An Inspector Calls is full of lies and deceit. Write about the way Priestly exposes weakness and wickedness in two characters on stage. Choose two characters, one that portrays weakness the other wickedness. Show how the Inspectors visit impacts on their future behaviour.
An
Inspector
characters society.
Calls
is
his
play
in
Throughout
wickedness,
while
full to
the
of
lies
symbolise
play
showing
and
what
deceit,
the
J
B
Priestly
stereotypes
of
the
uses
the
after
war and
he
exposes
the
characters
weakness
he
believes
are
the
of
faults
the
upper
class at that time. Priestley uses the play to expose the lies, deceit and overall hypocrisy of people during his time. Lies and deceit is one of the main themes in an Inspector believe
Calls.
their
Many
of
actions
the
are
for
characters good
lie
and
for
to
themselves
morally
to
correct
make
them
reasons.
For
example Gerald has an affair but tells Sheila that he is busy with work. He is happy to lie to her. Also he claims to Sheila that he had noble reasons to approach Daisy Renton however we cannot be sure whether he did. It is clear that Gerald is lying to Sheila but also he may be lying to himself to make him happy as he is able to think of himself as a good person. Eric deceives his parents throughout the play as he cannot cope with his ever growing
alcoholism
which
influences
his
actions.
Sybil
Birling
deceives
herself throughout the play; she has different rules for herself and for society. society
Additionally at
large
she
that
is
lies the
to
main
inspector. lie
and
It
is
wickedness
this
hypocrisy
Priestly
wants
in to
expose by writing An Inspector Calls, in the hope that after the landslide victory
of
the
1945
Labour
Party,
the
people
of
Britain
would
want
to
change the class-ridden society they lived in and show more compassion and equality to others. In An Inspector Calls Priestly presents the weakness of his characters in a number
of
ways.
Gerald
is
unfaithful
to
Sheila,
Eric
tries
to
hide
his
alcoholism and steals money, Sheila is jealous of Eva Smith and many of the characters are hypocritical and lie to themselves about their own morals. By displaying these traits among his characters, he gets the audience to question their own morals and how they treat others in society . One of the main characters in the play is Sheila Birling, the daughter of Mr. Birling a self made Business man. Sheila Birling almost represents the new way of thinking, the generation who understand that change is underfoot and the class system and the barriers or walls they represent cannot return to how they were before the war. Although Sheila embraces the changes that are slowly slipping into society, like her Father she does not welcome the change on her own position, as an Upper Class, husband hunting young lady of leisure. Whose daily schedule is filled with monotonous tasks such as dress Fittings and meeting up with friends for afternoon tea. During the course
of
the
play
Sheila
Birling
shows
elements
of
weakness
and
wickedness. In the story Priestly portrays her as a young beautiful lady with a rather selfish and arrogant nature. Using her vibrant personality she is able to obtain anything in which she desires through her father and status. After the Inspector explains the case of Eva Smith and she dies; Sheila shows an
empathetic side of her personality, which might have surprised the audience watching the play. She shows her remorse by describing her feelings towards the injustice of the case. The Inspector interviews Author Birling first before moving on to Sheila. Author Birling insists for the Inspector to leave his daughter out his inquiries, but the Inspector points out to Mr. Birling that he must speak to everybody in the house. The Inspector unveils Sheila's' involvement by revealing her as the second link in a long chain of events leading to the death of Eva Smith. Edwardian upper class society was
well
renowned
for
their
ability
to
exercise
total
power
and
control
over lower class persons. Priestly shows a perfect example of this during the Inspector‟s questioning of Sheila. He reveals that after being sacked from Mr. Birlings' factory, Eva Smith found a new line of work at a clothes shop where Sheila Birling was considered a valued customer. Sheila encounters Eva Smith when shopping in one of her favourite haunts, Millwood‟s. Sheila when later questioned by the Inspector admits “I was in a furious temper,” as she went about her shopping.
Sheila when trying on a
dress that didn‟t suit her cau ght sight of Eva Smith, a sales assistant at Milwards smirking at her as if to say “Doesn‟t she look awful.” As a result of
this,
Sheila
then
misuses
her
power
to
get
Eva
Smith
sacked.
Sheila
admits to the Inspector when questioned that, “If she‟d been some miserable plain creature I don‟t supposed I‟d have done it. But she was very pretty,” Sheila shows elements of weakness here, as when met by a girl prettier than herself. Sheila
was
jealous
and
vain
in
Milwards.
