The Importance of Social Class as Theme in An Inspector Calls

The Importance of Social Class as Theme in An Inspector Calls

Why is social class an important theme in the play?

The Middle Class, which is portrayed through Birling and his family,

in my opinion is defined as business people who are wealthy and own

their own property. However the upper class, which is Gerald’s family,

I classify through aristocracy/royalty, or extremely wealthy

landowners with status titles.

We are first introduced to the characters of the play in the beginning

of act one. This act is set during an after dinner ‘chat’ between the

Birling family, and Gerald, who we soon find out is Mr. Birling’s

daughter, Sheila’s, fiancée.

‘You ought to like this port Gerald. As a matter of fact, Finchley

told me its exactly the same port your father drinks.’

is the first thing that Mr. Birling says in the act, and is our first

impression of him. This line allows us to assume that his character is

omniscient. We can tell this by the way that he offers the port to

Gerald, in a knowing and boasting way. It is as if he is trying to

make a point to include the fact that he knew what good port is. As we

continue to follow what he says, it becomes clearer that he is trying

to use every attempt to show that he knows everything. For example

when he discusses the issue of a war, and the indestructibility of the

titanic.

‘You’ll hear some people say that war’s inevitable. And to that I say-

fiddlesticks!’

‘Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.’

Of course the audience is aware that both of these events did happen

in the end, but even when his son, Eric, argued the slightest that he

was wrong, Mr. Birling was very set in ...

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important, even if she was part of a lower social class. The whole

moral of the play was to show the audience how people could treat

other people if they believed that they were better than them, in any

way. If it had to do with race, or social class, as it was here.

Priestley was trying to show that it didn’t matter what class you were

put into, because at the end of the day, everyone has to be

responsible for the actions that they make, because they can affect

anyone. However, at the end of the play, the two groups of characters

are still divided in the same way, showing the viewers how arrogant

the elder generation appear to be, whilst the younger can still be

changed to not follow the ridiculous belief that more money makes you

more important as a person. Therefore social status is very important

in the play.