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Act 2 Summary of An Inspector Calls
Act 2 of An Inspector Calls begins exactly where Act 1 ended, with Inspector Goole questioning Gerald Croft. Initially, Gerald tries to hide his involvement but eventually admits that he knew the girl as Daisy Renton. He claims to have met her at the Palace Variety Theatre bar in March of the previous year, where he rescued her from the unwanted advances of Alderman Meggarty, a local dignitary known for being a “notorious womaniser”.
Gerald installed her in a friend’s rooms in Morgan Terrace and thereafter converts her into his mistress. He insists he did not put her there just to make love to her, but because he was sorry for her. The affair ended in September when he had to go away for business; he broke it off, and she moved to a seaside place to remember their time together.
Having learnt of Gerald’s affair, Sheila returns her engagement ring to Gerald. She respects him more for finally telling the truth than she did earlier, but acknowledges that they are not the same people who sat down to dinner. Gerald leaves the house to walk and cool off, overwhelmed by the revelation of the girl’s death.
Mrs. Sybil Birling enters. She attempts to use her husband’s social status as a former Lord Mayor and magistrate to intimidate the inspector. When subjected to the inspector’s interrogation, she is forced to admit that she is a prominent member of the Brumley Women’s Charity Organization and that the girl appealed to them for help only two weeks prior. Mrs. Birling used her influence to have the girl’s claim refused.
In an attempt not to appear insensitive and cruel, Mrs. Birling defends her actions. She states she was prejudiced against the girl because she used the name “Mrs. Birling” when introducing herself to the committee. Sybil considered this impersonation as a “piece of gross impertinence”. According to her, the girl admitted she wasn’t married but refused to take any more money from the father of her unborn child because he had been stealing the money. Mrs. Birling dismissed this as a “ridiculous” story, and she refuses to believe a girl of “that sort” would have such fine scruples.
All through her mother’s interrogation, Sheila urgently tries to stop her as she realises the inspector is laying a trap for her mother. Mrs. Birling, in her self-righteousness, ignores her daughter. She insists that the father of the unborn child is entirely to blame and should be “dealt with very severely” and made to confess publicly. Inspector Goole leads her to reiterate this condemnation multiple times.
As the realisation dawns on the others, and finally on Mrs. Birling, that the father is her own son, the front door slams. Act 2 of An Inspector Calls ends with Eric entering the room, looking pale and distressed, facing the staring family.
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Analysis of Act 2 of An Inspector Calls
Act 2 of An Inspector Calls ruthlessly exposes the hypocrisy of the ruling class. Gerald reveals that Alderman Meggarty, a respected figure, is actually a sexual predator who haunts the local stalls bar. In the same breath, Mrs. Birling, who leads a charity for women in distress, refuses help to a desperate pregnant woman largely out of personal vanity and class prejudice. Priestley highlights how the Birlings distinguish between their public reputation and their private morality.
As for Inspector Goole, he continues to act as a moral catalyst rather than a standard police officer. He allows the characters to interrogate themselves or each other. His strategy with Mrs. Birling is particularly effective; by allowing her to arrogantly condemn the “father of the child” before she knows his identity, he allows her to unknowingly condemn her own son. As Sheila notes, “he’s giving us the rope—so that we’ll hang ourselves”.
Also, in this act, Sheila serves as the dramatic foil to her mother. She warns her mother not to build a “wall” between the family and the girl, predicting that the inspector will only break it down. While Mrs. Birling tries to maintain the social barrier between herself and “girls of that class”, Sheila realises that the inspector rejects these class distinctions; that he seeks to make them see the girl as a human being connected to them.
The self-indulgent Mrs. Birling repeatedly insists she did her “duty” in refusing the girl help. This contrasts sharply with the inspector’s definition of duty, which involves shared responsibility and compassion. Act 2 of An Inspector Calls thus underscores the play’s central theme: that social position implies social responsibility, a concept Mrs. Birling completely fails to grasp until the trap snaps shut on her own family.
Related:
- Act 1 Summary of An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley
- Act 3 Summary of An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley
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