multiple names (Eva Smith, Daisy Renton) suggest she could be any working-class woman — her story is universal
- "Eva" evokes Eve (the first woman) — she represents all women; "Smith" is the most common English surname — she represents everyone
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Mrs Sybil Birling
Mrs Birling is presented as cold, prejudiced, and incapable of accepting responsibility. She is arguably the most unsympathetic character.
- She is a "rather cold woman" with a strong sense of social superiority
- She refused Eva's appeal to her charity committee because Eva used the name "Mrs Birling" — Sybil was offended at a lower-class woman using her name
- She blames the "young man" who got Eva pregnant — not realising this is her own son Eric
- Even after the Inspector leaves, she refuses to change: "I was the only one of you who didn't give in to him"
What She Represents
Mrs Birling represents the wilful blindness of the upper class — she refuses to see the consequences of her actions because acknowledging them would threaten her comfortable worldview.
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Eric Birling
Eric is presented as an immature, troubled young man who drinks too much and has forced himself on Eva.
- He stole money from his father's business to support Eva — showing some conscience but also immaturity
- He is horrified when he learns his mother turned Eva away: "You killed her — and the child she'd have had too"
- Like Sheila, he accepts responsibility and is changed by the experience
- He represents the younger generation's potential for moral growth, but also their vulnerability
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Exam Tips
- The Inspector is best described as a dramatic device — focus on his function, not his identity
- Sheila and Eric change; Mr and Mrs Birling do not — this contrast is central to Priestley's message
- Eva Smith is deliberately absent — her voicelessness is the point
- Always link characters to Priestley's socialist message and the 1912/1945 context
- Use the term "mouthpiece" when discussing how the Inspector voices Priestley's views
- Compare the older generation (resistant to change) with the younger generation (open to it) — this is a key structural contrast