In the didactic play 'An Inspector Calls,' written in 1946 but set in 1912, Priestley uses the theme of blame to explore society's issues and encourages the post-war audience to adopt more socialist ideologies and break away from the capitalist world they are in. Priestley does this by exploring characters such as Sheila and Mr. Birling and their guilty conscience, as well as responsibility. This is done through the construct of the Inspector, who acts as Priestley's mouthpiece and an advocate for change as the play progresses. Priestley uses the Inspector to challenge the Birlings and expose how each of them is responsible for the death of Eva Smith. The Inspector uses his method of "one line of enquiry at a time." Priestley does this to highlight the flaws of each character and what they represent. This helps the audience understand that a capitalist society will only lead to pain and misery for those within it. The Inspector states in response to Mr. Birling, "It is better to ask for the earth than to take it." This highlights the moral difference between seeking help and exploiting others. Here, when Mr. Birling blames Eva Smith for being unreasonable in her request, the Inspector portrays how Mr. Birling and money-obsessed capitalists like himself are doing exactly what he accuses Eva of doing, highlighting how hypocritical the capitalist society is. This further prompts the audience to embrace socialist ideals, as they do not want to be a part of the unjust capitalist society Priestley is exposing. He then points out "public men have responsibilities as well as privileges." This conveys how people like Mr. Birling, who have power and influence, have a greater responsibility than those who don't. This depicts how Priestley thinks that those in power need to shoulder the burden of blame and responsibility as theiractions can have consequences, to a large range of people. Finally, before the Inspector departs Priestley has him remind them that there are millions of millions of John and Eva Smiths, forcing society into being more accepting and just. Having everyone share responsibility and accept blame for when they make an error. Priestley then warns the audience through the Inspector that if society doesn't change, they will be taught "in fire blood and anguish". This triplet would resonate deeply with the post-war audience as they were likely victims of both world wars, seeing the suffering first hand. This would then prompt the audience to support the welfare state created by Clement Attlee, as well as shift their views to be more Socialist. Priestley uses the character of Sheila to represent the younger generation, and how they are open to change, as well as their willingness to accept responsibility and blame. Initially, Sheila is seen to be infantilised by the Birlings, being constantly sheltered from the hardships of the world. As the play progresses however, Sheila can be seen to not be as ignorant as people perceive her to be. She didn't want Gerald to be like those "old, purple-faced men" and saw Eva as a girl who escaped "horrible Meggarty with only her blouse torn". Priestley does this to show that most of the younger generation, however sheltered are somewhat aware of the world around them. This hints at how it is the parents' responsibility to educate the younger generation on the hardships of the world. She actively goes against her father insisting "these girls aren't cheap labour, they are people", giving the struggling working class a voice.how she resonates with the Inspector's and a certainly Priestley's ideals. When interrogated by the Inspector, she does reveal that she was in a bad temper and she was furious when she had Eva fired. This shows how initially she was refusing to accept the guilt, blaming her bad temper and emotions. Afterwards, however, she is the first to accept responsibility and some of the blame: "I know I'm to blame". This presents how malleable the younger generation is and their openness to change. It also highlights how she has matured to start to take responsibility as someone of high social standing. Sheila's character may also represent the many women that joined the suffragette movement who eventually achieved universal suffrage in 1929. After the Inspector leaves, she is seen to be Priestley's new voice, acting as a substitute for the Inspector when it is revealed that there is no Inspector by the name of Goole. She insists that that isn't important, how everyone acted which led to her eventual death "that's what's important". She is seen to advocate for collective responsibility and how everyone should shoulder the blame. This contrasts from her initial character, depicting of Priestley's message and how it is not too late to change. Priestley uses Mrs Birling to represent the older generation and how they lack moral conscience and don't shoulder any blame or responsibility to those their actions affect. Her deep-rooted patriarchal nature is evident when she says to Sheila "when your married... you'll as I had" here she is dismissing any notion that Gerald might be having an affair, insisting perhaps "you'veWith important work, will have to spend time away and that is unnatural. This reflects many of the older generation's strong patriarchal views where women weren't given duties outside and to was seen as something disgraceful. When getting interrogated by the Inspector she didn't accept any blame stating she didn't do 'anything I was ashamed of'. This portrays how entitled and arrogant Mrs Birling is as she believes herself to be above affairs to do with 'girls of that class'. Here, Priestley exposes the selfish mindset of those devoted to the capitalistic patriarchy. She then diverts the blame from her onto the 'father of the child', accusing him of being a 'drunken young idler' insisting that he should be made an example of. Priestley uses dramatic irony when Eric enters just at the end of Act 2 in time for the audience to realise she was blaming her own son. Her stubborn nature is made clear as she only understands after everyone else (audience included) that Eric was the one she was blaming. Upon this realisation, she stammers and calls it 'ridiculous'. After the realisation she distressingly tells Eric she told him 'I didn't know'. This is done by Priestley to highlight her selfishness, as she only accepts guilt once she realises it concerns her son, if not she would have continued to be indifferent. At the end of the play, Mrs Birling farcically forgets any blame she previously shouldered after finding out the Inspector wasn't a real inspector. This exposes her true nature as she doesn't accept any blame even though she is involved in the death of a girl. To conclude, Priestley uses the characters of Sheilaand Mrs Birling to present how blame should be shouldered by everyone, and the failure of one person to do so will result in all of them suffering. This is seen in the play when the debt phrase which was a sign of wealth and influence was weaponised against them. Linking to Ouspensky's theory of eternal recurrence, which states that people will be trapped in an eternal time loop unless they correct their actions and change. In this case, accept blame and responsibility, which is what Priestley encourages everyone to do.