An Inspector Calls - Plot - CCEA

Part of English LiteratureAn Inspector Calls

The plot of An Inspector Calls

Illustrated timeline showing how different characters contribute to Eva Smith’s death in An Inspector Calls. A red telephone cord links key events: Mr Birling sacks Eva Smith; Sheila feels responsible for her death; Gerald confesses his affair with Eva; Mrs Birling refuses to help Eva; Eric is the father of Eva’s unborn baby; Inspector Goole investigates Eva Smith’s death; the Birlings discover Inspector Goole is an imposter; and a police call announces an investigation. The diagram includes illustrations of the Birling family, Eva Smith, Inspector Goole, a baby’s dummy, a magnifying glass, and a telephone. Visible labels read: “Inspector Goole investigates Eva Smith’s death”, “Mr Birling had sacked Eva Smith”, “Sheila feels responsible for the death”, “Mrs Birling refused help Eva”, “Gerald confesses his affair with Eva”, “Eric was the father of Eva’s unborn baby”, “Inspector Goole is an imposter”, and “The police call the Birlings to investigate”.
A timeline of the major events in the plot of An Inspector Calls
  • An inspector arrives at the Birling house. He tells them how a girl called Eva Smith has killed herself by drinking disinfectant – he wants to ask them some questions.
  • The Inspector reveals that the girl used to work in Arthur Birling's factory and he had her sacked for going on strike. Mr Birling refuses to accept any responsibility for her death.
  • The Inspector then reveals that Sheila thought that Eva had made fun of her, complained and got her sacked. Sheila is deeply ashamed and feels responsible for the girl’s death.
  • The Inspector forces Gerald to confess to an affair he had with Eva. Sheila respects Gerald’s honesty but returns the engagement ring he gave her.
  • It is revealed that Sybil Birling had refused to help the pregnant Eva.
  • It turns out that it was Eric who got Eva pregnant, and stole money from his father to help her.
  • The Inspector leaves. The family ring the infirmary and there is no record of a girl dying from drinking disinfectant.
  • Suddenly the phone rings, Mr Birling answers it, to his horror the phone call reveals that a young woman has just died from drinking disinfectant and the police are on their way to question them about it. The curtain falls and the play ends.

Watch: An Inspector Calls – Plot

Jeff Green takes us through the plot of JB Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls

Listen: An Inspector Calls – Plot summary

Listen to a podcast about the plot of JB Priestley's play, An Inspector Calls

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Act One

  • Before the play begins, Priestley gives detailed instructions on how the play should be staged. The action takes place in a single room with few adjustments needed during the performance. The stage directions specify that the house is “not cosy and homelike” and the lighting needs to become “brighter and harder” once the Inspector arrives. The first of the three acts opens with the Birling family and Gerald Croft celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling and Gerald.
  • As it is a happy occasion, Mr Birling takes the opportunity to make a speech. During the speech he reveals how happy he is that Sheila is marrying Gerald because Gerald’s parents are wealthy business owners. It is clear that Mr Birling feels this marriage will be to his advantage; he boasts that he is to be considered for a knighthood.
  • It is important to realise that the audience of 1945 would pick up on the fact that a lot of what Mr Birling says is incorrect. He states how war will never happen and that the Titanic is unsinkable. This would indicate to the audience that what Mr Birling says is not to be trusted. It might also alert them to a few other clues that Priestley gives in this opening scene that things are not as positive as they might appear in the Birling house. Eric Birling is distracted and a little drunk, while Sheila teases Gerald about him neglecting her last summer.
  • During the speech, Mr Birling suggests that “a man has to make his own way”. At this precise moment, Inspector Goole arrives.
  • The Inspector tells the family that a girl died in the infirmary two hours ago. She took her own life by drinking disinfectant. The family are shocked by this news but don't see how they could be involved. The Inspector has a picture of the girl and a letter and diary she had written. He only ever shows one person the picture at a time – this is an important detail for later.
Picture from a stage production of An Inspector Calls with Inspector Goole standing outside the Birlings home in the fog.
Inspector Goole arrives at the Birling home
  • He reveals the girl's name – Eva Smith, and that she used to work in Mr Birling's factory. Mr Birling had Eva sacked as she was the ringleader of a group of workers who had asked for higher pay. Mr Birling still can’t see how he has anything to do with Eva’s death. The Inspector points out that her being sacked could be the beginning of a chain of events that led to her suicide, but Mr Birling is still not convinced.
  • The Inspector explains that Eva Smith had no family to turn to and was out of work for two months after being sacked by Mr Birling. He then turns his attention to Sheila who has been deeply affected by the news of the girl’s suicide. He asks if she remembers making a complaint about a worker at the department store, Milwards. She does and then he shows her the photograph to confirm the girl’s identity. Sheila is horrified when she finds out that her complaint led to Eva being sacked for a second time.
  • Sheila gives a full and honest account of what happened in the store, admitting that she thought Eva had smiled when she tried on a dress that didn’t suit her. Sheila is very ashamed of her behaviour.
  • The Inspector says that after being sacked from Milwards, Eva Smith changed her name to Daisy Renton. On hearing this, Gerald is shaken and privately Sheila presses him for more information. He admits that he was having an affair with Daisy over the summer and that was why he didn’t see Sheila. The first act ends.
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Act Two

