The Thematic Concerns of An Inspector Calls

Abstract：An Inspector Calls is a famous drama written by John Boynton Priestley， focusing on the prosperous upper middle-class Birling family. This paper will be analysis the themes of this drama in three dimensions： class discrimination， responsibility， young generation and old generation and the changing role of women.

Key words： An Inspector Calls; themes

An Inspector Calls is one of Priestley's best known works for the stage and considered to be one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre. The play’s success and reputation has been boosted in recent years by a successful revival by English director Stephen Daldry for the National Theatre in 1992（Stringer， Jenny， 30）， and a tour of the UK in 2011–2012（Wikipedia）. From this drama， some themes can be concluded：

Class discrimination

A person’s ‘class’ indicates his or her economic and social standing. Mr. Birling is a representative capitalist， who cares only about his company’s profit. He describes the politics of the day as revolving around “capital versus Labor agitations”. Birling loosely articulates his understanding of the agitations in his speech to Eric and Gerald：“a man has to make his own way-has to look after himself-and his family， and so long as he does that he won’t come to much harm. But the way some of these cranks talk and write now， you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else， as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive.”

Eva Smith， however， represents the working class， the Labor side of the Labor vs. Capital agitations， who get squashed by the powerful upper class. Mr. and Mrs. Birling display at best disrespect and at worst disgust towards the working class. This is evident not just in the way they treat Eva， but in the language they use to refer to her class as a whole. “If you don’t come down sharply on some of these people，” says Mr Birling in act one， “they’d soon be asking for the earth.” Shortly after meeting the Inspector， Mrs Birling says， “I don't suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class-”

The Inspector speaks the voice of Socialism， of the Labor side of the conflict; he seeks to make the Birlings realize the implicit corruption of Capitalism by emphasizing how easy it was for them to cause pain for the lower class without even realizing at the time the significance of their own actions. Just as he puts it， “There are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us， with their lives， their hopes and fears， their suffering and chance of happiness， all intertwined with our lives， with what we think and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. ”

Young generation and Old generation

The most obviously contrast between the two generations is in the end of the play. For example， after the discovery that the Inspector wasn’t an inspector， Eric declares， “the fact remains that I did what I did. And mother did she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her. It’s still the same rotten story whether it’s been told to a police inspector or to somebody else”. After the discovery that there was no suicide， Mr. Birling declares， “But the whole thing’s different now… At the artful devil knew all the time nobody had died and the whole story was bunkum”， at the same time， Sheila insists， “Everything we said had happened really had happened. If it didn’t end tragically， then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done”.

Crucially， though， both Sheila and Eric deeply regret their treatment of Eva Smith， while Mr. and Mrs. Birling feel they have done nothing wrong. The young generation is taking more responsibility， perhaps because they are more emotional and idealistic， perhaps because the writer is suggesting a more communally responsible socialist future for Britain.

The changing role of women

There are four female characters in An Inspector Calls： Sybil Birling， her daughter Shelia， the unseen but ubiquitous Eva Smith and the Birlings’ servant Edna.

Sybil Birling is a representative capitalist. She is described as being “cold” and Mr. Birling’s “social superior”. For example， she puts it， “You know， of course， that my husband was Lord Mayor only two years ago and that he’s still a magistrate？” “I don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide， girls of that class-”. All above what she said implies that she has a strong concept of class.

Eva represents the working class. She leaded a worker’s strike in Birling’s factory. Eva Smith is meat， in part， to represent the struggles of the rights movements. Her encounter with Mr. Birling mirrors the many failed attempts of trying to improve the rights and wages of laborers and the lower classes.

The last woman in the play is the servant Edna. Edna is a woman who appears very briefly and says nothing beyond what is necessary. She could be counted among the “millions of Eva Smith” without a voice.

Conclusion

In short， in terms of the thematic concerns of An Inspector Calls， the writer through describing the different characters of the Birlings to successfully reveals not only the oppression and exploitation from the capitalist but also the cruel and dark social reality in Britain.

References：

[1]John Boynton Priestley. （1998）. An Inspector Calls. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching And Research Press，

[2]Stringer， Jenny （1996）. The Oxford Companion to twentieth-century literature in English Oxford. England： Oxford University Press. 30.