T HE I NSPECTOR

Initial Impression
 Inspector is presented as a moral force as he rejects all forms of corruption
o exempt from the immorality and corruption of society
o First demonstration through “no, thank you .. I’m on duty”
 Deny drink – responsible and takes role seriously “I’m on
 Alcohol has connotations of immoral behaviour thus his
duty” Summary
refusal is symbolic of his refusing to act immorally
 Acts as an omniscient, moral force
 also question what his duty is – moral not legal  Can be interpreted as a spiritual /
 not actually a police inspector god-like figure (or regent of god)
o cyclical structure – play ends with him rejecting MB’s request to bribe him  Provides the socialist narrative for
 shows he is consistent in his moralist the play
 The antithesis of Mr Birling – his
 inspector moral throughout, MB immoral throughout political ideology is also the
 suggest that – as their main different – it is their political stance that is antithesis of capitalism
responsible for this discrepancy  Acts as a catalyst for change –
 inspector is moral because he rejects capitalism which is the source of society’s encourage younger generation to
immorality break away from their parents
 Moral force - Views all people as equal
o Views Eva as an individual – refuse to refer to her as “girl” like the Birlings (dismissive and condescending) and instead
persists in referring to her as Eva smith
 She is an individual and matters to him – has a “promising little life” “nice
 Birlings see her as insignificant – just a girl – as she is a working class citizen and beneath them promising little
 Set him apart from most of 1912 society – women hadn’t gained suffrage yet – more in line with
contemporary audience – granted right to vote in 1928 – align with inspector
 Thus his morality comes because he realises that how you treat people has an impact on all of society – impact
lives of others – he believes in social responsibility so recognises the individual rights of all
 Fundamentally, because he rejects capitalism, he rejects immorality as Priestley presents the two as synonymous.
 [public men … have responsibility as well as privilege
 Person’s class makes no difference
 Everyone has responsibility to others because all members of one body
 he is not there to convict them or find out what they did “I don’t need to
o he already knows know any more,
o his role is to make them face what they did so they correlate action with cause neither do you”
o “I don’t need to know any more. Neither do you.”
o Thus he acts without immorality because he acts as the moral force in life – providing a collective conscience
 By making the inspector act morally, Priestley provides the audience with the perfect example of how to act
themselves for the improvement of society – role model
 Priestley uses his initial description of the inspector to demonstrate that he is not bothered by outward appearances
but by a person’s inner morality and integrity
o “need not be a large man” but he “gives the impression of massiveness”
o Size and impact doesn’t come from physical appearance but from the strength of his values – and “gives the
thus the strength of socialism impression of
o Dresses modestly in “plain darkish suit” = sees no reason in trying to draw attention to his
physical self when his purpose is to reveal his (and Priestley’s) internal values
o Remove capitalism – remove commercialism and superficiality
o Contrast to MB who is “heavy looking” and “Portentous” with a “substantial” house “plain darkish suit”
 His size is from capitalist greed
 This outward sign of dominance and strength holds no value because it doesn’t come from within – all surface
level and superficial
o By contrasting the two Priestley shows that the inspectors values of socialism are stronger than Birlings’ and this s
why he doesn’t need to reinforce his views with an impressive appearance

