An Inspector Calls: Characters (Edexcel IGCSE English Literature)

Characters

It is vital that you understand that characters are often used symbolically to express ideas. Priestley uses all of his characters to symbolise various ideas prevalent in his society, and the differences between characters reflect contemporary debates. Therefore it is very useful not only to learn about each character individually but how they compare and contrast to other characters in the play. Below you will find character profiles of:

• Arthur Birling

• Sybil Birling

• Sheila Birling

• Eric Birling

• Gerald Croft

• Inspector Goole

• Eva Smith/Daisy Renton

Arthur Birling

• Birling is the patriarch of the family and is presented as an arrogant and pompous character throughout the play

• He is first described as a “heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech”:

  • Priestley’s description conveys Birling’s self-indulgence and self-importance, arrogantly trying to impress all around him

  • His regional accent signifies his lower-class status in comparison to his wife and Gerald Croft

• As a former Lord Major and magistrate, Birling is hoping to obtain a knighthood which reveals his obsession with public reputation, status and titles and the reassurance that they provide him with:

  • By the end of the play, Arthur faces exposure to a public scandal and loss of his reputation which would present a terrible downfall for him

• As a wealthy factory owner, Priestley presents Birling as a caricature of a Capitalist businessman which is in direct opposition to Inspector Goole’s Socialist aspirations

• Priestley depicts Birling as merely symbolic of other wealthy employers:

  • While he is indifferent to the plight of his workers, it could be argued that there is nothing dreadfully abhorrent about his treatment of his workers

  • Priestley does not indicate that Arthur delights in punishing his workers but simply that any empathy towards them is severely lacking

• At the beginning of Act I, he delivers several lengthy monologues which serve to reveal his self-centredness, arrogance and myopics view of society:

  • He believes everyone should be responsible for themselves and is devoid of any sympathy for those less fortunate than himself

• As a character Priestley uses dramatic irony in several ways to reveal Arthur’s short-sightedness:

  • Birling’s optimism for the future is superficial and his predictions demonstrate his complacency

  • However, this suits him, for he has much to lose if things were to change

• As a character, Arthur contrasts sharply with the Inspector and his children:

  • He is brusque towards the Inspector and treats Eric and Sheila as foolish and naïve

• He refuses to accept any responsibility for Eva’s death and remains unchanged by the end of the play:

  • Arthur is unwilling to change because his personal beliefs do not allow him to do this

  • He is blind to the consequences of his own actions and repeatedly defends himself, directs blame at others and tries desperately to try and cover up the tragedy 

  • Arthur tries to limit the damage to himself and his family but he can only do so by distorting or minimising the truth

Sybil Birling

• Sybil is first presented as “a rather cold woman and her husband’s superior”:

  • Her demeanour throughout the play is unchanged and she remains snobbish, uncaring and dismissive of others

• Priestley depicts Sybil as a symbol of the privileges of the upper classes and their selfish conduct:

  • Similar to her husband, she is extremely conscious of her high social position 

  • However, she is presented as more arrogant, dismissive and prejudiced than him

  • She treats the Inspector as socially inferior

• Due to her elevated social position, she views the working class as morally inferior:

  • She refuses to believe that Eva would turn down stolen money as she is not capable of the same level of morality as the upper classes 

  • She refuses to use Eva’s name and refers to her only as a “girl”, as though Eva is not worthy of being recognised as an individual

• She is portrayed as one of the least compassionate characters in the play:

  • She is a prominent member of a local women’s charity but her role is not due to a concern for others less fortunate than herself, but as a symbol of status

  • She is indifferent to the fact that she refused assistance to Eva and her grandchild and is devoid of any empathy for them

• In Act III, her callousness is further revealed:

• When she realises her son is the father of the child, she still maintains that the charity ought to deny assistance to people it considers undeserving of aid

• To an audience, Sybil’s appalling behaviour and cold detachment would be incomprehensible:

  • This would be heightened further as she is both a woman and a mother

• As a character, Sybil could be perceived as someone who fails fully to perceive those around her:

  • Alternatively, she may be deliberately turning a blind eye to any reality which contradicts her reassuring image of both herself and her family

