The Inspector In The Play Analysis

Priestly portrays the character of the Inspector as an unconventional figure on stage, this is due to the way in which he expresses his thoughts, his personality and the way in which he conducts the investigation. In act 1 he is very direct, in the way he talks to the family, unlike other inspectors, who would be politer and indirect when asking questions about what they have done, “cutting through, massively”.

In addition to that, the stage directions, in which he is described as having an “impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”, present the Inspector as being unconventional. This is because of the way he cuts into what the Birlings are saying, which is unusual for an inspector as they are supposed to be listening to what they are saying for evidence.

At the start of the play, Priestly describes the set as having “pink and intimate” lighting; however, when the Inspector arrives the lighting should become “darker and harder”, this is supposed to reflect the mood of the play. This could imply to the audience everything is good and there is a happy atmosphere until the inspector arrives, who is going to cause a change to the family like he does to the lighting.
When the inspector is talking to the younger generation, Eric and Sheila, he is much kinder; however, when he is talking to the older generation, Mr. Birling, Mrs Birling and sometimes Gerald, he is much more direct and impolite. This is because the younger generation are much more understanding of the situation, they understand what they have done is wrong, and they want to help get justice for Eva. On the other hand, the older generation do not want to admit what they done and want to cover up what they done, this is due to them not wanting a bad image and they believe the lower classes are inferior to