An Inspector Calls is set in 1912 in an industrial city in the north Midlands in England. Arthur and Sybil Birling, their daughter Sheila, and their son Eric have gathered at the Birling family home to celebrate the recent engagement of Sheila to Gerald Croft. Arthur makes a toast and Sheila jokes with her fiancé about his behavior “all last summer” (162). He seemed very distant, she remarks. When Eric laughs, Sheila accuses him of being drunk. Gerald claims that he was distracted by work. He works for a manufacturing company that is owned by his father. Arthur also owns a manufacturing company and, for many years, he and Gerald’s father have been business rivals. Now, Arthur hopes that the engagement symbolizes a brighter future for both companies.

Gerald and Sheila are happy to be engaged, and Gerald shows off the ring he bought for Sheila. Contrary to many negative stories in the news, Arthur insists that the world is heading in the right direction; the reports of aggressive posturing from Germany on the national stage can be ignored and business will boom in the future, rather than slow down. He also mentions the building of an “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” ship that will soon travel from Great Britain to the United States in just five days (166).