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Everything you need to know about An Inspector Calls for OCR GCSE English Literature Paper 2, Section B — Modern Drama.
Paper 2: Exploring Effects and Impact
Section B — 19th Century and Modern Prose/Drama. You will answer one question on An Inspector Calls. The question is an essay question without an extract — you must write from memory. You have approximately 45 minutes.
Assessment Objectives
Act 1: The Engagement and the Inspector’s Arrival
The Birling family are celebrating Sheila’s engagement to Gerald Croft. Mr Birling lectures about self-reliance and dismisses collective responsibility. Inspector Goole arrives and reveals that a young woman, Eva Smith, has killed herself by drinking disinfectant. He shows a photograph to Mr Birling, who admits sacking her from his factory for leading a strike for higher wages. Sheila then confesses she had Eva dismissed from Milwards out of jealousy.
Act 2: Gerald and Mrs Birling Exposed
Gerald admits he had an affair with the girl (now using the name Daisy Renton), keeping her as his mistress before ending the relationship. Mrs Birling is revealed to have used her position on a charity committee to deny the pregnant Eva help, claiming her case was impertinent. Mrs Birling insists the father of the child should be held responsible — not realising the father is her own son Eric.
Act 3: Eric’s Confession and the Aftermath
Eric confesses he got Eva pregnant, stole money from his father’s firm to support her, and she refused it when she discovered it was stolen. The Inspector delivers his final speech about collective responsibility and leaves. The family then discover that no girl has died at the infirmary and begin to question whether the Inspector was real. Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald are relieved, but Sheila and Eric insist the moral lesson still stands. The play ends with a phone call: a real inspector is on his way to ask questions about a girl who has just died.
The Inspector is Priestley’s mouthpiece — a dramatic device rather than a realistic character. His name, “Goole,” is a homophone of “ghoul,” suggesting a supernatural or spectral presence. He controls the pace and direction of the interrogation, refusing to let characters see the photograph simultaneously, which raises questions about whether they are all connected to the same girl.
He speaks with moral authority, cutting through the Birlings’ self-justification with blunt, powerful language. His final speech is the climax of Priestley’s message: that society must choose compassion or face destruction. His mysterious nature — he is not a real police inspector — gives his words a prophetic, almost divine quality.
Key role
Priestley’s moral voice → Challenges each character → Delivers the socialist message → Prophetic warning → Disappears mysteriously
Arthur Birling is a wealthy industrialist and local magistrate who represents the capitalist ruling class. He is pompous, self-important, and obsessed with social status and profit. His dramatic irony-laden speeches about the Titanic and the impossibility of war immediately undermine his credibility with the audience.
He sacked Eva Smith for asking for a modest pay rise, viewing workers purely as a cost. Throughout the play, his primary concern is protecting his reputation and his knighthood, not the death of a young woman. He learns nothing from the Inspector’s visit, representing the older generation’s refusal to change.
Key character arc
Confident and complacent → Defensive under questioning → Anxious about scandal → Relieved when threat passes → Learns nothing
Sybil Birling is the most socially conscious member of the family, acutely aware of class boundaries and determined to maintain them. She is cold, unsympathetic, and deeply snobbish, unable to accept that a working-class girl could have genuine moral principles.
Her refusal to help Eva at the charity committee is perhaps the most damning act in the play — she turned away a desperate, pregnant woman because she found her “impertinent.” Her dramatic irony moment, when she unknowingly condemns her own son by demanding the father be held responsible, is one of the play’s most powerful scenes. Like her husband, she refuses to accept responsibility even after the truth is revealed.
Sheila represents the hope of the younger generation. She begins the play as a spoiled, privileged young woman but undergoes a profound moral transformation. She is the first to accept her guilt and shows genuine remorse for having Eva dismissed from Milwards.
As the play progresses, Sheila becomes increasingly perceptive, almost taking on the Inspector’s role by challenging her parents and Gerald. She refuses Gerald’s ring at the end, recognising that everything has changed. Her moral awakening is permanent — she insists the lesson matters regardless of whether the Inspector was real. She represents Priestley’s hope that the younger generation will build a fairer society.
