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An Inspector Calls, "Everything we said had happened really had…

- - - - Ideas like socialism, which promoted good over the self-preservation of capitalism were becoming increasingly popular
        
        Proven by the landslide victory of the Labour party in spite of Churchill leading the country to victory during WW2
        
        Priestley was a socialist and made it abundantly clear that socialism was beneficial for society while capitalism was detrimental towards growing our society
        
        Mr and Mrs Birling are portrayed as deluded and ignorant so that the audience can think the opposite of their opinions
        
        "...like bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense" Birling A1
        
        Because we've already been exposed to how delusional Birling can be, given his ironic statements about the Titanic, the contemporary audience would be inclined to disagree with his points and be more open to Priestley's socialist messages
        
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  - - - "(reproachfully) Arthur, you're not supposed to say such things" Sybil A1
        
        It was not just being rude, but it was traditional for the upper classes to not interact with the working class
        
        This stopped them from seeing the poor as human beings and emphasising them as the bourgeoisie never interacted with the working class on a human level
        
        Eva represented the faceless masses that are exploited and oppressed by the class system
        
        "It's my duty to keep labour costs down" Birling A1
        
        "Girls of that class-" Sybil A2
        
        "One Eva Smith is gone but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us" Inspector A3
        
        Priestley is trying to communicate to the audience that the class system dehumanises everyone involved as the victims are left poor and treated as a joke while the rich get richer and become merciless mercenaries
  - - - "It's my duty to keep labour costs down" Birling A1
        
        Highlights his pure greed as he's loyal to his own bank account, to the point where he doesn't see his workers as people but rather labour costs that need to be kept down in order to keep his social standing up
        
        Birling is a man who wasn't born into wealth and desperately wants to prove himself as worthy of his newly acclaimed social status whether it's getting a knighthood or marrying his daughter off to a rich man
    - - "I accept no blame for it at all" Sybil A2
      - "(staggered) well really! Alderman Meggarty!" Sybil A2
      - "Girls of that class-" Sybil A2
      - (In response to Sheila saying it doesn't make a difference)
        "Of course it does" Sybil A3
    - - Eric is against everything his parents believe as he has a bad relationship with them
      - Sheila is more receptive to the Inspector's messages to a large extent. It gets to a point where she becomes a proxy for the Inspector (and Priestley's) messages about social responsibility
        
        "Between us, we drove that girl to commit suicide" Sheila A3
        
        This shows Priestley's hope for the younger generation to break away from the prejudices of their parents and fight for positive change and equality
        
        Furthermore, this is proved by Sheila being represented as someone who had no power to change the situation. This heavily contrasts with the women in the contemporary audience as they now had the right to vote after keeping the country in check while the men were out serving the country
        
        Priestley was trying to prompt the women in the audience to use their new power for the common good
  - - - Mrs Birling allows herself to be confined to traditional roles even though she is "her husband's social superior"
        
        In fact, she advocates for GENDER INEQUALITY as evidenced by her response to Sheila's concerns about Gerald not spending a lot of time with her
        
        "You'll have to get used to that just as I had" Sybil A1
        
        Gerald and Mr Birling have probably had multiple affairs with other women as in 1912 that was simply commonplace
        
        But where Mrs. Birling chooses to ignore those affairs and put up with it due to her pride, Sheila gives Gerald back his ring, rejecting the patriarchal values of the 1912 society
    - - Eva Smith was doubly oppressed as a member of the working class and as a woman
        
        She was sexually abused by rich, white men but there was nothing she could do to stop it as this patriarchal, classist society only appealed to rich, white men
        
        "Old Joe Meggarty...had wedged her into a corner with that obscene fat carcass of his" Gerald A2
  - - - AIC was written similarly to a morality play which was used to teach the audience a moral lesson
        
        Morality plays conventionally had the everyman character that represented the average man/woman and personified versions of vices and virtues
        
        The story would play out with the vices and virtues trying to sway the everyman into making right or wrong decisions with the virtues winning out in the end
        
        Everyman = Eva Smith - represents the oppressed proletariat
        
        Vices = Birlings + Gerald
        
        Arthur - Greed
        
        Sybil - Pride
        
        Sheila - Envy
        
        Gerald - Lust
        
        Eric - Gluttony
        
        Virtue = Inspector Goole as he represents the unquestionable truth and moral authority
- - - - His speeches are full of dramatic irony
        
        "Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable" Birling A1
        
        Birling is portrayed as ridiculous here as we know the actual Titanic did sink - which makes the 1945 audience view him as a man detached from reality and desperate to sound important
        
        This stems from his insecurities about his social standing as he did not grow up rich like his wife
        
        "rather provincial in his speech" s.d. A1
        
        "her husband's social superior" s.d. A1
        
        He had to make his own money rather than inherit it, which is why he is such a staunch believer in capitalism
        
        Despite marrying into a higher class, he still feels like an outsider as he does many things to validate his own social status
        
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  - - - She's shown off as snobby and classist, especially when she tells her husband off for complimenting the staff
        
        looks down on anyone she considers "beneath her"
        
        Stems from her upper class upbringing where she was taught money and status dictated your morals and value to society
        
        Seems contradictory due to how she acts as she advocates for the traditional, patriarchal values that keep women below men
        
        This is because he prioritises her reputation above all else and wants to appear as respectable to society
        
