An Inspector Calls – Miss Huttlestone's GCSE English

The significance of female characters within ‘An Inspector Calls’

Another wonderful guest post by one of my year 10s!

Throughout the entirety of ‘An Inspector Calls’, themes of misogyny and discrimination against women are alive within the presentation of every character: from the audience’s introduction to Sheila in Act 1 to the close of the play in Act 3, she is portrayed as an example of society’s stereotypes of women in 1912. Within the opening stage directions, Sheila’s character is reduced to a ‘pretty girl’, no more than a product of societal stereotypes and expectations. The infantilising noun ‘girl’ directly opposes the description of The Inspector, who instantly creates an ‘impression of massiveness’ upon his entry to the play. This perhaps symbolises the lack of voice women had in 1912; the absence of Eva Smith on the stage further reinforces the idea that women were powerless and their opinions disregarded as inferior and insignificant.

As the play progresses, the audience learn to understand that Mrs Birling is the most vocal in forcing Sheila to subscribe to the negative attitudes towards women. As well as frequently belittling and infantilising Sheila, Mrs Birling dehumanises her daughter into no more than an object who is valued for her physical appearance. This further demonstrates that internalised misogyny is deeply rooted within the infrastructure of society, and continues to be a reminder that many women were victims of the exploitation caused by highly privileged and influential men in the upper class.

Whereas, Priestley utilises the men in the play to represent the embodiment of power and privilege, he uses the female characters to reveal the hardships that women had to face living in a patriarchal society. Eva Smith is considered to have had ‘far too much’ to say, which represents the voicelessness of women in society, and the expectations of women to be silent and submissive in order to appeal to the male gaze.

It soon becomes clear to the modern audience that the above conditions for women were normalised within Edwardian Britain, as Eva Smith is also referred to as ‘pretty’ later on in the play. The repetition of this demeaning adjective further represents the normalisation of societal expectations and double standards all women faced in 1912 (irrespective of social class). Women were expected to be passive and subservient; their purpose was to please men and remain inferior in society. If they failed to meet this status quo, women, particularly the lower class, faced the risks of marginalisation and alienation.

With thanks to EC year 10 2022.

The Motif of Alcohol in ‘An Inspector Calls’

Alcohol is a widespread motif in ‘An Inspector Calls’, and one that has deep roots in myopia and hypocrisy. Though this may seem obvious, with various descriptions of Eric overindulging in ‘port’ in order to convey his true thoughts and attempt to build up myopia to his family’s wrongdoings, there is also a more subtle hint of this when you look at the various conversations about alcohol and their significance in the rest of story.

The first sentence spoken in the play is: “Giving us the port, Edna? That’s right.( he pushes it towards Eric.) you ought to like this port” and is spoken by Mr Birling. The imperative “ought” suggests forcefulness, that this’ port’ is being forced into Eric’s mouth by Mr Birling in order to impress Gerald so that the Birling family can move up in class, rank and further distance themselves from the lower classes. This highlights Eric’s downfall: he drinks is to forget and the reason he wants to forget is because of the drink (and what it, in part, led to with Eva). It’s an endless cycle which cannot be broken, quite like the structure of this play, and the place the circle started with was with the Birlings, and the place it must end is with the Birlings.

Another way alcohol is used is by Mr Birling, who openly indulges in ‘port’, yet hypocritically calls German officers “Drunk” and thus invalidates their claims about starting wars all because they also engage in drinking. Priestley does this to further criminalise the upper classes by presenting them as having false morals. As a modern audience, we can relate to the hypocrisy of this statement as many rich figures indulge in acts that if they were of the working class, they would be criminalised and hated for. Big companies such as Amazon evade tax yet they haven’t been arrested, many celebrities actively do drugs and are still seen as icons yet if a homeless man does drugs they are seen as a plague to society.

An audience in 1945 would recognise the hypocrisy as well, because of prohibition era America, where alcohol was illegal yet their was a bar in the white house and the American government purposely poisoned moonshine and caused their citizens to die because of it, yet still indulged in it themselves.

Thank you AM! Year 10 2022 – I agree that alcohol is a prominent motif, that is seen front-and-centre on stage. Eric is rarely without a glass in his hand; Birling offers multiple people drinks, imploring his wife to ‘take some’. Alcohol catalyses myopia and leads to greater abuses of the vulnerable working classes.