Development / Nuances
 he is presented as omniscient but not omnipotent
o he can provide evidence for why they need to change but can’t force them to change
o thus he uses shock tactics – frequent referral to Eva’s death using graphic language - “burnt her inside out”
o still subject to limitations of power
 o reliant on rhetorical devices – triplets
 “friendless, penniless, desperate” and needed “advice, sympathy, friendliness”
o Also try to appeal to individual “advice, sympathy,
 Appeal to emotion and motherhood of Mrs B - “you’ve had children”
friendliness”
 Flawed tactic as she is not a caring mother - “rather cold woman”
“you’ve had children”
 Not supportive but selfish
 Omniscience presented by planned attack
o Traps Mrs B into demonstrating the extent of individualism – accuses her son
o “Who is to blame then”
o Or – UC are predictable – can rely on them acting selfishly at the expense of others
o Thus inspector is giving them rope “so that we’ll hang ourselves” (Sheila)
 Doesn’t need to incriminate them when their actions do it for him
 Moreover Priestley presents the inspector as a catalyst for change because he is able to provide an alternative to the
current system of society.
o Provides an alternative attitude and alternative system
o Give YG a better role model / example of how to live so that they don’t just copy the ways of their parents
o Nowhere is this clearer through his effect on Sheila
 “they’re more impressionable”
 Linguistic echo of impertinent demonstrate how Sheila is being shaped by mother’s attitudes despite possessing
innate morality
 With the help of inspectors provision of an alternative she rejects mothers view and words – “such a silly word” –
and chooses inspectors ideology instead
 This change is emphasised by her then linguistically echoing inspector, reminding her “she goes closer to
parents of the “fire and blood and anguish” he promised him wonderingly”
 And also by her “she goes closer to him wonderingly”
o Without the catalyst of inspector the cycle of capitalism would have continued uninterrupted, inherited from parents
 He is offering an alternative path
 It is possible that Priestley intends the audience to interpret the inspectors role as him acting as a regent of god
o Many similarities
 Omniscient – knows when Birling has dismissed socialism then appears
 Repetition of “man has to look after himself” 3 times connotations of summoning
 Omnipotent – shown through his control of events via the photo and “one line of enquiry at a time” - Birlings
submission - “I see. Sensible really”
o Enquiry also gives him the role of a judge –delivery of justice– almost like a religious role
 Force them to confess – like the confessional of catholic church – he is the priest
 Suggests characters need to confess – they are eager for his approval and acceptance – evidence of their having
been forgiven
 “so I’m really responsible?” and Gerald pitching excuses {carefully, to the inspector}
o Developed at the end through allusion to bible – “we are members of one body” – also used in “we are members of
communion one body”
 Uses the words of god, potentially suggesting he is speaking on behalf of him – perhaps as a
proxy to reveal people’s sins and enable them to repent
 However, it is equally likely that the underlying semantic field of morality and religion throughout the play serves
instead to draw upon pre-existing ideas of responsibility as promoted by Christianity to strengthen the audience’s
reaction to Priestley’s message – speak to audience in way they would understand (less secular society). And just as
Christians end mass with “go forth in peace”, Priestley is sending the message that by following the inspectors socialist.
Advice, society can also achieve peace.

Final Impression
 Uses inspector’s final speech to warn the audience of the consequences of continuing in the same way
o The structure of the play mirrors that of the two world wars
o Suggest second war happened because humanity failed to take responsibility for their actions and change society – if
men will not learnt that lesson
o Just as Birlings refused to take responsibility and didn’t learn their lesson
o In order to stop society failing again audience needs to take action and reconstruct society to be better than it was in
1912
o Follows Ouspensky’s theory of time – Priestley had studied it for years before writing – die and reborn – relive life
until you learn from mistakes
 o It is in this final speech that the importance of learning from mistakes becomes very obvious –
apparent Inspector was a moral force not a legal force
“if men do not learn
 This is also Priestley’s key message
 The central purpose of the inspector – and thus his presentation as a moral force – is provided by
that lesson then
Priestley in the Inspector’s final speech they will be taught
o Biblical references to give speech atmosphere similar to catholic mass it in fire and blood
 Summarise each character’s sins (penitentiary rites) and anguish ”
unites Birlings with rest of community (and audience / congregation with society) as done with
bread and wine and allusion to we are all members of one body
 Complete sermon with dismissal – send forth to improve society as Catholics are told to “go forth” and “go in
peace”
 Audience is being sent froth to spread socialism (not Christianity)using structure of communion draws on
audience’s preconceived ideas of morality (majority Christian society)
o Need to go forth communicated - “if men do not learn that lesson” ordering characters to prove they have learnt
their lesson by going out and acting on it
 Threat of “fire blood and anguish” could be warning of religious consequences for neglecting this duty – fire =
connotations of hell an punishment for not following joint aim of Christianity and socialism to “love your
neighbour”
o Fire blood and anguish could be warning of punishment of wars
 Suggest world wars caused by the greed and capitalist attitudes of society “(sharp ring of a
 Supported by cyclical structure – start and end with doorbell - “sharp ring of a front doorbell” or front doorbell )”
of a phone
 Alert to death of a girl
 Second death due to refusal to admit responsibility after inspectors exit
 Choose to dismiss him as “socialist or some sort of crank”
 Thus events of evening will be repeated
 World wars perceived in same way – second war due to refusal to admit responsibility for first and change the
attitudes that caused it
 Warn of consequences of not changing – demonstrate need for reform
o In line with Ouspensky’s theory of time – when person dies relive their life until they learn from mistakes
 Unless audience embrace Priestley and inspectors message and learn lesson and change they will also be
condemned to reliving past suffering throughout two world wars
 Priestley uses the inspector as a mouthpiece to present his own views regarding the need for change and by
demonstrating how people should act through the inspector as a role model; he provides a way for “men to learn that
lesson”. This is crucial as the play’s cyclical structure is in line with Ouspensky’s theory of time - that when a person dies
they will continue to relive their life until they learn from their mistakes. Therefore, unless the audience embrace the
inspector’s lesson and change, they too will be condemned to reliving their past suffering throughout the two world
wars.
 It is important that the inspector leaves so that he can test the family to see if they have learnt their lesson
o Opportunity to change and learn from mistakes
o Ruling classes had chance to learn from mistakes (interwar years) but failed to
o audience chance to change and agree with lesson