Key character arc
Shallow and playful → Shocked by her own cruelty → Genuinely remorseful → Takes on the Inspector’s role → Refuses to return to ignorance
Eric is presented as troubled, immature, and a heavy drinker. His behaviour towards Eva — forcing himself on her when drunk, getting her pregnant, then stealing money — represents the worst excesses of male privilege and entitlement. However, like Sheila, he accepts responsibility and is changed by the Inspector’s visit.
His accusation that his father is not the kind of man “a chap could go to when he’s in trouble” exposes the emotional emptiness of the Birling household. Eric aligns with Sheila against their parents at the end, representing the generational divide that Priestley uses to suggest that change is possible through the young.
Gerald occupies a middle ground. He is from a higher social class than the Birlings and shows some genuine feeling for Eva/Daisy, but ultimately he exploited her vulnerability for his own pleasure and then discarded her. His relationship with Eva was unequal from the start — he had all the power.
Crucially, Gerald aligns himself with Mr and Mrs Birling in the final act. He is the one who discovers the Inspector may not have been real and eagerly grasps at this to avoid responsibility. His offer to return the ring to Sheila shows he wants to pretend nothing has happened. He represents the aristocratic class that will resist social change.
Eva never appears on stage, yet she is the play’s most important character. Her multiple names suggest she is not one person but a representative of all exploited working-class people. “Eva” echoes Eve (the first woman, representing all women), and “Smith” is the most common English surname.
Each member of the Birling family exploits her in a different way — economically, socially, sexually, and through the denial of charity. Her death by swallowing disinfectant is horrific and visceral, designed to shock the audience into recognising the human cost of social inequality. She is Priestley’s reminder that behind every statistic is a real person.
The play’s central theme. Priestley argues that we are all connected and have a duty to care for one another. The Inspector’s message — “We are members of one body” — is a direct rejection of Mr Birling’s philosophy that “a man has to look after himself.” Each character’s treatment of Eva demonstrates the consequences of failing to take responsibility for others. The play is structured to force the audience to examine their own social responsibility.
Priestley exposes how the class system allows the wealthy to exploit the poor without consequence. The Birlings treat working-class people as disposable. Mrs Birling cannot accept that a girl of “that class” could have moral principles. Mr Birling sees workers as “cheap labour.” Eva’s invisibility on stage reinforces how the upper classes refuse to see the humanity of those beneath them.
The younger generation (Sheila and Eric) accept responsibility and are changed by the Inspector’s visit, while the older generation (Mr and Mrs Birling) refuse to learn. Priestley uses this divide to express hope: the play was written in 1945 for an audience that had the power to build a new, more equal society after the war. The young represent the possibility of change; the old represent the entrenched resistance to it.
Eva is exploited by men at every turn. Gerald keeps her as a mistress; Eric forces himself on her when drunk. The play exposes how patriarchal society leaves women vulnerable, particularly working-class women with no safety net. Mrs Birling’s complicity shows that women of the upper classes could be just as oppressive. Priestley challenges the audience to recognise that gender and class intersect to create compounded disadvantage.
Mr Birling embodies capitalism: profit over people, self-interest over community. The Inspector embodies socialism: collective responsibility, empathy, and equality. Priestley, a committed socialist, structures the play so that Birling’s capitalist philosophy is systematically discredited while the Inspector’s socialist message is validated. The play is a political argument dressed as a detective story.
The Inspector acts as each character’s conscience, forcing them to confront their actions. Some characters (Sheila, Eric) develop a genuine moral awareness; others (Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, Gerald) suppress their conscience once the threat of exposure passes. Priestley suggests that true morality requires permanent change, not just temporary guilt when caught.
Learn these quotations for the closed-book exam. Each one can be applied to multiple themes and characters.
“We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”
Inspector Goole (Act 3)
The Inspector's final speech encapsulates Priestley's socialist message. The metaphor of 'one body' draws on Christian imagery of the body of Christ, suggesting collective humanity. The repetition of 'we' is inclusive and inescapable - Priestley insists that social responsibility is universal. This directly challenges the Birlings' individualist, capitalist worldview.
“But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people.”
Sheila Birling (Act 1)
Sheila's recognition of the workers' humanity marks the beginning of her moral awakening. The dash creates a dramatic pause that emphasises the contrast between how the workers are treated ('cheap labour') and what they actually are ('people'). This line challenges her father's capitalist view that workers are merely a cost to be minimised.
