Exam-Ready Summaries

📖 An Inspector Calls – Exam Prep

🎭 1: Introduction — Context, Setting, and Purpose
📌 Context:

• Written by J.B. Priestley in 1945, set in 1912.
  
• The play critiques social inequality, class divides, and the irresponsibility of the wealthy.
  

🔵 Key Points:

• 1912: Deep class divide. Rich have power; poor suffer.
  
• Priestley advocates for socialism (everyone responsible for each other) over capitalism (rich get richer, poor stay poor).
  
• Dramatic Irony: Mr Birling’s statements (Titanic unsinkable, no war) are shown as foolish because the audience knows both predictions were wrong.
  

✅ Memory Check:

1. Why is the play set in 1912?
   
   • To highlight the class divide and introduce the need for social change.
     
2. What political system does Priestley support?
   
   • Priestley supports socialism, emphasizing shared responsibility.
     
3. Give an example of dramatic irony.
   
   • Mr Birling’s claim that the Titanic is unsinkable, and that there would be no war.
     

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🎭 2: The Setting and Stage Directions
📌 Setting:

• Location: The Birlings’ dining room in Brumley, a fictional industrial town.
  
• Lighting Changes:
  
  • “Pink and intimate” lighting sets a cozy, self-satisfied mood.
    
  • “Brighter and harder” lighting when the Inspector arrives, symbolizing exposure and truth.
    

🔵 Atmosphere:

• A family celebration of Sheila and Gerald’s engagement, filled with false happiness.
  

✅ Memory Check:

1. What does the change in lighting symbolize?
   
   • The shift from comfort to exposure and moral interrogation.
     
2. What are the Birlings celebrating at the beginning?
   
   • Sheila and Gerald’s engagement.
     

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🎭 3: Key Characters Overview
📌 Key Characters:

1. Arthur Birling: Wealthy businessman, represents capitalist selfishness.
   
2. Sybil Birling: Cold, prejudiced, represents upper-class cruelty.
   
3. Sheila Birling: Starts shallow, becomes moral conscience, learns guilt.
   
4. Eric Birling: Immature, irresponsible, drunk, fathers Eva’s child.
   
5. Gerald Croft: Engaged to Sheila, had an affair with Eva.
   
6. Inspector Goole: Mysterious, forces characters to confront guilt, represents Priestley’s socialist views.
   
7. Eva Smith/Daisy Renton: Represents the suffering working class, victim of social injustice.
   

✅ Memory Check:

1. Which character shows the most moral growth?
   
   • Sheila Birling.
     
2. What does Eva Smith symbolize?
   
   • The victim of societal inequality and exploitation.
     
3. How is the Inspector different from the others?
   
   • He acts as Priestley’s mouthpiece for social justice and moral responsibility.
     

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🎭 4: The Chain of Events — How Each Character is Involved with Eva
📌 The Chain of Events:

1. Mr. Birling: Fired Eva for asking for higher wages.
   
2. Sheila: Had Eva fired from her shop job out of jealousy.
   
3. Gerald: Had an affair with Eva and then abandoned her.
   
4. Eric: Got Eva pregnant, stole money to support her.
   
5. Mrs. Birling: Refused to help Eva when she came to her charity.
   

🔵 Key Message:

• Each character’s selfish actions contribute to Eva’s death, showing how interconnected society is.
  

✅ Memory Check:

1. What role did Sheila play in Eva’s downfall?
   
   • Sheila got Eva fired from her job out of jealousy.
     
2. How did Eric make Eva’s situation worse?
   
   • He impregnated her and then stole money to support her.
     
3. What is the key idea Priestley shows through the chain of events?
   
   • The interconnectedness of society and how individual actions affect others.
     

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🎭 5: Themes and Messages
📌 Major Themes:

1. Social Responsibility: We are all responsible for one another.
   
   • Key line: “We are members of one body.”
     
2. Class and Inequality: The rich exploit the poor.
   
   • Eva represents the voiceless working class.
     
3. Guilt and Conscience: Some characters (Sheila, Eric) feel guilt, others (Birling parents) deny it.
   
4. Youth vs Age: Younger characters show hope for change; older ones resist reform.
   
5. Gender Roles: Women like Eva were judged for their morality, while men often escaped responsibility.
   
6. Illusion vs Reality: The Birlings’ respectable facade hides cruel truths.
   

✅ Memory Check:

1. What theme is captured by “We are members of one body”?
   
   • Social Responsibility.
     
2. How does Priestley present the older generation?
   
   • They are stubborn, resistant to change.
     
3. How are gender roles criticized in the play?
   
   • Women, like Eva, are judged for morality, while men often escape punishment.
     

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🎭 6: Ending and the Final Twist
📌 Ending:

• The Birlings think the Inspector was a hoax, but then they receive a call about a real police inspector coming to investigate a suicide.
  

🔵 Key Effects:

• Leaves the audience questioning morality: Does it matter if the Inspector was real?
  
• Forces characters and the audience to confront their conscience.
  

✅ Memory Check:

1. What is the final twist at the end of the play?
   
   • The arrival of a real police inspector about a suicide.
     
2. Why does Priestley use the second Inspector’s arrival?
   
   • To emphasize moral responsibility and guilt.
     
3. What question does Priestley leave the audience thinking about?
   
   • Whether the characters’ actions would have been the same if they hadn’t been confronted by the Inspector.
     

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📋 Quick Recap Table

Area	Key Points
Context	Written in 1945, set in 1912, critiques class divide
Setting	Birlings’ dining room, changing lighting symbolizes truth
Characters	Selfish Birlings, guilty Sheila & Eric, moral Inspector
Chain of Events	Each character contributes to Eva’s death
Themes	Social responsibility, class, guilt, youth vs age
Ending	Twist with real Inspector’s call, moral reflection

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🎭 Themes

1. Social Responsibility: Everyone is connected. “We are members of one body.”
   
2. Class and Inequality: Upper classes exploit the poor, who are often voiceless.
   
3. Guilt and Conscience: Moral growth depends on accepting responsibility.
   
4. Youth vs Age: Younger generation represents hope for change; older generation resists.
   
5. Gender and Power: Men hold power over women, who are judged harshly.
   
6. Appearance vs Reality: The Birlings’ respectable image masks their cruelty.
   

✅ Memory Check for Themes:

1. What quote sums up the theme of social responsibility?
   
   • “We are members of one body.”
     
2. How does Priestley show differences between young and old?
   
   • Young characters (Sheila, Eric) change and accept responsibility; older characters (Birling parents) refuse to change.
     
3. What role does gender inequality play in Eva’s story?
   
   • Women are judged for their morality, while men like Gerald get away with their mistakes.
     

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🎭 Structure and Form
📌 Structure:

• 3-Act Play:
  
  • Act 1: Setup and introduction to the Birlings.
    
  • Act 2: Confrontation, Inspector reveals truths.
    
  • Act 3: Resolution and twist with the second inspector.
    
• Unity of Time and Place: Takes place in real-time in one location — Birlings’ dining room.
  
• Suspense and Cliffhangers: Act 1 ends with Inspector’s dramatic line, “Well?”
  
• Dramatic Irony: Birling’s foolish predictions (Titanic, no war) expose his ignorance.
  

✅ Memory Check for Structure:

1. What effect does the real-time structure create?
   
   • It intensifies the moral questioning and creates suspense.
     
2. How does the ending mirror the start?
   
   • The play begins with false comfort and ends with a moral crisis.
     
3. Example of dramatic irony?
   
   • Mr. Birling’s prediction about the Titanic being unsinkable.
     

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