The play opens in the dining room of the Birling family, who are celebrating the engagement of Gerald, and their daughter Sheila. The rest of the family members are,Mr Birling who owns a factory called,'Birling and Co'.Mrs Birling,a house wife, and a charity worker, and finally their son Eric. Everyone is having a wonderful time, until the door bell rings the maid of the house tells Mr. Birling it is an Inspector. Now that the Inspector joins the play, the atmosphere changes. He sets each family member against each other.

The Inspector tells them that, he is investigating the death of a girl, who committed suicide by drinking a bottle of disinfectant. At this stage in the play, the audiences now know that the Birling family has something to do with this girl's death. This is called (Dramatic Irony: when the audience knows something...