Her
jealously
is
a
sign
of
weakness because she cannot accept that she may not be as pretty as Eva but may have other qualities. Sheila reflections on how she got Eva sacked show that she is weak. This is because her reactions to her own actions show that
if
sheila
differently
hadn‟t
towards
been
Eva
and
in
a
most
“furious probably
temper”
she
wouldn‟t
would
have
acted
have had her sacked.
This shows that Sheila is weak because she is unable to control her temper, which affects the way she acts towards others. She later in uses her temper as an excuse another form of weakness because she is unable to admit to entirely being to blame. However later on in the play Sheila is the only characters to admit full responsibility for their actions, she says to the Inspector “I know I am to blame and I am desperately sorry.” Eva Smith was soon left unemployed after being sacked again. The reason was for being better looking than Sheila in a dress which had Miss
Birling‟s
best interest at heart. Using her social position she was able to influence the
managers
at
the
clothes
shop
into
dismissing
Eva
Smith.
Sheila
is
devastated after hearing the effect of her selfish act. The Inspector shows another side to Sheila Birlings' character, her gentle side. Perhaps Sheila can be separated from the rest of the family as she is the only one, apart from Eric who is able to accept responsibility for her action, unlike her father
who
a
coward
at
heart
made
excuses
for
his
actions.
Through
the
course of the play Sheila slowly changes from a spoilt rich girl into a mature young lady. She begins to share the Inspectors' views on Edwardian society and brings about a few of her own views. At the beginning of the play, Sheila seems to be fairly naive and acts like a younger girl. I think Sheila has a somewhat misinformed outlook on society, however through the course of the play her views mature. Sheila‟s language changes throughout the
play
and
throughout
the
Inspectors
visit,
at
the
start
of
the
play
Sheila
uses
simple,
playful
and
quite
childish
language.
She
says,
“I‟m
sorry Daddy.” To Arthur when she‟s admiring her ring, instead of listening to him. Additionally when Gerald gives her the engagement ring she says, “Oh-
it‟s
rather
wonderful!
childish
and
Look
Mummy-
changes
after
isn‟t and
it
a
during
beauty?” the
This
language
Inspectors
visit.
is For
example by the end of the play Sheila is confident and assertive, this is shown by her language- clearly altered by the Inspector. She uses simple, plain and sometimes blunt English, just like the Inspector: “Between us we drove that girl to commit suicide.” Sheila doesn‟t show any doubt, and is happy to pass judgement on herself and the rest of the family. Also she disagrees directly with her father and mother-
“I tell you- whoever that
Inspector was, it was anything but a joke. You knew it then. You began to learn something. And now you‟ve stopped.” This change in language really shows the Inspectors impact on Sheila throughout his visit and how she is changed by him. Sheila is so altered by the Inspectors visit that she ends her engagement with Gerald. She hand back her ring, saying they are changed people: “You and
I
aren‟t
the
same
people
who
sat
down
to
dinner
here.”
After
the
Inspector goes, however, her parents want everything to return to the way it was. Sheila is the only one who truly understands what has happened, and sees they all have to change. In an Inspector Calls, the Inspector exposes both weakness and wickedness in Sheila Birling. Sheila Birling, when told by the Inspector that a young lady had died, had the most noticeable reaction: Empathy. Unlike her father who took the opinion of that she had nothing to do with them, she showed concern and compassion. However it was partly her fault. As a result of Sheila‟s weakness of character and wicked actions that led to the young lady, Eva Smith to take her own life. By showing Sheila‟s form of weakness to be jealously Priestly is showing to the audience that every day forms of weakness such as jealously because someone else is prettier or more talented though often thought of as harmless can have noticeable effect such as with Eva Smith. Her relatively „harmless‟ story could actually affect the audience more than the other more „serious crimes‟ of stealing to which Eric had done; because being jealous is something most people can admit to or we can all imagine being envious of someone. Perhaps most people would not have taken it as far as Sheila and demanded that someone is sacked because of a “bad mood”, but our actions may have had more serious consequences than we had imagined at the time, just as Sheila‟s did. So here, Priestly is obviously asking the audience to question their own actions more closely. Throughout an Inspector Calls Sybil Birling shows signs of Wickedness and weakness. She is married to Arthur Birling and is the Mother of Sheila and Eric. Priestley has her written as "about fifty, a rather cold woman," and significantly her husband's "social superior." Sybil is, like her husband, a woman of some public influence, sitting on charity organisations and having been married to the Lord Mayor, Mr Birling. She is an icily impressive woman, arguably the only one of all the Birlings to almost completely resist the Inspector‟s attempts to make her realise her responsibilities.
When
the
Inspector
has
Sybil
Birling
to
recall
how
she
impacted
on
Eva
Smith‟s suicide she is very honest to the Inspector. She tries to make the Inspector feel inferiorly saying “of course my husband was Lord Mayor two years
ago...”