  • Act Two begins with Gerald and Sheila discussing the affair. Gerald is initially hesitant to come clean but eventually tells the truth. Although Sheila respects him for his honesty, she returns his engagement ring. Gerald had picked up Daisy in a bar and had looked after her, giving her money and accommodation. While Gerald was fond of Daisy, she had much stronger feelings for him and was devastated when Gerald ended the relationship.
  • The Inspector tells us that after the affair with Gerald, Daisy went to live by the sea for two months – this was when she kept the diary he had found.
  • Attention then turns to Mrs Birling, who is revealed to be a prominent member of the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation. She has kept quiet about the fact that just two weeks earlier Daisy had approached the charity seeking help. Daisy had called herself Mrs Birling when she introduced herself to the charity, Mrs Birling did not like this and sent her away.
Photo from British premiere of An Inspector Calls. Mrs Birling reveals how she knew Eva Smith (1946)
Mrs Birling reveals how she knew Eva Smith
  • The Inspector continues to question Mrs Birling and it turns out that Daisy was pregnant. Mrs Birling claims that the man who got her pregnant should be made an example of. Sheila realises what has happened by this point and begs her mother to stop talking; Eric enters the scene and Act Two ends.
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Act Three

  • Mrs Birling looks very stupid after Eric admits that it was he who got Daisy pregnant. Like Sheila, he is very ashamed of his actions and is honest about his involvement with Daisy. He tells the Inspector that he drinks heavily and how, during a night out, he met Daisy. He admits that the first time they met he walked her home and pressured her into letting him into her lodgings. He slept with her that evening and on a further evening. When he next met Daisy, he found out that she was pregnant.
Photo from British premiere of An Inspector Calls. Mr and Mrs Birling are shocked by Eric's confession.
Mr and Mrs Birling are shocked by Eric's confession
  • They both knew that they weren't in love and marriage wasn't an option but Eric wanted to help by giving her money. She refused to accept the money when she found out Eric had stolen it from his father's business.
  • The family are distraught by this point and are arguing amongst themselves. The Inspector interrupts and makes a speech about how if we are not responsible for each other, there will be terrible consequences.
  • The Inspector leaves and Gerald returns after a walk outside. He met a police officer and found out that there was no Inspector Goole on the force. They also begin to wonder if the girl mentioned to each of them could have been “four or five different girls”, suggesting that the whole evening could have been a trick.
  • Gerald rings the local infirmary and discovers that no girl who had died by drinking disinfectant had been admitted. Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald are excited by the idea that they may not be to blame. Eric and Sheila are aware that it makes no difference whether or not the Inspector was real – they still behaved badly.
  • Just as Mr Birling is mocking the Inspector and is celebrating that he is off the hook, the phone rings. Mr Birling answers and to his horror it is the police. They inform him that a girl has just died after drinking disinfectant and a police officer is on their way to ask the family some questions. The curtain falls and the play ends.
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Further study

The mysterious 'Inspector Goole' interrupts a wealthy family's family party to tell them a young woman died of suicide that night. But what's that got to do with them?

Watch: An Inspector Calls (2015)

Comedian Barry Cryer chooses the playwright JB Priestley as someone who inspired him. With Martin Wainwright.

Great Lives: JB Priestly (2011)

Martin Wainwright explores the Second World War broadcasts of the influential playwright JB Priestley.

Priestley's Postscripts (2010)
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