The role of femininity and masculinity in ‘An Inspector Calls’

A wonderful guest post from VC: year 10 2022

In ‘An Inspector Calls’, Priestley depicts society in 1912 as misogynistic, capitalism-ruled and segregated. The role of femininity and masculinity play a huge role in this depiction and is illuminated especially in Gerald’s characterisation. When recalling his meeting with Daisy Renton he remembers how he ‘told the girl … she’d better let me take her out of there.’ In act 2, Gerald constantly makes remarks about how empowered he felt in his rescue of Daisy ( ‘I went across’). This is a direct contrast of Sheila’s repetition of the personal pronoun ‘I’. Instead, she uses it in a way of expressing remorse, guilt and acceptance of her mistakes. Further on page 35, Birling seems shocked at the idea that Sheila had at some point slipped through his protective grasp outside of the domestic sphere and has been exposed to the stories of ‘Alderman Meggarty‘. She remarks that her friend ‘only escaped with a torn blouse’ which blatantly suggests that Meggarty is known for being a womanizer (he is afterall, an embodiment of the very worst of The Establishment’s hypocrisy).

Gerald, in my opinion. also represents the worst that Edwardian society had to offer and purposefully stays silent for a large amount of the interrogations, perhaps because he knows what is to come and how he’ll have to be in the spotlight, and admit to his affair with Daisy Renton. He may well have been fabricating a story that makes it appear more like he ‘rescues’ Daisy and not offers her a glimpse of a lifestyle she may have enjoyed permanently had she had been the lucky one. This of course relates back to Sheila being the ‘luckier of two Eva Smiths’. Gerald embodies the ills of the patriarchy and could be viewed as a traitor to the higher classes when he villainises Alderman Meggarty for being a sexual predator. The ironic fact is that Gerald is guilty of the same crime only he had been more subtle and sly about how he went about it.

The Birlings’ are of course shocked at this revelation and rare criminalisation of the higher classes which inevitably completely botches their sense of morality at Alderman Meggarty’s mercenary, exploitative act. Finally, Gerald embodies a younger generation’s version of Alderman Meggarty when he makes the statement,‘young and fresh’, when recalling his first impressions of Daisy. These dismissive, derogatory adjectives are a pure microcosm of his desire for his women to be ‘untainted’ and virginal. There’s a huge possibly that the only reason Daisy Renton held any value for him is because she is ‘unspoiled’ by other men and her virginity was intact.

‘Hot Ideas’ for ‘An Inspector Calls’ Take 2!

When my wonderful year 10s read Sheila’s interrogation today, they had something to say about Mr and Mrs Birling’s very TELLING absence from stage. For the first time (probably), Sheila finds her voice. She admits her shortcomings, is accountable for the sins of jealousy and wrath, and most importantly, accepts responsibility for her part in Eva’s demise. The face that her parents are not there to witness this moral growth, to applaud her evolution, implies that they want her to remain stagnant too. Change for them equates to forfeiting their power. Their time off stage also reminds audiences of the gulf between the older and the younger generations.

A student mentioned this and I ADORED the level of analysis here! Although the suggestion that it is an acronym for ‘Gentlemen only; ladies forbidden; is not historically accurate, the idea that the world of competitive sport was historical a man’s world, has some validity. The Inspector does not subscribe to exclusive clubs, nor will he be distracted from his ‘duty’.

Eva’s absence on stage: a purposeful sense of lack. Eva’s story and voice can only be communicated through the Inspector who acts as her interpreter, her advocate. Without The Inspector, her story would be lost like so many other ‘Eva Smiths and John Smiths’. Eva’s LACK of stage presence is the point!

I had never thought of this before when considering the tricolon given to The Inspector in his introductory stage directions. The ‘Hot Idea’ card speaks for itself here. Socialism is intrinsic in everything about the Inspector, right down to the connotations of the words (as above).

Thank you year 10. Keep thinking up fresh ideas and I will keep posting them!

-Miss Huttlestone

Why you shouldn’t ignore Alderman Meggarty in ‘An Inspector Calls’

I recently dared to tell my class that I thought Alderman Meggarty might very well be the most important character in the play. Of course, the statement is subjective and depends upon the context of our reading. If we are exploring the text through a feminist lens, then for me he is essential to our understanding of how rife misogyny was amongst the middle and upper classes, but also as a reminder of the hyper-masculine abuse of privilege and power that was rampant too.

He is NOT a physical presence on stage, just as Eva isn’t. But, his presence should haunt audiences when we hear of his ‘obscene fat-carcass’ and his malevolent, predatory behaviour towards Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton at The Palace Bar.

