In 1912, the Social Class System was still very strong, i.e. there was a clear division between the rich and the poor. At the start of the play, the prosperous factory owner Mr Birling and his wife Mrs Birling are holding a dinner party to celebrate the engagement of their daughter Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft. Their celebrations are cut short when an Inspector Goole comes round to question them about the suicide of a young woman named Eva Smith. One by one every person present is analysed and forced to uncover their role played in Eva's death.