Themes — Gender, Generational Conflict & Power

Beyond social responsibility and class, An Inspector Calls explores three further themes that are vital for GCSE success: gender, the generational divide, and power. Priestley weaves these themes together to create a play that challenges every aspect of the Edwardian social order.

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Theme 3: Gender

Women in 1912

In the Edwardian period, women occupied a subordinate position in society:

• Women could not vote — the suffragette movement was active but had not yet succeeded (women over 30 gained the vote in 1918; all women over 21 in 1928)
• Married women had limited legal rights over property and finances
• Women were expected to be domestic, passive, and morally pure
• A woman's reputation was her most valuable asset — once lost, it was nearly impossible to recover
• Working-class women had few employment options — factories, shops, domestic service, or prostitution

How Gender Shapes the Play

1. Eva Smith as a victim of patriarchal society

Every man in the play exploits Eva in a way that is shaped by gender:

Male character	How gender shapes the exploitation
Mr Birling	Sacks her — he has economic power over female workers
Gerald	Makes her his mistress — uses her emotional and sexual vulnerability
Eric	Assaults her — assumes entitlement to her body
Alderman Meggarty	Harasses her at the Palace Bar — harassment normalised

2. Mrs Birling reinforces patriarchal values

Despite being a woman, Mrs Birling upholds the patriarchal moral code:

"She was claiming fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position" (Act 2)

Mrs Birling judges Eva for being pregnant outside marriage — she enforces the very system that oppresses women like Eva. She has internalised the patriarchal values of her class.

3. Sheila's transformation as feminist awakening

Sheila's journey can be read as a movement from passive femininity to active moral agency:

• At the start: defined by her engagement, her ring, her appearance
• By the end: she speaks with moral authority, challenges her parents, and refuses to return to Gerald simply because it is socially expected

"No, not yet. It's too soon. I must think" (Act 3) — when Gerald offers the ring back

She refuses to be a passive, obedient woman. This is radical for 1912.

Examiner's tip: You can argue that Priestley uses Sheila to show that women are capable of moral growth and independent thought — a direct challenge to the Edwardian view that women should be passive and decorative.

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The "Respectable" Woman vs the "Fallen" Woman

Edwardian society divided women into two categories:

"Respectable" women	"Fallen" women
Married, sexually pure	Unmarried mothers, sex workers
Protected by family and class	Abandoned by society
Mrs Birling, Sheila (at the start)	Eva Smith / Daisy Renton

Mrs Birling refuses to help Eva precisely because Eva has crossed from "respectable" to "fallen." Priestley exposes this distinction as cruel and hypocritical — the men who "ruined" Eva (Gerald, Eric) face no equivalent social punishment.

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Theme 4: Generational Conflict

The Divide

One of the clearest structural patterns in the play is the split between the older and younger generations:

Older generation (Birling, Mrs Birling)	Younger generation (Sheila, Eric)
Refuse to accept responsibility	Accept responsibility
Value reputation and social standing	Value truth and moral honesty
Want to forget the evening	Cannot and will not forget
Represent the failures of the past	Represent the hope of the future
Set in their ways — will not change	Capable of change and growth

Evidence of the Divide

Mr Birling dismisses the younger generation's concerns:

"The famous younger generation who know it all" (Act 3)

Sheila challenges her parents' refusal to change:

"It doesn't make any difference ... You're ready to go on in the same old way" (Act 3)

Eric is furious with his mother:

"You killed her — and the child she'd have had too — my child — your own grandchild" (Act 3)

Gerald's Position

Gerald sits between the generations. He is young but behaves like the older generation in Act 3 — he leads the effort to disprove the Inspector and offers Sheila her ring back as if nothing has happened. Priestley suggests that class loyalty can override generational change — Gerald's upper-class instincts pull him back towards the status quo.

Priestley's Message About Generations

Priestley wrote the play in 1945, as Britain was about to elect a Labour government and build the welfare state. His message is clear:

• The older generation (represented by Birling and Mrs Birling) failed — their selfishness and complacency led to two world wars
• The younger generation (represented by Sheila and Eric) must do better — they must learn the lesson and build a fairer society
• If the younger generation follows the older generation's example, the cycle of "fire and blood and anguish" will continue

Examiner's tip: The generational divide is an excellent topic for comparison questions. You could compare Sheila and Mrs Birling, or Eric and Mr Birling, to show how Priestley uses the younger generation to embody hope and the older generation to embody failure.

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Theme 5: Power

Types of Power in the Play

Power operates on several levels in An Inspector Calls:

Type of power	Who holds it	How it is used
Economic power	Mr Birling	Sacks Eva; pays low wages
Consumer power	Sheila	Uses family's spending power to get Eva sacked
Social / class power	Mrs Birling	Uses her position to deny Eva charity
Sexual power	Gerald, Eric	Exploit Eva's vulnerability as a woman
Patriarchal power	All male characters	Women are subordinate in law, work, and society
Moral power	The Inspector	Commands the room through moral authority

Power and Responsibility

Priestley's argument is that power must come with responsibility:

"public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges" (Inspector, Act 1)

The Birlings have enormous power — economic, social, and political — but they use it entirely for their own benefit. They see their power as a natural right rather than as a moral obligation.

The Inspector's Power

The Inspector's power is unique — it is not economic, social, or physical. It is moral and dramatic:

• He controls the pace and direction of the evening
• He refuses to be intimidated by status — "I don't play golf" (in response to Birling's name-dropping)
• He forces confession through silence, repetition, and relentless questioning
• His power comes from truth — he strips away lies and self-deception

The Inspector represents a different kind of power: the power of moral authority. Priestley suggests that this is the only legitimate form of power — power used in service of justice and truth.

The Shifting Power Dynamic

The play tracks a fascinating shift in power:

Act 1: Birling holds power (his home, his family, his rules)
           ↓
       Inspector arrives — power shifts to him
           ↓
Act 2: Inspector dominates — Birling increasingly helpless
           ↓
Act 3: Inspector leaves — Birling briefly reclaims power
           ↓
       Phone rings — power shifts again; the reckoning returns

Examiner's tip: When writing about power, consider how Priestley uses the stage directions to show shifts in power. The Inspector is described as creating "an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness" — he dominates through presence, not status.

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