AIC
Summary
Act 1 - The family are celebrating Sheila and Gerald’s engagement with a small dinner party at home. Whilst
Mr Birling is giving a speech to the men, Edna comes to tell them an inspector — Inspector Goole — has
called. They learn a girl — Eva Smith — has killed herself and that B had fired her from his works, and S
had gotten her fired from her subsequent job.
Act 2 - G had an affair with ES, whom he knew as Daisy Renton, and gave her somewhere to stay for 6
months before sending her off again. After leaving his care, she sought help from Mrs Birling’s charity but
was turned away because she called herself Mrs B. Mrs B blames the father of her child for her issues.
Act 3 - Eric had raped and impregnated ES. He was stealing money from his father’s works but, when she
found out, she refused the money and went to the charity for help. The inspector then leaves and B calls
the station to ask them if there is an IG. Delighted when they find out he does not work there, the older
people return to their celebration, but Ed comes back in and tells them another inspector has called.
Context
- AIC was released in 1945
- J. B. Priestley, a proud socialist Labour voter
- in 1945, following the end of the Second World War, for the first time, a long-term Labour (represented
British socialism) government was voted in
↪ political class shift to focus more on working and lower-middle classes
- most people who attended plays in 1945 were comfortable middle class people
- the play is set in 1912 as it was often seen as an idyllic time, before the Great War in 1914
- 1912 was approaching the climax of industrialisation, which made the country quite rich but NOT all of the
people
Writer’s Intentions
Priestley aims to:
- hold a mirror to the middle-class audience
- critique the conscience and morality of the upper classes (potential shift from religious judgement)
- encourage the idea of social responsibility
Buzzwords
Generational Divide
- ideological conflict
- progressive
- reactionary
- moral evolution
- entrenched attitudes
- resistance to change
- social conscience
- didatic
- complacency
- collective responsibility
Class and Social Inequality
- ideological conflict
- complacency
- collective responsibility
- capitalism
- exploitation
- hierarchy
- privilege
- marginalisation
- class prejudice
- social stratification (society’s hierarchical system categorising people into socioeconomic strata
[hierarchical groupings based on wealth, education, occupation, and social standing])
- oppression
- elitism
, - power imbalance
- dehumanisation
- collectivism
- systemic inequality
Gender
- patriarchal
- obejctification
- female autonomy
- male dominance
- subservience
- gender expectations
- misogyny
- possessiveness
- emancipation (freeing from the control/authority of another)
- vulnerability
- power dynamics
- assertion of independence
Guilt and Social Responsibility
- ideological conflict
- didatic
- social conscience
- complacency
- collective responsibility
- moral accountability
- remorse
- culpability
- ethical obligation
- complicity
- redemption
- consequences
- self-interest
- communal duty
Truth and Consequences
- moral reckoning
- exposure
- interrogation
- facade
- hypocrisy
- self-deception
- dramatic irony
- revelation
- accountability
- moral scrutiny
- retribution
- judgement
Characters
Eric Birling
- represent younger generations learning responsibility
- show hidden consequences of privilege and neglect
Edna
- show social hierarchy
- quiet reminder of the servant class
Eva Smith (Daisy Renton)
- represent all vulnerable people in society
- symbolise suffering of the working class
Gerald Croft
- represent upper class who benefit from inequality
Inspector Goole
Summary
Act 1 - The family are celebrating Sheila and Gerald’s engagement with a small dinner party at home. Whilst
Mr Birling is giving a speech to the men, Edna comes to tell them an inspector — Inspector Goole — has
called. They learn a girl — Eva Smith — has killed herself and that B had fired her from his works, and S
had gotten her fired from her subsequent job.
Act 2 - G had an affair with ES, whom he knew as Daisy Renton, and gave her somewhere to stay for 6
months before sending her off again. After leaving his care, she sought help from Mrs Birling’s charity but
was turned away because she called herself Mrs B. Mrs B blames the father of her child for her issues.
Act 3 - Eric had raped and impregnated ES. He was stealing money from his father’s works but, when she
found out, she refused the money and went to the charity for help. The inspector then leaves and B calls
the station to ask them if there is an IG. Delighted when they find out he does not work there, the older
people return to their celebration, but Ed comes back in and tells them another inspector has called.
Context
- AIC was released in 1945
- J. B. Priestley, a proud socialist Labour voter
- in 1945, following the end of the Second World War, for the first time, a long-term Labour (represented
British socialism) government was voted in
↪ political class shift to focus more on working and lower-middle classes
- most people who attended plays in 1945 were comfortable middle class people
- the play is set in 1912 as it was often seen as an idyllic time, before the Great War in 1914
- 1912 was approaching the climax of industrialisation, which made the country quite rich but NOT all of the
people
Writer’s Intentions
Priestley aims to:
- hold a mirror to the middle-class audience
- critique the conscience and morality of the upper classes (potential shift from religious judgement)
- encourage the idea of social responsibility
Buzzwords
Generational Divide
- ideological conflict
- progressive
- reactionary
- moral evolution
- entrenched attitudes
- resistance to change
- social conscience
- didatic
- complacency
- collective responsibility
Class and Social Inequality
- ideological conflict
- complacency
- collective responsibility
- capitalism
- exploitation
- hierarchy
- privilege
- marginalisation
- class prejudice
- social stratification (society’s hierarchical system categorising people into socioeconomic strata
[hierarchical groupings based on wealth, education, occupation, and social standing])
- oppression
- elitism
, - power imbalance
- dehumanisation
- collectivism
- systemic inequality
Gender
- patriarchal
- obejctification
- female autonomy
- male dominance
- subservience
- gender expectations
- misogyny
- possessiveness
- emancipation (freeing from the control/authority of another)
- vulnerability
- power dynamics
- assertion of independence
Guilt and Social Responsibility
- ideological conflict
- didatic
- social conscience
- complacency
- collective responsibility
- moral accountability
- remorse
- culpability
- ethical obligation
- complicity
- redemption
- consequences
- self-interest
- communal duty
Truth and Consequences
- moral reckoning
- exposure
- interrogation
- facade
- hypocrisy
- self-deception
- dramatic irony
- revelation
- accountability
- moral scrutiny
- retribution
- judgement
Characters
Eric Birling
- represent younger generations learning responsibility
- show hidden consequences of privilege and neglect
Edna
- show social hierarchy
- quiet reminder of the servant class
Eva Smith (Daisy Renton)
- represent all vulnerable people in society
- symbolise suffering of the working class
Gerald Croft
- represent upper class who benefit from inequality
Inspector Goole
