How does Priestley explore responsibility in
an inspector calls?
He represents it as something the lower
classes understand and something the upper
classes do not.
Sybil birling
Eva smith
Sheila
In An Inspector Calls Priestley explores the
idea of responsibility as something that the
upper classes have to be taught whereas the
working classes understand it naturally from
their culture. Priestly uses a plethora of
characters to explore this theme including
Mrs Birling who feels no responsibility for
Eva’s death, Sheila who does feel responsible
anis is taught a lesson by the inspector and
Eva who is persistently responsible for sorting
out her life that is continuously ruined by
factors outside of her control.
A prime example of the upper classes not
taking responsibility in An Inspector Calls is
when Sybil Birling is told that partly due to
her actions Eva Smith has Died. We can see
this demonstrated when she proclaims that
“[Eva] only had herself to blame” suggesting
that although most of the factors affecting
Eva’s life were out of her control, Sybil still
believes that it was Eva’s fault. Here Sybil is
conforming to the widely held idea that the
lower classes are somehow less civilised and
that is why they live in “anguish” and
“misery”. Later on in the play, Sybil only
begins to show a modicum of regret at her
action when she discovers that by refusing to
help Eva she has killed Eric’s own child and
her “grandchild”. This shows that the upper
classes only show regret when their actions
affect people close to them.
Sheila Birling, however, represents a more
complex and progressive portion of the
industrial upper class. At the beginning of the
play Sheila is presented as a ditzy, privileged
upper class girl with little idea of the real
world. However, after her actions are
exposed she demonstrates a huge amount of
regret swearing that “[she] will never do it to
anyone ever again”. This shows that by having
her behaviour exposed, and having the
consequences presented to her, she was able
to change and become someone who not
only will take responsibility for her behaviour
but also empathise with those less fortunate
than herself. Furthermore once Gerald’s
infidelity is exposed she tells him that “[he]
better take this” in reference to the ring she
was given Earlier. This shows she is holding
her fiance accountable for his actions unlike
Sybil Birling who the audience believes to
have let previous infidelity by Arthur go
Throughout the play Eva Smith is described as
having a much better moral character than
the Birlings, and does not wallow in her
circumstance but takes respnsibility for
improving her own life. When the inspector is
interrogating Arthur Birling they discuss Eva
Smith being a “ring leader” of a “strike”. This
suggests to the reader that she viewed it as
her responsibility to improve the lives of not
only herself but of all the other workers. This
contrasts with Sheila Birling at the beginning
of the play as Eva seems to be an empowered
individual who uses her limited power to try
and help others instead of using her power
{like Sheila) as a vindictive tool to use on
those who make her “Jealous”. Later on in the
play when we discover Eva fell pregnant to
Eric she is described as still feeling as if it was
her responsibility to make sure the child is not
rapped up in an criminal activity. This is why
she “refused” to take the stolen money from
Eric and preferred to go through the proper
channels of Mrs Birling’s charity. Here we see
the contrast again as Eric chooses to get the
money he needs by stealing from his parents
instead of getting a Job or confessing his
situation.
All of these a prime examples of how priestly
shows that most of the upper classes have no
sense of responsibility be it for their actions
or for their effects on others. Furthemore, he
shows how the upper classes may be taught
to take responsibility but that many will not
unless they are shown through “fire, blood,
and anguish”