J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls interrogates social responsibility and the illusion of respectability in Edwardian Britain. By unraveling the Birling family’s complicity in Eva Smith’s death, Priestley exposes the moral bankruptcy of capitalist individualism and champions a more collective, egalitarian ethic. The play’s cyclical structure, shifting lighting, and the Inspector’s didactic rhetoric turn the drawing‑room drama into a political parable, inviting audiences to question guilt, class, and generational change.
