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Britain after the first world war
Mr birling role in inspector calls
What was going on in society when an inspector calls was writen
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Recommended: Britain after the first world war
J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls Britain in the early 1900's was a class-ridden society. Life was not
easy for some. Some found it very easy, this was because of the unjust
system of class, it all depended on whether you were rich or poor, and
upon education. People were labelled as working, middle, or upper
class, so the upper class would have titles and were very important
people, whereas the working class were known as cheap labour. The poor
just got poorer and the rich got richer, time - workers had no rights
and there was little social security. There had to be some kind of
people who had a desire to change things socially, someone had to
rebel against this unfair system before things got any worse. These
people were the socialists, and some of them wrote plays to change the
way of thinking, one of which was "an inspector calls." John Boynton
Priestley was the successful writer of the play.
He was born in the county of Yorkshire on the 13th of September 1894.
He knew early on that he wanted to become a writer, but decided
against going university, as he believed that the world outside
classrooms and labs would help him to become a writer. He was gaining
experience to achieve success in his writing career as he said, "it
was the years 1911-14 that set their stamp upon me." He was
politically minded and liked to discuss politics, this may have been
because he was growing up into his father's socialist friends (which
must have i...
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...son to blame most is Sybil Birling.
She was selfish and heartless leaving Eva to give up on herself. Eva
had that little bit of hope left going to the organisation, but Mrs B
turns away her helping hand. Maybe Arthur had triggered it off but Mrs
B could have sorted out things out if she understood why Eva had used
the name Birling. What makes you feel more anger for Sybil is that she
thinks it wasn't her fault at all: she had no guilt whatsoever.
Although I think it would be unfair to blame just Mrs Birling
entirely, as each character played a part to the death of Eva smith.
It would be more logical to blame society and the way they lived in
those times, no real crime was committed, and it is more a case of
social conscience. I think families like the Birlings need to aid
others with their actions, not just themselves.
In ‘An Inspector Calls’, Priestley presents different ideas about class and society. His main idea is socialism. He believes that we ‘don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’ That whether we are upper class or lower class, we are responsible for each other and we shouldn’t look down on other people or think that they aren’t human but creatures just because they are a lower social class than us. Priestley tries to present the idea that society will only work if we work together and are responsible for each other. Otherwise, there would be no society.
Waites B.A. "The Effect of the First World War on Class and Status in England, 1910-20," Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 11, No. 1. (Jan., 1976), pg. 34.
the end of the Second World War. The play is set in 1912, just before
especially for a woman. Even if a woman did get a job they would get
satisfied. He talks a lot and likes the sound of his own voice. He's a
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley "An Inspector calls," by J. B. Priestley was written in 1946 and set in 1912. Priestley was a politician and a socialist who believed in equality and equilibrium for all, sex, race and class. Priestley had a long but arduous life, 1894-1984. He lived through both world wars, the unsinkable Titanic sank in 1912, the general strike in 1926, labour government resigning in 1931, and the two destructive atom bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Priestley deliberately set the play in 1912 because the audience watching the play had to have lived through all of this and would have empathised with him.
into a little house just big enough to stand in. It gives you a great
in jeopardy than how he may have driven a young girl down a spiral to
upon so many levels. On the surface it is a simple tale of how one man
J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls John Boynton Priestley was one of the most popular, versatile and greatest authors of his day. His works of popular history and literary criticism are numerous, ending with the story of Literature and the western woman. However it was as a playwright and as a social thinker that he was especially important. Politically, J.B. Priestley was a patriotic socialist who did not believe in the case of social class or rich dominancy, he believed that people should help each other and not be so competitive towards others. He hated social class because of the way upper class people took advantage of the working classes.
Birlings, as they find out that they have all played a part in a young
the beginning of the play the family is united but at the end of the
the suicide of Eva Smiths death. The aim of the story is to, try to
... Eva Smiths all over the world and that we are all members of one body
... may mean that if a person does not learn from their mistakes the first