Interaction with other Characters

 Priestley presents socialism as the favourable alternative to capitalism by contrasting the inspector to mr Birling
o Inspector is symbol of socialism and Birling is his antithesis
 Birling exists to be the contrast to socialism
o Inspector is strong and powerful – “impression of massiveness” – because of the strength of his ideology
o Mr B is large only in appearance but weak inside
 Opinions and values hold no weigh (as shown by the dramatic irony of his insistence of “there’s no chance of war”
to an audience who have just lived through two
 Only cares about appearance – not a person’s morality or intentions
o In contrast the inspector “speaks weightily” and “need not be a big man” because he is impressive through the
strength of his position and ideology
o Clothes are simple – “a plain darkish suit” because he doesn’t care about appearance but about how people behave
 Uses the Inspector to present contrasting sides to the debate on which social ideology to model society after
o Mr B provides the capitalist argument
 Shown through his long speech at the start
 Has dominated the play up until this part
 o Inspector then arrives to provide the socialist counterargument
 Interrupts the capitalist narrative of Mr Birling – shows that socialism will end the precedence of capitalism in the
global/historical narrative
 Priestley presents socialism as the favourable alternative to capitalism by contrasting the inspector to mr Birling
o Inspector is symbol of socialism and Birling is his antithesis
 Birling exists to be the contrast to socialism
o Inspector is strong and powerful – “impression of massiveness” – because of the strength of his ideology
o Mr B is large only in appearance but weak inside
 Opinions and values hold no weigh (as shown by the dramatic irony of his insistence of “there’s no chance of war”
to an audience who have just lived through two
 Only cares about appearance – not a person’s morality or intentions
o In contrast the inspector “speaks weightily” and “need not be a big man” because he is impressive through the
strength of his position and ideology
o Clothes are simple – “a plain darkish suit” because he doesn’t care about appearance but about how people behave
 Converts Sheila to socialism
o She becomes a symbol of his ability to change people’s minds
“Impression of
o Her conversion is represented by whether she accepts or rejects Gerald (who is a symbol for
massiveness”
business and upper class – he attitude to Gerald becomes symbolic of whether the YG will accept
ways of past “speaks
 Significant that the inspector interrupts their engagement weightily”
 Attempt to change Sheila’s views and turn her against capitalism before she accepts it
 Inspectors success measured by whether she learns Inspector’s lesson and rejects Gerald

