How does Priestley present ideas about class?
Grade 5+
Priestley presents ideas about class through the character of Arthur Birling. When the inspector questions Arthur Birling about Eva Smith’s request for a payrise, Priestley has Arthur Birling state ‘I refused, of course’. In other words, Arthur Birling is proud to admit that he denied his workers a small pay rise. Priestley’s use of the words ‘of course’ not only indicate that Birling feels he was right to refuse a pay rise, but also that he doesn’t expect to be questioned about his actions. Later in the play, Priestley demonstrates that Arthur Birling is very selfish with his money by having him say ‘I’d give thousands’. In other words, Birling is happy to pay thousands of pounds to the inspector in order to keep him quiet about the scandal with Eva Smith. The contrast between the thousands of pounds that Birling is willing to pay and the small pay rise that Eva Smith asked for demonstrates how selfish Birling is because he clearly had the money to give the pay rise but only wants to use the money for himself. Priestley hoped his 1945 audience would feel angry towards selfish Capitalist businessmen like Arthur Birling.
Priestley also presents ideas about class through the character of Sybil Birling. When the inspector questions Sybil about how she knew Eva Smith, Priestley presents Sybil as prejudiced by having her refer to the working classes as ‘girls of that class’. Priestley’s use of the words ‘that class’ suggest that Sybil is snobbish and superior, looking down on the working classes. It is clear that she allows her prejudice to influence her decisions about who to help. Priestley uses Sybil Birling’s attitude to criticise private charities in 1912. He hoped his 1945 audience would feel angry that man wealthy people ran charities to make themselves look good, while denying help to people who needed it most. Priestley also hoped his 1945 audience would realise that they needed help from the welfare state, like the NHS, which would mean that the poorest people in society could access help when they most needed it.
Priestley uses the inspector to challenge his audience to think differently about the class system. Within the stage directions, Priestley makes clear how powerful the inspector is by writing that he should ‘cut in massively’ over the Birlings. This demonstrates that the inspector is not afraid of the Birlings simply because they are a higher class than him. Priestley uses the inspector to cut through traditional class barriers and show that people should be treated equally. As a socialist, this is what Priestley believed. During the inspector’s dialogue with the Birlings, Priestley has the inspector state ‘we are all members of one body. We are all responsible for each other’. Priestley’s repetition of the word ‘we’ indicates that he believes that people should not only think about themselves. Priestley’s use of the word ‘we’ also contrasts Arthur Birling’s use of the words ‘him’ and ‘himself’, demonstrating the difference between Birling’s selfishness and the inspector’s morality. Priestley’s use of the words ‘one body’ demonstrate that he believes everyone should work together. The inspector acts as Priestley’s mouthpiece, offering the Birlings and Gerald ideas about a new society, in which everyone takes responsibility for each other in an effort to reduce inequality. Priestley hoped that his 1945 audience would realise that they needed to take more responsibility for others.
Grade 7+
‘An Inspector Calls’ is about how people should be more responsible. Priestley explores the theme of class through the treatment of working class Eva Smith by the wealthy Birlings and Gerald Croft when she is in different situations throughout the play.
Priestley uses Birling’s treatment of Eva Smith to highlight that 1912 England was a class ridden society, which did not treat the working class fairly. In Act One, Priestley uses the Inspector’s questioning of Birling to highlight the poor conditions the working class faced. When he describes how his employees asked for a pay rise, Birling states ‘I refused of course’. Here Priestley explores how Birling immediately ignores their request. The word ‘refused’ suggests Birling has no understanding for what it is like to be poor, whilst ‘of course’ suggests his arrogance. Priestley goes on to suggest that Birling is not only unsympathetic to the living conditions of the working classes, but he takes advantage of this for his own gain. The Inspector states, ‘desperate, poor people make cheap labour’. Here Priestley has the Inspector use emotive language to emphasise how Birling takes advantage of the poverty of his workers. By hiring ‘cheap labour’ Birling is able to increase his own profits and therefore make more money. Priestley uses this interaction between the Inspector and Birling to criticise capitalist Britain for not being more responsible for the working classes. He suggests that this lack of responsibility leads to huge inequality and harsh living conditions for the working class.
Priestley uses Gerald Croft and and Eric Birling’s treatment of Eva Smith to emphasise the way in which wealthy gentlemen could take advantage of working class women. Both men met Eva Smith at the Palace Theatre Bar, a place where prostitutes go to find work from middle and upper class men. They meet her at a time when she is desperate and hungry as a result of being thrown of out of her job with Mr Birling and at Milwards. While Gerald did seem to have good intentions when he first met Eva Smith (renamed Daisy Renton), it could be argued that he eventually took advantage of her gratitude and allowed their relationship to develop into an affair, even though it was clear that he’d have no intention of marrying someone of a lower class than himself. Unlike Gerald, Eric did offer marriage to Eva Smith after he got her pregnant. However, he forced himself upon her when he first met her, taking advantage of his superior status because he thought that no one would find out about his behaviour. Through their actions, both characters moved Eva Smith closer to her death. Priestley uses Gerald and Eric to suggest to his 1945 audience that wealthy gentlemen needed to take more responsibility for their actions and realise the terrible consequences of taking advantage of working class women.
Priestley uses Sybil’s unsympathetic and prejudiced treatment of Eva Smith to highlight the inequality between the upper and working classes in the early 20th century. When questioned by the Inspector, Priestley makes it clear that Sybil has a prejudiced and judgemental attitude to the working class when he has her describe the working classes as ‘girls of that class’. At this point Priestley makes her judgemental attitude towards the working class clear. The words ‘that class’ indicate she views all people of the working class as the same. They also suggest that she looks down on the working classes because she sees herself as superior. Her unsympathetic attitude to the working class is also explored when she says, ‘I was perfectly justified’. Here Priestley conveys her unsympathetic tone of voice. The words ‘perfectly justified’ suggest that she takes no responsibility for her actions. Not only does Priestley use Mrs Birling to explore class divisions in early 20th century England, but he also uses this character to highlight the hypocrisy of the upper classes at the time. Mrs Birling sat as the head of a charitable organisation, but rather than using her position to provide comfort and support for those who need it, she uses her position to elevate her own status in society, to create the appearance of a sympathetic member of society who wants to do good. Priestley could also be promoting the need for a welfare state to his 1945 audience by suggesting that private charities run by middle class people were too prejudiced to take proper responsibility for working class people.
Though Priestley presents early 20th century England negatively, he suggests that the younger generation have the potential to change things for the better. At the start of the play, Sheila is presented as immature and smug. This is clearly see through the way she describes having asked for Eva to be dismissed purely because she was in a foul mood and jealous of her. However, Sheila is quick to admit her responsibility and guilt when she states ‘I started it’, which clearly shows how she is affected by what she did. Priestley also uses Eric to suggest that the younger generation are more likely to take more responsibility for others when he has Eric say to Arthur Birling, ‘why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?’. Here Priestley uses the question to show how Eric challenges his father’s capitalist views and questions what’s wrong with asking for fairness.
To conclude, Priestley uses the treatment Eva experiences from the Birlings to portray a class-ridden society, which shows a lack of responsibility for the working classes. However, Priestley does suggest that society can learn and can become a better place through the way the younger generation is presented as more sympathetic.