  • When confronted by the revelation that she indirectly contributed to the death of Eva and her grandchild, she comforts herself by insisting that she had done her duty

  • She initially refuses to believe Eric could be the father of Eva’s child and refuses to acknowledge he has a problem with alcohol

  • Both Sybil and her husband are concerned with preserving a respectable façade

• By the end of the play, Sybil remains deeply entrenched in her prejudiced ways and unchanged:

  • She is the least affected character by the tragedy and could be perceived to be the most resistant to the Inspector’s message

Eric Birling

• Eric is first described as being “in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive”:

  • Eric’s description at the beginning of the play denotes his lack of confidence and social awkwardness

  • This is in stark contrast to the other characters on stage, especially Gerald

• He attempts to challenge some of his parents’ views in the early stages of the play:

  • However, he struggles to confront them to any great extent and they are largely dismissive of any opinions he puts forward

• He contradicts his parents on many occasions in Act I:

• While this could be perceived to be displaying some sympathy towards the strikers in his father’s factory, his retorts to his parents may simply be due to his hostility towards them 

• Eric is presented as a weak character:

  • Eric tries to leave when he suspects the Inspector may want to question him and initially avoids taking responsibility for his actions

• Eric plays a largely insignificant role in the first two acts of the play:

  • This enables the other characters in the play to dominate proceedings

• It is not until Act III when Priestley forces Eric to confess his affair with Eva and to admit she was pregnant with his child

• He develops at the end of the play and becomes more assertive towards his parents

• During Eric’s confession, his language is emotional (“you killed them both – damn you, damn you”) and sharply contrasted with that of his parents’:

  • He heavily criticises his mother’s treatment of Eva Smith

• Arthur, Sybil and Gerald rejoice on having discovered the Inspector was a fraud:

  • In contrast, both Eric and his sister are at pains to focus on the lessons that they all must now learn, regardless of whether the Inspector was real

• While an audience may view Eric as a sympathetic character, his treatment of Eva reveals how he has also exploited her:

  • He reveals Eva did not want him to enter her room until he issued a threat, thus exposing the vulnerability of women 

  • While Gerald hints that he may have been in love with Eva, Eric admits he was not and so his behaviour could be viewed as more cruel 

  • In his confession, Eric hints at the potential for sexual violence:

• Despite being first presented as weak, Eric becomes a much more assertive character by the end of the play:

  • He is ashamed and regretful over his conduct with Eva

  • In part, he presents a symbol of hope for the attitudes of the younger generation

Sheila Birling

• Sheila is first described as “a pretty girl in her twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited”, suggesting silliness and perhaps naivety:

  • At the beginning of Act I, she appears self-interested, relishing her engagement to Gerald which initially aligns her with her family’s shallow and materialistic outlook

• She is portrayed as both sympathetic and courageous as she is the first character (apart from the Inspector) to empathise with Eva Smith’s predicament and also the first to confess to having treated the girl poorly:

  • She dramatically exits the stage when first shown a photograph of Eva and appears genuinely regretful of her actions 

  • Although many of the others refuse to accept responsibility, Sheila quickly shows a greater maturity than to how she is first depicted by Priestley

  • Further, when Gerald’s affair is exposed, she again demonstrates maturity in her understanding of his affair and applauds his honest confession

• Sheila conveys a greater sense of intuition than the other characters and her dialogue in Act I foreshadows future events in the play: 

  • She comments how Gerald stayed away from her all the previous summer, alluding to his affair with Eva/Daisy

  • She accuses Eric of being drunk, foreshadowing his drinking problem

  • She is the first to suspect the inauthenticity of the Inspector, though understands this is irrelevant

• Sheila’s language becomes increasingly emotional:

  • This is sharply contrasted with the pompous language of her father and the condescending tone of her mother

  • Her dialogue reveals her sensitive nature and her compassion and empathy for others less fortunate than herself

  • Similarly, her dialogue demonstrates her increasing assertiveness toward her parents

• While both Sheila and Eric develop more than the other characters in the play, it is Sheila who is transformed more than any other character:

  • While Eric echoes many of his sister’s sentiments, Sheila is a much more assertive and alluring character than her brother