Sybil
Birling
deceives
herself
during
the
Inspectors
interrogation and claims throughout that she feels no guilt towards her own actions, „I did nothing I am ashamed of” Sybil Birling sits on a
committee
that helps vulnerable women. Due to Eva‟s unfortunate use of the Birling surname Sybil who was in a position to help Eva, uses her power to prevent doing so. Sybil suggests, wickedly, that Eva Smith is morally inferior she tells the Inspector “As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money.” It is wicked of Mrs Birling to automatically assume this about Eva Smith. She chooses
the
words
„impertinent‟
and
„absurd‟
to
disclose
her
snobbery
towards the lower classes who she feels only exist to make her life easier. This shows that Sybil is wicked because she believes that people who are poorer than here will not have the same morals. She believes that people who have more money are guaranteed to have better morals, this shows she is narrow minded. Mrs Birling is Priestly stereotype of all that is wrong with society therefore by proving this point he is asking his audience whether they are able to relate to Sybil Birlings views and if they are able to whether they should revaluate them. She also show signs of wickedness when she
becomes
prejudice
towards
Eva
smith
simply
because
she
uses
her
surname, despite the fact that Eva Smith desperately needed help Sybil let her own petty feeling get in the way, showing signs of Wickedness as she is spiteful here. Mrs Birling‟s actions display deceitfulness but it is not deceit towards others. Indeed, she is one of the most honest characters in the play in the sense that she fully admits how she did nothing to help Eva Smith and does not try to hide this from the Inspector. But she is
happy to admit her
actions
Priestly
because
she
sees
no
wrong
in
what
she
did.
wants
the
audience to be shocked and disgusted by this. This is why Priestly gets Mrs Birling to repeat the fact that she has no shame or guilt, so often
“Simply
because I have done nothing wrong- and you know it.” Her deceit though, is presented through her hypocrisy when she lies to herself. She states that it is the “father of the child who is responsible” and yet she does not want to see her own son accused of driving the girl to suicide. She is the ultimate snob. Someone who will set one rule for herself, or those of her class, and yet deny the same rights for “girls of that sort” as she refers to Eva Smith. Sybil is weak because she struggles to see that her son, Eric Birling is an alcoholic
purely
because
she
doesn‟t
want
to.
Sybil
is
obsessed
with
etiquette and social superiority therefore she chooses to ignore that Eric is a drunk. Sybil is also weak with ignorance of the part she played in the chain of events that lead to Eva Smith to take her own life. She doesn‟t understand
her
role
played
and
the
effect
it
had
on
Eva.
Sybil
had
the
opportunity to hep Eva but she rejected it because she used her name to which
she
was
outraged-
her
disgust
at
this
is
another
sign
of
her
weakness. To conclude, I believe that Sheila would be very altered by the Inspector visit Sheila (although this also applies to Eric) is the unthinking inheritor of her parents‟ way of life (she mistreated Eva Smith, just as her dad did – the share the same sense of selfishness at the start of the
play). At the start of the play, Sheila, just like her parents, readily assumes the privileges of wealth, until the Inspector arrives to remind her of the existence of people such as Eva Smith, who are equally deserving, even though not equally rich. By the end of the play, Sheila is ashamed of her parents (just as Eric is). Shelia shows how different she is from her parents. Sheila is socially less hypocritical than her parents – she has noticed Eric‟s drinking, Alderman Meggarty‟s behaviour etc. At the end of the play, she will feel responsible for other people in the future – she has understood the Inspector‟s message. Due to this, Sheila is made to carry the social message of the play. Not only has she changed the most but she will serve as the new Inspector – she must constantly remind the rest of her family of his message. Many would argue Sheila is the character who has changed the most as before the Inspector‟s arrival she was a happy, materialistic, naïve girl. By the end of the play she is trying to make her parents see they have all been given a lesson to learn – she has become a more serious and more dominant character. Mrs Birling doesn‟t change after the Inspectors visit. She says after he left
that
she
has
only
one
regret,
that
he
left
without
her
having
the
chance to have “asked him a few questions.” She wishes to challenge the Inspector and to change his views to suit her own. Even though she notes that
both
her
children
have
been
altered
by
the
Inspectors
visit
Mrs
Birling still remains to have the same views as her husband. An
Inspector
Calls
is
a
play
full
of
Lies
and
Deceit
which
exposes
characters weaknesses and wickedness, the play has many underlying messages that
as
Priestly
intended
affected
the
audiences
back
in
the
1940‟s
still does today. Its messages really have stood the test of time.
and
