Resumen An Inspector Calls

Characters
Arthur Birling
(Klangasssoziation zu burly = kräftig und sterling = Sterling-> brit. Währung; Geld). He’s a prosperous factory owner (businessman), his first priority is to make money& get power! He strongly believes that “a man has to make his own way”. He’s looking forward to receiving a knighthood.

He refuses to accept any responsibility for Eva’s death.

Sybil BirlingWants to stick to the rules, concerned about manners (tells what the others shall do or not). She is only interested in the family-reputation.

She’s very conservative, old-fashioned, selfish, cold-hearted, snobbish& egoistic.

Sheila
at the begin she’s snobbish, egoistic& self-confident, but in the end she thinks more clearly, critical, accepts criticism, nice, honest&responsible: she likes to change herself and feels sorry for what she had done. Her readiness to learn from experience is in a great contrast to her parents.

Eric
Start: makes jokes, behaves silly, lives an easy-going live, and doesn’t care about anything. He behaves half shy and half assertive (anmassend).

End: starts thinking, accepts his guilt, might stop drinking that much.

Gerald Croft
Isgood-looking, rich& clever: man about town! He’s engaged to Sheila and also son of an industrial.

He doesn’t change lot during the story; stays a capitalist (just interested in money& profit). He seems to agree completely with Mr. Birling, quite the same attitude of live.

Inspector Goole
(Goole= Geist; spirit in death) isn’t a real inspector; more something like god because he makesthem all fell guilty. His manners are quite extraordinary, rude& assertive. One of the main reasons to visit the Birling family is to make them realise, what responsibilities they have& that their behaviour has an influence on others (opposite to Mr. Birling’s moral).

Eva Smith
sprechender Name als Hinweis auf die Vertreterin der Mitmenschen schlechthin..

Short summary
This storytakes place in 1912, right before the 1st World War in Brumley, an industrial city in the North Midlands (fictive town-> associations to other real industrial towns, like e.g. Bradford, Birmingham or Burnley). The B. family is celebrating Sheila’s engagement to Gerald Croft, when inspector Goole arrives and tells about a girl’s (Eva Smith) suicide. After lots of questions, it turns out thatthey are all, more or less responsible for this tragically death.

After the inspector left they find out that he wasn’t a real inspector and that no girl died on the way to the Infirmary, after swallowing some disinfectant!

1st Act
The family& Gerald are celebrating Gerald& Sheila’s engagement in the dining-room. Sheila& Eric are arguing in a not really serious way, whileGerald& Mr. Birling are talking about business, politic (titanic), Mr. Birling’s way into the next honour list by getting an knighthood and about Lady Croft’s (Gerald’s mother) attitude of social classes (it looks like she isn’t too happy about the fact, that her son is engaged to a girl of a lower class). Just before the ring bells& the inspector arrives, Mr. Birling shows his outlook on life,what he had learnt in the good hard school of experience to Gerald& Eric (important sentence for the rest of the story!): “...a man has to make his own way, has to look after himself and his family..”. The inspector enters and tells about the suicide. He shows a photograph to Mr.B. and starts questioning him. It turns out that Eva Smith had been one of Mr.B. employees and later on was dischargedbecause she asked for more money, had been refused& went on a strike (as one of the ringleaders).

Sheila enters into the dining-room and gets the next to be questioned. Her fault: she had been jealous of Eva because she looked better in a specific dress. She went to the manager and told him that this girl had been very impertinent (unverschämt)…so, indirectly she made Eva lost her job....