Priestley’s Main Aim in An Inspector Calls

Priestley’s Main Aim in An Inspector Calls

J.B Priestley wrote an Inspector Calls in 1945 at the end of the

Second World War. He set his play in 1912 before the Titanic sank. As

the Second World War was ending, many things began to change. The

upper and working classes had been mixed due to the War Effort. People

became dressed alike and worked in the same places. Priestley had

served in the First World War and was in a German gas attack. By the

end of the First World War he was writing and became a voice heard all

over the nation on the radio, warning people about the changes and

being in a better world. His socialist philosophies were also

projected in his plays.

“We are members of one body.”

Priestley’s stage directions are very detailed. They help to show the

audience that the Burling’s are not a close family who can talk to

each other about their problems. The stage reveals the image of rich

family, but it must not be 'cosy’ or homely. The lighting is to be a

pink, intimate colour to begin with but when the inspector arrives it

is meant to be brighter and harsher. This is to create the feeling

that the family think that they all know each other but when they

begin to shed light on the truth, they realise that they don’t know

all that much about each other after all.

Birling’s opening words in Act One are to Edna. She has only a small

but significant role to play. Edna is a working class woman. She is

a servant who must turn to her employers needs. She is a symbol of

the working classes. In Arthur Birling’s eyes a man needs to:

“…make his own way – look after himself – and his

family too…”

Arthur Birling is a capitalist who believes that it is a man’s

“responsibility” to look after himself and his family. He feels that

he has no “responsibility” towards his workers.