Structure
 Priestley positions the inspector’s arrival so that it interrupts Mr Birling and his expression of his opinions on
socialism. This allows Priestley to structurally represent the inspector’s opposition of Mr Birling’s capitalist views. His
arrival concludes a series of claims that the audience – through blunt and explicit use of dramatic irony – know to be
incorrect due to hindsight, and the only view that is not categorically wrong is that “a man has to mind his own
business and look after himself” – but the Inspector then arrives to place this statement in the same category as Mr
Birling’s other claims allowing Priestley to mark opposition to socialism as equally unsubstantiated and incorrect, thus
completing the series of disprovals. The interruption of what was otherwise a monotonous, slow paced and single
character dominated scene also causes the audience to experience subconscious relief at the inspectors arrival and
Priestley may intend for this relief to become intertwined with the inspectors presence and thus with the concept of
changing from a capitalist to a socialist narrative. This enables Priestley’s manipulation of the audience’s response to
the beliefs he supports.
 Priestley has previously characterised Mr Birling as the embodiment of capitalism, so by placing the Inspector in
opposition to him, the Inspector becomes a symbolism for the main opposition to capitalism – socialism.
 The inspector’s arrival also marks a shift of power from Mr Birling to the Inspector which can be interpreted as the
shift from capitalism to socialism that Priestley desires. Mr Birling has otherwise dominated the dialogue of the play,
and also the opinions expressed as shown by the dramatic monologue form of his speech – he excludes the views of
others (demonstrated by his dismissal of Eric’s protest “What about war?”) just as capitalism has dominated society
throughout the 19th century, overriding other thought systems. When the inspector arrives, he challenges the
unquestioned authority and dominance not only of Mr Birling, but of the capitalist narrative that has so far controlled
the play and society. Therefore, his interruption marks a change in attitude as past views have to contend with reform
attempts, and Priestley constructs this conflict to mirror the way in which war has acted as a catalyst for post war
society, forcing them to reconsider how society should be formed if previous systems led to suffering.
 It is significant that it is not Eva’s death that has called the Inspector to visit them but Mr Birlings capitalist views that
summon him
o He is not there to investigate crime against Eva but rather capitalist crimes against society
o Thus MB is targeted in favour of Sheila
 Not about who had biggest impact on Eva but who has biggest impact on society

What are they used for? What do they represent?

 Presents him as powerful – medium for Priestley to express his views, so by presenting his power Priestley is
simultaneously demonstrating to the audience the power of socialism to improve society.
 As well as how to change, he also shows the Birling why they need to change, and his role as an inspector allows
Priestley to present AIC as a didactic morality play disguised as a reversed murder mystery – where the suspects of
society’s suffering are not narrowed down but expanded upon to include all of society.
o Eva serves as the evidence for why society needs to change
o turn what would otherwise be theoretical into a compelling argument for their guilt and need for reform
 Eva smith represents all those oppressed by society
  Eva – from Hebrew eve meaning all of humanity
 Smith most common surname
 Brings the message that it is the whole of the upper class that is responsible for the suffering of the working class
o Won’t let Sheila fully accept blame
 Has to compromise his beliefs and partially excuse her behaviour to keep her as an ally and display the culpability
of all members of UC
 Blames the “power you had” rather than Sheila – she is not fundamentally a bad person , it is the influence of her
class and environment
 Priestley's presentation of the Inspector is ambiguous, and therefore academics often debate his true nature and
purpose; was he real, a form of collective conscience or – true to his omniscient nature and role of judgement – a
representation of God. Whilst Priestley offers evidence all three interpretations, he leaves the audience with no
definitive answer, thus implying that it is not who the inspector was that matters, but rather the message he provided.
This message takes the form of a call to action and a desperate plea to ensure that post-war society would be vastly
different to pre-war society – in short for men to “learn that lesson”. The lesson is the flaws of society; the response is
socialism.

Quotes:
Brighter and harder You mean you don't choose to do
Need not be a big man Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as
Impression of massiveness (solidity and purposefulness) privileges
A plain darkish suit She needed… advice, sympathy, friendliness
Speaks carefully, weightily You've had children
I'm on duty Who is to blame then?
Burnt her inside out, of course I shall do my duty
One line of enquiry at a time Yes, we know
Why? When / where / what / was / why
It's my duty to ask questions He needs a drink now
It’s better to ask for the earth than to take it And my trouble is - that I haven't much time
Stares speculatively after her I don't need to know any more. Neither do you.
A nice promising life there You're offering the money at the wrong time
What a nasty mess someone's made of it There are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John
If you’re easy with me, I'm easy with you Smiths still with us
Yes, but you can't. It's too late. She's dead. Their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and
I'm not going until I know all that happened chance of happiness all intertwined with our lives
He knows We are members of one body
And you think young women ought to be protected If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught
against unpleasant and disturbing things? it in fire and blood and anguish
We have to share something. If there's nothing else, we'll
have to share our guilt