AIC Themes

• Responsibility


  • The Inspector makes each character confess to their role in Eva's fate and how they need to take responsibility
  • The Inspector advocates collective social responsibility
• Social Equality


  • Priestley uses the Inspector to highlight social injustice and inequalities
• Morality and the law


  • The Inspector acts as a judge of morality rather than a legal position
• Age


  • The older generation are set in their ways, while the younger generation are open to change
• Public Image


  • The Birlings are portrayed as caring about appearance and reputation
  • The Inspector reveals their hypocrisy and exposes their moral flaws
• Gender


  • Priestley highlights the patriarchal society through limited opportunities for women
  • There are signs of change in Sheila, perhaps influenced by the suffragettes