An Inspector Calls

A mysterious inspector who arrives to question the Birling family about Eva Smith's death. He exposes each member's actions and their links to Eva's ruin through careful questioning and moral rhetoric, prompting guilt and self-examination. He acts as a catalyst whose presence unsettles the family and blurs the line between fact and conscience.

The prosperous, self-assured patriarch who values social status and domestic order. He dismisses workers' grievances and lectures his children about self-reliance, embodying elite arrogance and a belief in a stable social hierarchy. His lack of accountability foreshadows the family's collective moral decline.

The matriarch who wields charity to defend her social standing. She coldly withholds help from Eva when she asks for aid, blaming the poor and maintaining reputation over compassion. Her rigidity and prejudice crystallize the play's critique of upper-class hypocrisy.

The younger daughter who undergoes a moral awakening. Initially self-centered, she becomes troubled by guilt as she learns of her complicity. Her growing empathy and willingness to own responsibility mirror the play's call for personal accountability.

The factory worker at the center of the inspector's revelations. Her names—Eva Smith, Daisy Renton, and Alice Grey—highlight how she is treated as disposable. She embodies the vulnerabilities created by class oppression and gender dynamics, with a life cut short by the consequences of others' actions.

An upper-class fiancé who begins a relationship with Eva, offering occasional aid but concealing the affair. His actions reveal moral ambiguity and privilege’s capacity to complicate compassion. He remains outwardly respectable while resisting full accountability.

The Birling son who struggles with alcoholism and denial. He confesses to raping Eva and stealing money to support her, revealing a brutal side of privilege. His breakdown exposes the human cost of ignoring duty and truth.

The Birling household maid who serves as a quiet witness to the events. She underscores the social presence of servants within the family’s domestic world and acts as a practical conduit for the inspector’s arrival. Her role highlights the everyday reality behind the dinner party.