“It would be very awkward, wouldn't it?”
Mrs Birling (Act 2)
Mrs Birling's rhetorical question reveals her complete inability to accept social responsibility. The word 'awkward' is a striking understatement - she reduces the consequences of exploitation to mere social inconvenience. The tag question 'wouldn't it?' seeks validation from the audience, but Priestley intends the audience to reject her position entirely.
“these cranks talk and write now, you'd think everybody has to look after everybody else”
Mr Birling (Act 1)
Birling dismisses socialist ideas as the work of 'cranks', revealing his contempt for collective responsibility. Priestley uses dramatic irony: the audience knows that Birling's confident predictions about the Titanic and no war are wrong, undermining his authority. His dismissal of social responsibility is positioned to be equally wrong.
“I'm ashamed of you as well - yes both of you.”
Sheila Birling (Act 3)
Sheila turns against her parents, marking a generational divide. Her shame contrasts with her parents' refusal to accept responsibility. The emphatic 'yes both of you' shows her determination and moral clarity. She represents the younger generation that Priestley hopes will build a more just society after the war.
“You're not the kind of father a chap could go to when he's in trouble”
Eric Birling (Act 3)
Eric's accusation exposes the failure of the Birling family unit. Despite their wealth and social standing, the family lacks genuine emotional connection. The colloquial 'chap' reveals Eric's vulnerability. Priestley suggests that capitalist values - prioritising profit and reputation over compassion - corrode even the most intimate human relationships.
“unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”
Mr Birling (Act 1)
Birling's confident declaration about the Titanic is a masterful use of dramatic irony. The audience knows the Titanic sank in 1912, so Birling's certainty is immediately undermined. The repetition and intensifier 'absolutely' make him appear foolish. Priestley uses this to discredit everything else Birling says - including his views on social responsibility.
“I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty”
Eric Birling (Act 3)
Eric's euphemistic confession about his assault on Eva Smith reveals his moral weakness. The phrase 'that state' avoids directly naming his drunkenness, and 'turns nasty' understates the violence of his actions. The passive construction ('turns') suggests a lack of agency, as though Eric is trying to distance himself from responsibility. Priestley shows how privilege enables men to avoid accountability.
“Elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position”
Mrs Birling (Act 2)
Mrs Birling's snobbery is laid bare in this statement. She cannot accept that a working-class girl could possess moral principles ('fine feelings and scruples'). The word 'position' reveals her rigid class consciousness - she believes that moral sensibility is the preserve of the upper classes. Priestley exposes the hypocrisy: it is Mrs Birling, not Eva, who lacks moral feeling.
“You began to learn something. And now you've stopped.”
Sheila Birling (Act 3)
Sheila's frustration with her parents' refusal to change is palpable. The tricolon ('You knew it then. You began to learn something. And now you've stopped.') builds in emotional intensity. The short sentences convey urgency. Sheila recognises that learning about one's own complicity in social injustice should lead to permanent change, not relief when the threat of exposure passes.
“Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges”
Inspector Goole (Act 1)
The Inspector directly challenges Birling's belief that wealth grants only privilege, not obligation. The pairing of 'responsibilities' and 'privileges' suggests they are inseparable. This reflects Priestley's socialist conviction that those with power and wealth owe a duty to the less fortunate. The formal address 'Mr Birling' maintains authority while delivering a moral rebuke.
“They will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.”
Inspector Goole (Act 3)
The Inspector's prophetic warning refers to the World Wars. Written in 1945, the play is set in 1912 - Priestley's audience had lived through both wars and would recognise this as a prophecy already fulfilled. The triad 'fire and blood and anguish' evokes the horrors of warfare. The message is clear: if society does not choose compassion, it will be forced to learn through suffering.
“Everything's all right now, Sheila. What about this ring?”
Gerald Croft (Act 3)
Gerald's attempt to return to normality by offering the ring again shows he has learned nothing. For Gerald, the Inspector's visit was an interruption to be overcome, not a lesson to be absorbed. The casual 'everything's all right now' dismisses Eva's death and the moral reckoning entirely. Priestley uses this to show that the privileged classes will resist change unless forced.
