An Inspector Calls: Themes and Priestley's Message

An Inspector Calls: Themes and Priestley's Message

Priestley wrote An Inspector Calls in 1945 but set it in 1912 — this time gap is central to his message. The audience in 1945 had lived through two World Wars, a Great Depression, and the creation of the welfare state. They knew that the Birlings' world of Edwardian confidence was about to collapse.

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Responsibility

Responsibility is the play's central theme. Every character is forced to consider their responsibility for Eva Smith's death, and by extension, their responsibility to society.

Individual Responsibility

Each family member contributed to Eva's death through separate, seemingly minor actions. Priestley's argument is that individual actions have collective consequences — even small acts of selfishness, when repeated by many people, destroy lives.

Collective Responsibility

The Inspector's final speech makes the universal claim:

"We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other."

The metaphor "members of one body" presents society as an organism — if one part suffers, the whole is affected. This reflects Priestley's socialist belief that society functions best when people look after each other, not just themselves.

Who Accepts Responsibility?

Character	Accepts responsibility?	Evidence
Sheila	Yes — fully	"I know I'm to blame — and I'm desperately sorry"
Eric	Yes — fully	"The fact remains that I did what I did"
Mr Birling	No	Concerned only about a "public scandal"
Mrs Birling	No	"I was the only one who didn't give in to him"
Gerald	Partially	Shows some emotion but quickly returns to the Birling mindset

Priestley's Message

Priestley argues that the audience (like Sheila and Eric) must choose to accept responsibility for others. Those who refuse (like Mr and Mrs Birling) are morally bankrupt and will be "taught it in fire and blood and anguish" — a prophecy of war.

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Social Class and Inequality

The play exposes the exploitation of the working class by the wealthy and powerful. Each Birling uses Eva for their own purposes (cheap labour, jealousy, pleasure, convenience) and discards her when she becomes inconvenient.

How Class Is Presented

Upper class (Birlings)	Working class (Eva)
Wealthy, comfortable, secure	Precarious, vulnerable, disposable
Have power and influence	Has no voice and no power
Face no consequences for their actions	Suffers all the consequences
Multiple chances and connections	One misfortune leads to the next

Key Moments

• Mr Birling sacks Eva for asking for fair wages — profit matters more than people
• Sheila has Eva fired on a whim — class privilege allows her to destroy someone's livelihood over a perceived slight
• Mrs Birling refuses charity to Eva because she used the name "Birling" — class snobbery overrides compassion
• Gerald keeps Eva as a mistress, then abandons her — she is a temporary diversion, not an equal partner

Priestley's Message

The class system allows the wealthy to treat the poor as less than human. Priestley, a committed socialist, argues for a society based on equality and mutual care, not hierarchy and exploitation.

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Gender

The play examines how women are treated in Edwardian society. Eva's story is specifically gendered — she is exploited both as a worker and as a woman.

How Gender Affects Eva

• Sacked by Birling for daring to ask for fair wages (a man's request might have been treated differently)
• Sacked from Milwards because Sheila felt threatened by her beauty
• Kept by Gerald as a mistress — valued for her appearance and vulnerability
• Used by Eric — he admits he was "not in love with her" and forced himself on her when drunk
• Judged by Mrs Birling — Eva's pregnancy outside marriage makes her "morally" undeserving of help

What the Play Reveals

Women in 1912 had:

• No vote (women's suffrage was not achieved until 1918/1928)
• Limited employment options — factories, shops, or domestic service
• No welfare state — pregnant, unmarried women had almost no support
• Moral double standards — men's sexual behaviour was tolerated; women were condemned

Priestley's Message

Gender inequality is intertwined with class inequality. Eva is doubly disadvantaged — poor and female. Priestley challenges the audience to recognise that a just society must address both forms of oppression.

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Age and Generational Divide

The play creates a deliberate split between the older and younger generations. This is one of Priestley's most important structural choices.

The Divide

Older Generation (Mr & Mrs Birling)	Younger Generation (Sheila & Eric)
Refuse to accept responsibility	Accept responsibility fully
Concerned with reputation and status	Concerned with morality and justice
Unchanged by the Inspector's visit	Transformed by the Inspector's visit
Represent the past	Represent the future
Relieved when the Inspector is discredited	"You're pretending everything's all right" (Sheila)

Why This Matters

Priestley wrote the play in 1945, at the end of World War II. Britain was about to elect a Labour government (1945) that would create the NHS and welfare state. Priestley was a supporter of these reforms.

By showing the younger generation as morally superior and open to change, Priestley appeals to his audience to reject the old, individualistic values of the Birlings and embrace a new, more equal society.

Key Quotation

"You're beginning to pretend now that nothing's really happened at all... and I can't see it like that" — Sheila refuses to return to ignorance. She represents the hope that the next generation will build a fairer world.

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The 1912/1945 Time Gap

This is not a separate theme but a structural device that underpins all the themes. Everything Birling says with confidence in 1912 is proven wrong by 1945:

Birling's 1912 view	1945 reality
War is impossible	Two catastrophic World Wars
The Titanic is unsinkable	Sank on its maiden voyage
Prosperity is increasing	The Great Depression
Class system is natural and permanent	Welfare state being created
Workers should accept their lot	Trade unions and workers' rights expanded

Priestley uses this gap to make Birling look foolish and dangerous — his confident capitalist worldview led directly to the disasters the audience has just lived through. The message: if we return to Birling's values after the war, we will face the same consequences.

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Dramatic Techniques

The Final Phone Call

The play ends with a phone call revealing that a girl has just died and a real Inspector is on his way. This creates several effects:

• Cyclical structure — the events may be about to repeat, suggesting the Birlings (and the audience) are being given a second chance
• Dramatic irony — Mr and Mrs Birling, who dismissed the first Inspector, now face the same reckoning
• Message — you cannot escape responsibility. If you do not learn the lesson voluntarily, it will be forced upon you

The Unities

Priestley uses the three classical unities (time, place, action):

• Unity of time — the play takes place in a single evening
• Unity of place — the entire play is set in the Birlings' dining room
• Unity of action — there is a single plotline (the investigation)

These create a sense of claustrophobia and pressure — the characters cannot escape the Inspector or their own guilt.

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Exam Tips

• Always discuss Priestley's intentions — what did he want his audience to think, feel, and do?
• The 1912/1945 time gap should feature in almost every answer — it is the key to understanding the play's dramatic irony
• Link themes to context: Priestley was a socialist who supported the welfare state, Labour Party, and social equality
• The Inspector is Priestley's mouthpiece — his speeches are the play's message
• Compare the generations in every answer — the older/younger divide is central to every theme
• Use the term "didactic" — like Dickens, Priestley wrote to teach his audience a moral and political lesson
• The final phone call proves the play's message: responsibility cannot be avoided, only delayed