An Inspector Calls is an iconic play written by J.B. Priestley about social injustice. Written in the 1940s, Priestley reflects on the condition of the country and the values it upholds by depicting a classic 'who-dun-it' scenario, where the innocent suffers at the hands of the wealthy.
Each member of the family is responsible at some stage... but who do you think is ultimately to blame for the inevitable ruin of Eva Smith? Follow Inspector Goole's thorough investigation and piece together the evidence to form your judgement.
The play is a three-act drama, which takes place on a single night in April 1912, focusing on the prosperous upper middle-class Birling family, who live in a comfortable home in the fictional town of Brumley, "an industrial city in the north Midlands".
Brumley represents big industrial towns and cities that were part of the heartbeat of the industrial revolution in the 1900s, where the working class were the driving force within the factories, who had notoriously cruel owners.
Full title · An Inspector Calls
Author · J. B. Priestley
Type of work · Play
Genre · Realism
Language · Written in English; first performed in Russian translation
Time and place written · England, 1945-6
Date of first publication · 1946
Publisher · N/A (first performed in USSR)
Tone · Social critique; solemn; fatalist; anti-hypocritical (critical of middle-class hypocrisies)
Tense · Present
Setting (time) · 1912
Protagonist · There is no single protagonist, although Sheila is the play’s emotional center
Major conflict · Eva Smith/Daisy Renton’s death implicates the entire Birling family, who sort out their culpability in her downfall.
Rising action · The Inspector arrives, asking questions about a girl’s suicide.
Climax · Eric is revealed to be the father of Eva’s unborn child.
Falling action · Gerald tells the family that, perhaps, the Inspector has “hoaxed” them to prove a point about social systems.