“I don't come into this suicide business”
Mrs Birling (Act 2)
Mrs Birling's use of the word 'business' reduces Eva's death to a commercial transaction, revealing how thoroughly capitalism has colonised her language and thought. Her flat denial 'I don't come into this' is a refusal of responsibility that will be dramatically overturned as the Inspector reveals her role. The audience anticipates her exposure, creating dramatic tension.
“She'd had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go”
Mr Birling (Act 1)
Birling's justification for sacking Eva reveals his authoritarian attitude to the working class. The dash and parenthetical 'far too much' show his irritation at a worker daring to speak up. The phrase 'had to go' presents her dismissal as inevitable, removing any sense of personal choice or responsibility. Priestley exposes how the powerful silence dissent.
“Girls of that class-”
Mrs Birling (Act 2)
Sheila's interruption cuts off Mrs Birling's dismissive phrase, but the incomplete sentence speaks volumes. The phrase 'that class' reveals deep-rooted snobbery and dehumanisation - Eva is reduced to a category rather than recognised as an individual. The dash represents Sheila's growing refusal to accept her mother's class prejudice, symbolising generational change.
“We are learning something tonight. And it should teach us something too.”
Sheila Birling (Act 2)
Sheila distinguishes between passively receiving information ('learning something') and actively changing behaviour ('teach us something'). The distinction is central to Priestley's message: awareness without action is meaningless. Sheila's use of 'we' shows she includes herself in the need for change, unlike her parents who resist any suggestion of fault.
Understanding context is essential. Here are the key contextual areas to know for An Inspector Calls:
This dual time frame is crucial. Priestley wrote the play just as World War Two was ending, but set it in 1912, before World War One. This allows him to use dramatic irony: the audience knows that Birling’s confident predictions about peace and prosperity are wrong. Priestley is warning his 1945 audience not to repeat the mistakes of 1912 — not to return to a society of inequality and selfishness.
The play was first performed in 1945, the year Labour won a landslide election and began building the welfare state — the NHS, social security, and public housing. Priestley was a vocal supporter of these reforms. The play can be read as propaganda for collective responsibility: a dramatic argument for why Britain needed a welfare state.
In 1912, Britain had rigid class divisions. The wealthy industrialist class (like the Birlings) had enormous power over their workers, who had few rights and no welfare safety net. Women could not vote, and working-class women like Eva were particularly vulnerable. There was no NHS, no unemployment benefit, and charity was controlled by the upper classes.
J.B. Priestley was a committed socialist who believed in collective responsibility, workers’ rights, and social equality. He served in World War One and saw the devastating effects of inequality first-hand. His “Postscripts” radio broadcasts during World War Two (listened to by millions) argued for a fairer post-war society. The play is a dramatic expression of his political convictions.
Birling’s claim that the Titanic is “unsinkable” is the play’s most obvious dramatic irony. The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912, killing over 1,500 people. Birling also dismisses the possibility of war — World War One began in 1914, killing millions. These errors destroy Birling’s credibility and, by extension, discredit his capitalist philosophy.
In 1912, women could not vote and had limited legal rights. Working-class women like Eva were especially powerless. The suffragette movement was active but had not yet achieved its goals. Eva’s exploitation by multiple characters reflects the intersecting disadvantages of class and gender. By 1945, women had gained the vote and contributed significantly to the war effort, making change possible.
The OCR An Inspector Calls question does not give you an extract. You must write entirely from memory. Here is a recommended structure:
Introduction (3–4 sentences)
Address the question directly. State Priestley’s overall message about the theme/character. Briefly mention the 1945/1912 time frame and why it matters.
Paragraph 1: Beginning of the play
How is the theme/character established at the start? Use a memorised quotation. Analyse language closely. Link to context.
Paragraph 2: Middle of the play
How does the theme/character develop as the Inspector’s investigation unfolds? Use another quotation. Consider dramatic techniques and structure.
Paragraph 3: End of the play
How is the theme/character presented at the climax? Use the Inspector’s final speech or the phone call ending. Consider Priestley’s purpose and message.
Paragraph 4: Alternative interpretation or wider significance
Offer a different reading or consider how the audience in 1945 would have responded differently to a modern audience. This shows evaluative thinking and gains higher marks.
Conclusion
Final evaluative judgement. What is Priestley’s overall message? Why does the play remain relevant today? Link back to the question.
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