We hear of Alderman M at the half way point of the play, right at the heart of the action. This is structurally significant as it seems to suggest that this predatory, abusive behaviour was a malign and corrosive one that stretched across Edwardian society and was not just confined to this singular bar – a microcosm then for sexist and exploitative behaviour.

Remember the Establishment? The exclusive group of those with power in society was exactly where Meggarty sat. He is known to the The Birlings also (a way of connecting them with the exploitation of the working classes and of women too). Corruption runs deep in Edwardian society, Priestley makes this very clear. Meggarty is are man outside of the household, he shows us that the family are not the only perpetrators.

Not only this, but Mr Birling is connected to Meggarty through their sheer physical size. Priestley wastes no time in making it known they they are overweight: ‘heavy-looking’ and ‘portly’. Each has an inflated ego and sense of self importance. Both use their power to DISEMPOWER Eva (or attempt to). In a way, both are the embodiment of conservative fat cats with too much money and no sense of community or collectivism.

Meggarty is involved in local government, the very people entrusted to guide society. He and Birling are self-serving, in that they seek to secure their own position in the social hierarchy over considering the very real needs of the working classes.

Not only this, but Meggarty is connected to Eric too, in his ready consumption of alcohol. As a motif in the play, alcohol represents greed, material wealth and corruption. All of the men drink apart from The Inspector who refuses for he is far too invested in his ‘duty’. Meggarty is ‘half drunk’ and a renowned ‘sot’. These men use alcohol to escape their social responsibility, something the Inspector teaches and is the embodiment of.

Have I convinced you yet? You tell me…are there any other reasons why Meggarty is so vital to our understanding of this flawed world?

-Miss Huttlestone

Socialism: Summing it up Simply

‘Big Ideas’ in your Literature texts

Having pre-planned ‘big ideas’ that can function as top band essay introductions is a productive use of your time ahead of the Literature exams over the next two weeks. I sat down and had a go for ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘An Inspector Calls’. One of my year 11 students also came up with three superbly perceptive ‘big ideas’ for ‘Macbeth’, also displayed below. No matter the focus, knowing your concept, your way in before you enter the exam hall is excellent preparation and a HUGE time saver.

‘A Christmas Carol’ on theme of Scrooge’s transformation/change:

Within Dickens’ festive allegorical novella he underscores the desperate need for societal change in the Victorian era which upheld a strict classist society that benefited the wealthy but bound the poor to a cyclical state of ‘want’. Through Scrooge’s transformation, from antagonist to protagonist, from miser to man of the community, Dickens teaches us of the potential that exists in all of us to remedy society’s ills.

‘An Inspector Calls’ on a character focus question :

Within Priestley’s morality play he utilises the Birling’s Edwardian household as a microcosm for the damaging ramifications of the values rampant before the two world wars. His play explores the ills of capitalism, of the failures to assist the ailing poor, but ultimately of encouraging collective responsibility. He achieves this through the characterisation of _______ who embraces/rejects such values by the close of the play.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s Relationship:

Many of Shakespeare’s critics, Bloom among them, have argued that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth may be Shakespeare’s most authentic couple out of all of his plays, this is due to the deep devotion and passion they demonstrate to each other. However, if we observe their marriage at a microscopic level throughout the play, we can see how it fluctuates and slowly decays at the hands of their unchecked ambition and hubris.

Ambition:

In Shakespeare’s eponymous play, ‘Macbeth’, our tragic hero and his wife are both riddled with unchecked ambition and often take radical measures to accomplish their ultimate goal: kingship. While this ruthless thirst for power is seemingly prosperous at first, it hastily crumbles to nothing as guilt plagues their minds full of “scorpions”. Macbeth transforms from a “brave” and noble warrior to a guilt-ridden and despised “butcher”, while Lady Macbeth’s stoic and transgressive persona deteriorates into a pitiful and anxious version of her former self.

Supernatural:

In ‘Macbeth’, the supernatural acts as a catalyst in Macbeth’s tragic fall from grace and is a vital component of the plot. The supernatural appears in many forms: the witches, Banquo ‘s ghost, and the four apparitions and serves as a manifestation of evil temptation that seduces Macbeth in to murdering his comrades. Shakespeare may have chosen to use the supernatural metaphorically to draw an audience to the fatal flaws of humanity: hubris, ignorance, and duplicity.

With a way in, and the dreaded first sentence(s) in the bag you’ll be well on your way to a BAND 5 response. Just ensure the rest of your response links back to this ‘big idea’, running through your essay like a constant thread.