An inspector calls when is the play set

Sheila, wracked with guilt, wonders aloud whether the Inspector is a member of the police force. The family puzzles this out, and when Gerald returns, he says he spoke to a sergeant outside who does not know of any Inspector with the name of Goole, the man who just visited the Birling home.

Arthur believes that the family has been hoaxed, and that this is a good thing, since their misdeeds will not now result in public scandal. Arthur calls the hospital and confirms that no self-inflicted deaths have been recorded for weeks.

He says resolutely that Inspector Goole has tricked the family and that there is nothing to fear. Sheila worries aloud that Arthur will ignore the lessons the family was just beginning to learn.

The phone rings, and Arthur answers. He alerts the family that a girl has been admitted to the hospital just now, and that her death is a suicide. As the play ends, Arthur relays to the family that a police inspector is headed to the house to begin an inquiry. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Themes Motifs Symbols. This is the key moral point of the play. Class is also a very important theme in this play. The historical context is that class was still very rigid in Edwardian times and it was thought that the upper classes should never mix with the lower classes.

The props mentioned in the stage directions also highlight some of the themes that Priestley wanted to explore in his play. Read the opening stage directions and consider the following staging points:.

Consider these stage directions and the staging of the play. How might you change the staging to bring it up to date? How might you change the props or the costumes and what effect might this have on the play in performance? This play was performed in in the Soviet Union and in the UK.

This is a three-act drama, which takes place on a single night in , focusing on the prosperous middle-class Birling family. This is significant as in the political ideology of capitalism was raging, a contrast to Britain, which, after two harrowing world wars, was on the verge of a social revolution.

The choice was simple: revert to the old pre-WW1 values of profit, prosperity and capital, or continue the war-born socialist values. Priestley was a strong believer in the latter, hence his extended focus on social responsibility.