Background Information

• The play’s set in Brumley- a fictional town in the Midlands


  Brumley is described as an industrial city in the North Midlands. In 1912, cities like this would have had factories and thousands of terraced houses for all the factory workers. Here are the key locations in the play:

  . Police station

  . The Palace Theatre and Bar

  . The Birlings’ house

  . Gerald’s friend’s flat in Morgan Terrace

  . Hospital and Mortuary

  . Milwards

  . Billing and Co. Factory

  . Eva/Daisy’s lodgings
• Status and wealth kept the classes apart

  . In 1912 the upper and middle classes lived pretty comfortably. Many middle-class men were wealthy and powerful because they had businesses or professional jobs, e.g. doctors

  . The working class had a very different life. They had to work hard for little money, often in factories owned by the middle classes

  . People were expected to provide for themselves, so support for those in need was limited

  . This made it difficult for working-class people to help themselves if they fell on hard times