English AIC

• You don't seem to have learnt anything

  Sheila, takes responsibility for moral crimes, has matured, role reversal
• I can't accept any sort of responsibility

  Birling, refusal to see how actions affect others, doesn't want reputation damaged
• Public men, mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privelages


  Inspector, trying to force Birlings to take responsibility
• Each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.

  Inspector, forcing the Birlings to take responsibility for action, art sentences, embedded in minds, taught a lesson
• There are millions and millions of Eva smiths and John smiths (...) all intertwined with our lives (...)we are members of one body. We are responsible for each other (...) if men will not be taught that lesson, they will learn in fire and blood and anguish


  Inspector, final speech, responsibility, actions affect others, many in poverty, consequences of actions, need to learn, foreshadowing war
• Pg 29:


  "we'll have to share our guilt". - InspectorPriestley creates a moral figure in the Inspector to evoke sympathy from the audience and condemn the actions of those who mistreated her. He explains that"we'll have to share our guilt"referring to the responsibility for Eva Smith, and for others like Eva Smith. Basically he implies that we are responsible for each other. Priestley is using the Inspector to portray moral socialism to contradict Mr Birling's individualism. There is a need for cooperation and community and social justice in society, particularly for the audience in 1946 who have just suffered World War Two and Priestley perhaps wanted to influence them as a new society is built.
• BIRLING: a man has to mind his own business and look after himself

  Act One

  Birling is taking an individualist, capitalist point of view about personal responsibility, and his lines here provide the general attitude of his speeches since the play began. According to him, experience proves that his point of view is correct.
• BIRLING: You'll apologize at once ... I'm a public man -

  INSPECTOR [massively]: Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.

  Act Two

  Here the Inspector, who by this middle act of the play is gaining in power and control over the situation, "massively" silences Birling with a putdown. It is not the first or last time that Birling is cut off mid-thought. It is also important because Priestley points an extra finger of blame at Birling not just for his actions, but for his failure to see that his public position entails a duty of responsibility to other people. Interestingly, this attitude draws on the traditional notion of the upper classes taking responsibility for the welfare of the lower classes, but in the newer, more democratic life of Britain, the "public men" are not necessarily of higher social class even if they have more public privileges; at any rate, their position of power comes with responsibility.
• "If all that's come out tonight is true, it doesn't much matter who made us confess."

  This is rather a strong speech Sheila makes which very clearly shows how her attitude has changed. It shows that Sheila's feelings are that everything they said they had done they had still done and it makes no difference if the Inspector was real or not. She has a very moral point of view and has taken the Inspector's role now he has left, reminding each character of their crimes. Sheila now is much wiser about life. She can now judge her parents and Gerald from a new perspective. However the greatest change has been in herself. She has a new perspective of poor people and is aware of responsibilities. The Sheila who had a girl dismissed from her job for a trivial reason has vanished forever.
• Eric character description


  He is weak-willed and looks for an easy way out of troubles - like when he leaves the house upon the Inspectors arrival. Guilty conscience, unable to handle responsibility of blame.

  He sees his father as "not the kind of father a chap could go to when he's in trouble". He doesn't share is father's hard-headed attitude to business; the contrast between him and his family highlights his aloofness and detachment.

  Like Sheila, Eric believes that the family's experiences at the hands of the Inspector should make them improve their behaviour.

  Priestley uses Eric, much like Sheila, to show how the younger and future generations are prepared to change their ways for the future of society. They have both learnt a lesson.
• Mrs Birling character description

  She doesn't take any responsibility no matter how clear the Inspector makes it that she played a key part in the death of Eva Smith. She wants to protect herself from any humiliation; she seems the least bothered by the Inspector's visit than anyone else.

  Despite Mrs Birling's line of work (she is supposed to provide support for needy working class women), she lacks understanding of other classes.

  She is unaffected by the Inspector's questioning; she pays the most attention when she learns of Eric's involvement with Eva.

  She has almost no respect for the Inspector. She attempts to intimidate the Inspector - unsuccessfully - and force him to leave. Lies that she doesn't recognise the photograph to preserve herself and her false honour.

  Having condemned Gerald's "disgusting affair", she forgets it once the threat of a public scandal has been removed. This shows how she is similar to her husband in that she is only concerned about the reputation of the family rather than the terrible reality of what has actually happened.
• The Inspector Character description

  Priestley doesn't want society to revert back to 1912; through the Inspector, he highlights that we must take responsibilities for our actions and each other. SOCIALIST VIEWS

  Priestley left the Inspector's character ambiguous to add tension and affect the audience.

  Priestley uses the Inspector to display correct morals that everybody should hold, regardless of class. It shows how a working class Inspector can show better morals than the upper classes. going against all of society's perceptions.

  Omnipotent character - he persuades everyone to reveal their secrets. He acts as a catalyst, linking the chain of events. He encourages them to acknowledge guilt & responsibility. Makes each character judge themselves in order for them to change their ways - he is the voice of social conscience.
• Eva Smith character description

  Eva Smith is a sort of "everyman". Her first name "Eva" is similar to the first woman of the world (Eve) and is therefore symbolic of all women. Her second name "Smith" is an extremely common surname. It comes from the word for a tradesman. This shows that she is not an individual case, but rather an example of several other working class people who were terrorised by the carelessness of the higher classes.

  Eva is a silent, offstage character. In the play, she represents the silent, invisible and powerless members of society. She dominates the action of the play invisibly.

  The inspector speaks for Eva and uses her as a symbol of the powerless working class to teach the Birlings about social responsibility and to make them realise their mistakes.

  The inspector says there are "millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left" and their chances of happiness are "intertwined with our lives", making Eva Smith the central character.

  The inspector tells the Birlings, and the audience, to behave responsibly towards other (Priestley's Message).

  J.B Priestley uses her to make us think about our responsibility towards others.
• Ouspenksy's theory

  -Esoteric belief the world travels an ever recurring spiral of events

  -Links to Inspecor's final speech of how the Birlings/capitalists must improve

  to prevent conflict