  • By the end of the play, she refuses to continue her engagement with Gerald even though he claims “everything’s all right now”

• She represents the younger generation and provides an element of hope

Gerald Croft

• Gerald is first described as “an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man‐about‐town”:

  • Gerald’s description presents him in a positive light and he is shown to be confident, amiable and polite

  • As the social superior of the Birling family, he represents immense privilege

• Gerald presents little dissension to both Mr and Mrs Birling’s attitudes and behaviour:

  • He agrees with Arthur’s dismissal of Eva because of her participation in a pay strike

• Despite this, he is a relatively passive character:

  • This is in sharp contrast to Mr and Mrs Birling’s confrontational behaviour

• He can be viewed as a more sympathetic character:

• He is open to the Inspector’s questioning and to some extent appears to present an honest account of his dealings with Eva

• He presents himself having rescued Eva, though this could be viewed as self-justification for his actions

• However, his affair could be perceived to demonstrate upper-class sexual hypocrisy and irresponsibility:

  • He discards Eva when he loses interest in her

  • He first attempts to hide details of his affair from Sheila

  • His first reaction to the dead girl is to distance himself from it though he does show empathy towards her

• Although he is still culpable, Gerald could be perceived to be the least blameworthy character in the play:

  • While both Gerald and Eric exploit Eva/Daisy, Gerald’s behaviour towards her was not cruel and he appears to have been sincerely concerned for her 

• While Gerald feels genuine regret for his treatment of Eva, it is short-lived and he ultimately fails to change:

  • His guilt is only temporary and he celebrates with the Birlings on avoiding a scandal 

  • By offering the ring again to Sheila at the end of the play, he shows he has not learnt anything from the Inspector

Inspector Goole

• Priestley’s stage directions reveal that the Inspector “need not be a big man” but that he must create an “impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”:

  • He is presented as a powerful figure with an imposing presence 

• Priestley intentionally names the Inspector Goole, which introduces an almost supernatural or ghost-like element to the play:

  • Priestley deliberately presents the Inspector as a mysterious character and this is further heightened by the series of revelations at the end the play

  • Priestley enables the Inspector to have an apparent awareness of Eva’s death before it has occurred, which also adds an almost supernatural element 

• His entrance in Act I makes an immediate impact and changes the tone of the evening:

  • The lighting changes from “pink and intimate” to “brighter and harder” to suggest that the Inspector will place the characters under great scrutiny

  • He exudes an air of authority through his language and actions

• The Inspector controls when each character sees the photograph of Eva, creating intrigue and suspense

• He also controls the unfolding of events and the characters themselves

• The Inspector’s language is carefully composed and moralistic in tone

• He delivers the most important statements within the play:

  • The Inspector speaks purposefully and with great assurance which conveys an impression of great knowledge

  • All of the characters are judged by him but he offers neither punishment nor forgiveness as the characters must judge themselves and others

• Ideas relating to social responsibility are repeatedly interwoven throughout his dialogue:

  • The Inspector tries to prevent the group from evading responsibility 

• The Inspector delivers the most significant and weighty statements in the play 

• He is the catalyst in the play, bringing about some change:

  • As a character he does not change or develop

Eva Smith/Daisy Renton

• Presented as the play’s victim, the audience never meets Eva Smith/Daisy Renton:

  • The audience relies on the Inspector, and his interrogation of the other characters, to reveal her character

  • The Inspector also uses Eva’s diary as a device to reveal her personal feelings and intimate account of events

• She is first introduced to the audience through a graphic and horrific account of her suicide:

  • This imagery is used to shock the audience and create empathy for her predicament

  • The revelation that Eva was pregnant at the time, makes her death appear even more ruthless and pitiable 

• Eva is used as a symbol of the working-classes and is presented as a vulnerable working-class woman, exploited and marginalised by those within a privileged Capitalist system:

  • Eva is exploited by all of the Birling family and Gerald

  • She is presented as the innocent and principled victim 

• She has higher moral standards than the Birling family and Gerald:

  • Her moral code makes her death more shocking

• While Eva is inevitably the victim of the play, it could be viewed that Priestley has depicted her as a very idealised character:

  • She is presented as entirely flawless throughout the play which makes the other characters appear even worse