An Inspector Calls Act Three These icons indicate

An Inspector Calls Act Three These icons indicate that teacher’s notes or useful web addresses are available in the Notes Page. This icon indicates that a worksheet accompanies this slide. This icon indicates that the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable. For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation. 1 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Plot summary exercise – Act Three 2 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Eric’s role Choose adjectives to describe Eric’s mood at the start of Act Three. Eric helps himself to a drink before relating his relationship with Eva, confirming to the others his familiarity with heavy drinking. What else do we and the other characters learn about Eric in this scene? Does your opinion of him change after reading this scene? 3 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Eric’s role – true or false? 4 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Eric and Gerald Compare Eric’s and Gerald’s first meeting with the girl. In what ways are they similar and how do they differ? Similar They both met her in the Palace bar. Both gave her money. Different Eric insisted on returning to her lodgings with her on the first night they met. Eric got her pregnant. Eric had to steal the money to give her. 5 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Eva Smith 6 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Who is to blame? 7 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The inspector’s speech Before the inspector leaves he sums up each character’s role in relation to Eva’s death. Read his final speech again. Who do you think the inspector is addressing this speech to? What do you think the purpose of this speech is? 8 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Aftermath When the inspector leaves how would you describe the feelings of each of the characters left in the room? Mr Birling Concerned about his knighthood and the public scandal there will be. Blames Eric. Mrs Birling Thinks she has done nothing wrong. Anxious to avoid a scandal. Sheila Feels guilty. Angry with her parents for not accepting responsibility. Eric Ashamed of his parents and blames his mother for the death of Eva and his child. 9 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Doubts When Gerald returns he begins to raise doubts about everything that has happened, revealing that there is no Inspector Goole on the local police force! Who or what is the inspector? In groups make a list of all the strange aspects of his behaviour and character. 10 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Inspector Goole A spirit or ghost? Knows things before asking. Questions the family one at a time and does not let them see the photograph together. Does not ‘know’ the Chief Constable. Stands up to Mr and Mrs Birling even though they are rich and influential. Seems more concerned with morality than criminal law. 11 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Eva Smith We never get to see Eva Smith on stage but we learn a great deal about her from the other characters. What facts do we know about her? She was pretty – Sheila, Gerald, Eric and the inspector all describe her as pretty. Her parents were dead. She was ‘country-bred’, according to Mr Birling. She was working class. She kept a diary. 12 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Eva Smith Why do you think Priestley chose the name Eva Smith? EVA reminds us of Eve, the first woman in the Bible. SMITH was a very common English surname. The two names together suggest that this character is more than an individual but is meant to represent the ordinary working-class English person and especially English woman. One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do. 13 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Eva Smith In spite of the ‘facts’ we know about Eva, in Act Three we begin to have some doubts as to whether Eva Smith ever really existed or not. We’ve no proof it was the same photograph and therefore no proof it was the same girl. Mr Birling is very keen to believe it is not true so he also suggests how they could have been fooled. What does he suggest? There wasn’t the slightest proof that this Daisy Renton really was Eva Smith. 14 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Doubts How do the characters react to the news that the inspector may not be real and Eva may never have died? Mr and Mrs Birling accept it happily. They want to believe they have been fooled. They are afraid of public scandal and losing their position in society. They want everything to go back to ‘normal’. Sheila and Eric have changed. They cannot just pretend they have no responsibility. Even if it is true there is no dead girl, they have learned a lesson from their behaviour. Find quotations from the play which demonstrate how each character is now feeling. 15 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Who said what? 16 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The end At the end of the play Mr Birling receives a phone call telling him that a girl has just died and that a police inspector is on his way to ask some questions. What do you think of the way Priestley ends the play? This unexpected twist in the story creates a dramatic ending high in tension and suspense. We are told the characters ‘stare guiltily and dumbfounded. ’ Imagine the play continues. Write a short scene to illustrate how the characters react to this news. 17 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Act Three questions Has your opinion of any of the characters changed after reading Act Three? At the end of play Sheila and Eric have very different views to their parents. How does Priestley use these family differences to get his own message across? 18 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

An Inspector Calls Overview and Revision These icons indicate that teacher’s notes or useful web addresses are available in the Notes Page. This icon indicates that a worksheet accompanies this slide. This icon indicates that the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable. For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation. 19 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Plot and structure The plot of An Inspector Calls is very simple. There is little ‘action’ in the plot. It is what is called a well-made play. This means it is a play constructed according to strict technical principles that produce neatness of plot and theatrical effectiveness. The form was developed in the 19 th century and became dominant on European and US stages. A well-made play has complex, artificial plotting, a buildup of suspense, a climactic scene in which the truth comes out, and a happy ending. 20 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

A ‘well-made play’ 21 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Themes The main or central theme of An Inspector Calls is responsibility – both individual personal responsibility for our own behaviour and also our collective responsibility to society. The play also explores themes of class, age and sex, particularly in relation to people’s attitudes to responsibility. Find quotes in the play about responsibility. 22 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

How relevant is the play today? Is this play a period piece? Is it simply set in the past or does it have any relevance to, or anything to teach us about, life today? Think about social responsibility in today’s society. Do the class prejudices presented by Priestley still exist? Where would a woman in Eva’s situation receive help today? 23 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Useful vocabulary 24 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Wordsearch 25 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Quiz 26 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

In the hotseat 27 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Role play To help you understand the characters and the events and relationships of the play, imagine you are one of the characters called to give evidence at the inquest into Eva Smith’s death. In groups decide on ten questions to ask each character. The kind of questions you could ask are: How did you meet Eva Smith? Who do you blame for what happened to Eva? Do you feel any responsibility for it? If so, why? 28 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Creative response Imaginative/Creative writing Write Eva’s diary for either the day she is sacked from Milwards or the day she goes to try to get some help from charity. Write a newspaper report of the inquest held into the death of Eva Smith including details of the evidence given by the Birlings and Gerald Croft. 29 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Essay titles Discursive Writing Compare any two characters from the play and how they change over the course of the events. How does the relationship of Gerald and Sheila change over the course of the play? Compare and contrast the attitudes of Mr Birling and Inspector Goole. 30 of 30 © Boardworks Ltd 2006