        It's to a point where she feels no maternal love for her husband or children
        
        To a point where she ignores her son's alcoholism and her daughter's concerns about Gerald
        
        She does this because pride is her hamartia and she's too proud to admit her precious class system is deeply flawed
        
        "(staggered) well, really! Aldermand Meggarty!" Sybil A2
        
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  - - - She has no bearing on the struggles of the proletariat as a member of the bourgeoisie
      - She was happy being married off to another family as young women of that era were controlled by their parents and had no say over their lives
        
        "for lower costs and higher prices" Birling A1
        
        Sheila and Gerald's relationship is transactional and purely for the benefit of the Birling family
        
        She was extremely childish early on in the play, referring to Sybil and Birling as 'daddy' and 'mummy', two childish terms
        
        However, the arrival of the Inspector stimulates Sheila's transformation with how she is finally exposed to the tragedies of the working class
        
        "But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people" Sheila A1
        
        She strongly sympathises with Eva's situation. Maybe because of the similarities between the two with how they're both young and pretty
        
        HOWEVER, there are still some signs that show that she hasn't fully changed yet with how she refers to the proletariat as 'these girls'
        
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        "I'm sorry, daddy. I was actually listening" Sheila A1
        
        When it is revealed Sheila got Eva fired, she was profusely apologetic
        
        "It was my own fault" Sheila A1
        
        "I know I'm too blame - and I'm desperately sorry" Sheila A2
        
        She didn't consider the consequence her spiteful actions would have on others and tried justifying what she did by saying...
        
        "She was very pretty...and looked as if she could take care of herself" Sheila A1
        
        She's blinded by superficial qualities such as 'looks' and doesn't see how it would be a disadvantage to the working class as rich men would sexually assault her and discard her when it suited them
        
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  - - - However, he is constantly shown as an outsider to the rest of the family through the stage directions and the way his parents talk to him
        
        Eric is 'downstage', away from the other characters
        
        He is the fifth wheel at the engagement party, with everyone else being in a couple
        
        "Just keep quiet Eric..." Birling A1
        
        While Sheila is able to keep within her gender role and meet societal expectations, Eric just can't seem to do that
        
        Because of this his family pushes him away - which might be why...
        
        "...half shy, half assertive" s.d. A1
        
        Eric shifts between being too shy and being too assertive because he's insecure about his place in the family
        
        he uses alcohol as a coping mechanism
        
        Despite lacking the guidance to show respectability, he is at least shown to have sympathy for Eva's situation
        
        "Why shouldn't they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices" Eric A1
        
        Eric's longest piece of dialogue so far, showing how he's starting to grow and become more assertive compared to the insecure Eric we saw earlier
        
        The younger generations were not bound by the older generations' traditions and could see the need for change
        
        Birling doesn't care for what he has to say, which turns him back to drinking. Which is later revealed to be a grand problem
        
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  - - - However, when the Inspector arrives, our perspective of him shifts with how he's revealed to be just as much of a capitalist as Birling
        
        "I know we'd have done the same thing" Gerald A1
        
        As the story progresses, he's revealed to have had an affair with Eva/Daisy
        
        In the eyes of the cast, he doesn't appear as too bad since he treated her generously and in those days it was normal for men to have mistresses and affairs
        
        "I don't dislike you...Gerald. In fact, in some odd way, I rather respect you" Sheila A2
        
        Furthermore, he seems genuinely remorseful for what he's done to Eva with how he sounds distressed when lamenting over the fact that she's dead and has to step outside to clear his head
        
        However, in reality he has pulled off a masterclass in manipulation
        
        "She looked young, fresh and charming" Gerald A2
        
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  - - - "he creates at once an impression of masiveness" s.d. A1
        
        Supposedly contradictory as the Inspector isn't a large person, which implies that he has an inbuilt sense of authority over the Birlings and Gerald in spite of their high social standing
        
        The audience would have found this unusual at the time as the bourgeoisie typically considered themselves above the law
        
        "We're respectable citizens and not criminals" Gerald A1
        
        A common stereotype was that crime was only reserved for the lower classes
        
        So as a socialist, Priestley uses the Inspector as a proxy to expose each of the characters for committing immoral or criminal actions
        
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      - Questions such as 'what is he?' or 'who is he?' are deliberately unanswered to give more focus to the message
- - - - The bourgeoisie (upper class) lived in luxury
      - The proletariat (working class) struggles just to survive each day
    - - The bourgeoisie were blind to the upcoming disasters, believing things would stay the same forever
        
        e.g. "The Titanic - unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable" (Birling, A1)
        "There isn't a chance of war" (Birling, A1)
  - - - Via dramatic irony, the audience knows what Arthur is saying is nonsense and so already gains the viewpoint that Birling and the upper classes he represents are not to be taken seriously
      - Socialism
        
        Society wanted a big change after WW1 and WW2 due to how horrific both conflicts were and how many lives were affected by them. So society wanted to move away from the politics which led them into war
        
        Socialism became more and more popular over the traditional ideas of capitalism and classism
        
        More and more people wanted the state to own all resources rather than individuals being able to own a sizeable margin of resources
        
        The Labour party won a landslide victory in 1945 despite Churchill leading the UK to victory in WW2
        
        Priestley was a socialist himself so the play was written to highlight the need for change and social responsibility
        
        this was so that people learned to be less selfish as he believed capitalism and the selfish attitudes it encouraged was the cause of both World Wars
  - - - each character in AIC represents a moral failing