FORM AND THE STRUCTURE - AN
INSPECTOR CALLS
Why is 'An Inspector Calls' a Play? - ANSWER 1. The audience is held
captive and cannot gain respite from the interrogation. This fulfils
Priestley's
The objective of forcing the audience to reflect on themselves as they
gain that same intensity that the characters on stage feel
2. Priestley wrote 'Theatre Outlook' shortly after An Inspector Calls in
which he declares that "you on your side cannot fully enjoy what is
happening unless you....become part of the audience and indeed part of
the whole performance, sharing the collective response and experience."
It joins the audience collectively and breaks down the barriers of
individualism, reflecting the key theme of £we are members of one
body." Therefore, we can argue that the form of the text actually helps to
create a glimpse of the collective society Priestley is calling for
The Well Made Play - ANSWER Features of the Well Made Play:
1. Plot - there is one main story and most of it happens before the play
begins. In 'An Inspector Calls', the characters' interactions with Eva take
place before the play begins
2. Entrances and Exits - the timings of these must develop tension and
increase suspense. For example, Sheila sees the photograph of Eva,
and leaves the stage in distress. Priestley increases tension by making
the audience wait for her next entrance and her revelations
3. Revelations about identity - in the play, the 'chain of events', reveals
that each character has influenced the life of Eva smith who, it later
transpires, is also Daisy Renton
4. Complications - clashes between The Inspector and the characters,
clashes between the older and younger generations, and clashes in
attitude to class. These clashes have an important purpose: to focus the
attention of the audience on his socialist message, centred around the
plot device of Eva
5. Exposition - at the beginning of the play, we are introduced to the
characters and relationships
6. Climactic curtain - where an act or scene ends on an incredibly tense
and dramatic moment. For example, at the end of Act 1, when Sheila
, has confronted Gerald about his affair with Eva, the Inspector enters and
asks "Well?". Then the curtain falls, leaving the audience in suspense-
they question how he knows about Gerald's affair with Eva
7. Obligatory Scene - a scene essential to the play where a secret is
revealed, which adds drama and tension e.g. when The Inspector
reveals Eva's suicide and that disinfectant had "burnt her inside out". It is
the reason why The Inspector calls on the Birlings and so is an
obligatory scene
8. Denouement - a scene at the end that ties up loose ends. This
intentionally does not feature in An Inspector Calls to leave the audience
on a note of ten
Detective Story/Whodunnit - ANSWER 1. The play can be likened to a
Whodunnit murder mystery. A traditional Whodunnit contains a detective
that questions suspects and eventually narrows down the list of suspects
to just one - the criminal. At the same time, the audience enjoys piecing
together the "chain of events" and trying to work out who the culprit is
2. Priestley inverts this idea by Inspector Goole revealing that everyone
is responsible for the death of Eva smith. By inverting the audience's
expectations of the genre, Priestley presents his key message of social
responsibility, and he encourages the audience to consider their own
actions to others
Morality Play - ANSWER In 'An Inspector Calls', The Inspector
encourages the characters to confess their sins and to repent. This is
similar to the Morality Play which originated in the Middle Ages and had
characters that played the Seven Deadly Sins: envy (jealousy), wrath
(anger), sloth (laziness), avarice (greed), gluttony, lust
1. Mr Birling - Avarice/Greed, Gluttony: he is a capitalist, greedy for
money and exploiting others for "lower costs and higher prices".
Elements of gluttony are on the table in the opening stage directions
2. Mrs Birling - Pride, Wrath: her husband's "social superior", she is
proud of her status and instructs others on how to behave. She is
"prejudiced" against Sheila because of her class, and she also feels
contempt towards working-class women ("girls of that class"). She is
angry with Eva when she learns that Eva has assumed the name of Mrs
Birling
INSPECTOR CALLS
Why is 'An Inspector Calls' a Play? - ANSWER 1. The audience is held
captive and cannot gain respite from the interrogation. This fulfils
Priestley's
The objective of forcing the audience to reflect on themselves as they
gain that same intensity that the characters on stage feel
2. Priestley wrote 'Theatre Outlook' shortly after An Inspector Calls in
which he declares that "you on your side cannot fully enjoy what is
happening unless you....become part of the audience and indeed part of
the whole performance, sharing the collective response and experience."
It joins the audience collectively and breaks down the barriers of
individualism, reflecting the key theme of £we are members of one
body." Therefore, we can argue that the form of the text actually helps to
create a glimpse of the collective society Priestley is calling for
The Well Made Play - ANSWER Features of the Well Made Play:
1. Plot - there is one main story and most of it happens before the play
begins. In 'An Inspector Calls', the characters' interactions with Eva take
place before the play begins
2. Entrances and Exits - the timings of these must develop tension and
increase suspense. For example, Sheila sees the photograph of Eva,
and leaves the stage in distress. Priestley increases tension by making
the audience wait for her next entrance and her revelations
3. Revelations about identity - in the play, the 'chain of events', reveals
that each character has influenced the life of Eva smith who, it later
transpires, is also Daisy Renton
4. Complications - clashes between The Inspector and the characters,
clashes between the older and younger generations, and clashes in
attitude to class. These clashes have an important purpose: to focus the
attention of the audience on his socialist message, centred around the
plot device of Eva
5. Exposition - at the beginning of the play, we are introduced to the
characters and relationships
6. Climactic curtain - where an act or scene ends on an incredibly tense
and dramatic moment. For example, at the end of Act 1, when Sheila
, has confronted Gerald about his affair with Eva, the Inspector enters and
asks "Well?". Then the curtain falls, leaving the audience in suspense-
they question how he knows about Gerald's affair with Eva
7. Obligatory Scene - a scene essential to the play where a secret is
revealed, which adds drama and tension e.g. when The Inspector
reveals Eva's suicide and that disinfectant had "burnt her inside out". It is
the reason why The Inspector calls on the Birlings and so is an
obligatory scene
8. Denouement - a scene at the end that ties up loose ends. This
intentionally does not feature in An Inspector Calls to leave the audience
on a note of ten
Detective Story/Whodunnit - ANSWER 1. The play can be likened to a
Whodunnit murder mystery. A traditional Whodunnit contains a detective
that questions suspects and eventually narrows down the list of suspects
to just one - the criminal. At the same time, the audience enjoys piecing
together the "chain of events" and trying to work out who the culprit is
2. Priestley inverts this idea by Inspector Goole revealing that everyone
is responsible for the death of Eva smith. By inverting the audience's
expectations of the genre, Priestley presents his key message of social
responsibility, and he encourages the audience to consider their own
actions to others
Morality Play - ANSWER In 'An Inspector Calls', The Inspector
encourages the characters to confess their sins and to repent. This is
similar to the Morality Play which originated in the Middle Ages and had
characters that played the Seven Deadly Sins: envy (jealousy), wrath
(anger), sloth (laziness), avarice (greed), gluttony, lust
1. Mr Birling - Avarice/Greed, Gluttony: he is a capitalist, greedy for
money and exploiting others for "lower costs and higher prices".
Elements of gluttony are on the table in the opening stage directions
2. Mrs Birling - Pride, Wrath: her husband's "social superior", she is
proud of her status and instructs others on how to behave. She is
"prejudiced" against Sheila because of her class, and she also feels
contempt towards working-class women ("girls of that class"). She is
angry with Eva when she learns that Eva has assumed the name of Mrs
Birling
