on this cheat sheet
Everything on the GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls: Plot Summary Act by Act poster is written out below, section by section. Use it to search the sheet, copy parts into your own notes, or check a fact quickly.
Act 1: The engagement
- At their Brumley home in 1912, the Birling family celebrate Sheila's engagement to Gerald Croft, son of a rival manufacturer.
- Over dinner Mr Birling dismisses the risk of war and calls the Titanic "unsinkable".
- Inspector Goole arrives: a young woman, Eva Smith, has died after drinking disinfectant.
- Inspector Goole questions the family one at a time, showing each a photograph that no one else is allowed to see.
- Birling admits he sacked Eva from his factory two years earlier for leading a strike for higher wages.
- The Inspector reveals Sheila had Eva dismissed from her next job, at the shop Milwards, out of jealousy.
- The Inspector reveals Eva Smith changed her name to Daisy Renton after being sacked by Sheila. This startles Gerald, who had known her too.
Sheila's reason for having Eva sacked:
"She'd had a lot to say, far too much, so she had to go"
Act 2: Gerald and Mrs Birling
- Gerald confesses an affair with Eva, known to him as Daisy Renton, whom he had rescued from a drunken Alderman Meggarty at the Palace bar and kept as his mistress before ending it. Sheila returns Gerald's ring.
- Mrs Birling, chair of a local women's charity, is questioned next and tries to deny any involvement.
- A pregnant Eva had begged that charity for help using the name "Mrs Birling"; Mrs Birling used her influence to have the appeal refused.
- She insists the child's father alone should be punished, not realising she condemns her own son, Eric.
- The act ends as Eric walks back in, making it clear to the audience that he is the father.
Act 3: Confession and the twist
- Eric admits he is the father: he got Eva pregnant and stole money from his father's office to support her.
- As each person's part in her death comes out, the family turns on one another.
- The Inspector delivers his final warning, that people are "responsible for each other" or will be taught it "in fire and blood and anguish", then leaves.
- Gerald returns, having learned from a police officer that no Inspector Goole exists. By telephone the family confirm no girl has died.
- The older Birlings and Gerald are relieved, but Sheila and Eric hold on to their guilt.
- As the elders relax, the telephone rings: a girl has just died, and a real inspector is on his way to question them.
The Inspector's final speech:
"We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other."