2.1.5
Blame & Responsibility
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Blame and Responsibility: Characters
Priestley uses An Inspector Calls to highlight the unfair attitudes in society. Generally, the upper-class people refused to acknowledge how their actions affected the lower classes. The following characters accept no responsibility:
The Birlings
- Priestley uses Mr and Mrs Birling to highlight the belief that lower-class people deserve their misfortune, and that upper-class people are entitled to (have the right to have) fortune, wealth and easy lifestyles.
Mr Birling
- He refuses to accept any responsibility. Instead, he sees Eva as a troublemaker for wanting a pay raise.
- He dismisses (plays down) the issue.
- At the end, he is happy to forget the whole thing.
Mrs Birling
- She refuses to accept any responsibility.
- She feels that the father of Eva’s child should be the one responsible – until she realises it is her own son.
- She then pushes the blame onto Eric.
- She still refuses to accept that she did anything wrong even in her charitable role.
Gerald
- He refuses to accept any responsibility.
- He feels that he did his part in helping Eva. He does not feel guilt over making her his mistress.
- He does not feel that he did anything wrong. He is very happy to forget the whole thing when he thinks the inspector is fake.
Blame and Responsibility: Characters
Priestley uses An Inspector Calls to highlight the unfair attitudes in society. Generally, the upper-class people refused to acknowledge how their actions affected the lower classes. But Priestley also uses the younger Birlings to suggest that the younger generation give some hope for society:
Sheila
- She is shocked when she learns what happened to Eva because of her actions.
- She feels extreme guilt and accepts responsibility for her actions.
- Although she acted like a spoilt child, she matures in the play and accepts the role she played in Eva’s suicide.
- She even tells her parents off for refusing to accept responsibility for their own actions.
Eric
- He acknowledges that his actions were wrong.
- He accepts responsibility for the role he played in damaging Eva’s life and for contributing towards her suicide.
- He also tells his mother she should accept responsibility as well.
Inspector Goole
- His role is to help each character to understand the consequences of their individual selfishness.
- His role is also to try to encourage them to accept some responsibility. He hopes this will change their attitudes and help them to become less selfish.
1Plot Summary
2Context & Key Themes
2.1Context & Key Themes
2.1.1Social Class & Equality2.1.2Class Tension2.1.3Abuse of Power & Corruption2.1.4Socialism vs Capitalism2.1.5Blame & Responsibility2.1.6Attitudes to Women2.1.7Characterisation of Women2.1.8Dramatic Function of Characters2.1.9End of Topic Test - Context & Key Themes2.1.10End of Topic Test - Context & Key Themes 22.1.11Grade 9 - Key Themes2.1.12Diagnostic Misconceptions - Socialism vs Communism2.1.13Diagnostic Misconceptions - Edna2.1.14Diagnostic Misconceptions - Women in the Play2.1.15Diagnostic Misconceptions - Eva Smith
3Key Characters
3.1Mr Birling
3.2Mrs Birling
3.6Inspector Goole
3.7Grade 9 - Key Characters
4Authorial Method
5Recap: Main Quotes
5.1Mr Birling Quotes
5.2Mrs Birling Quotes
5.6Inspector Goole Quotes
Jump to other topics
1Plot Summary
2Context & Key Themes
2.1Context & Key Themes
2.1.1Social Class & Equality2.1.2Class Tension2.1.3Abuse of Power & Corruption2.1.4Socialism vs Capitalism2.1.5Blame & Responsibility2.1.6Attitudes to Women2.1.7Characterisation of Women2.1.8Dramatic Function of Characters2.1.9End of Topic Test - Context & Key Themes2.1.10End of Topic Test - Context & Key Themes 22.1.11Grade 9 - Key Themes2.1.12Diagnostic Misconceptions - Socialism vs Communism2.1.13Diagnostic Misconceptions - Edna2.1.14Diagnostic Misconceptions - Women in the Play2.1.15Diagnostic Misconceptions - Eva Smith
3Key Characters
3.1Mr Birling
3.2Mrs Birling
3.6Inspector Goole
3.7Grade 9 - Key Characters
4Authorial Method
5Recap: Main Quotes
5.1Mr Birling Quotes
5.2Mrs Birling Quotes
5.6Inspector Goole Quotes
Practice questions on Blame & Responsibility
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1Which of these are true about Gerald?True / false
- 2Characters that accept no responsibility in An Inspector Calls:Fill in the list
- 3Which of these is not one of Inspector Goole's roles?Multiple choice
- 4
- 5
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