Theme Of Corruption In An Inspector Calls

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The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is set in 1912 – the Edwardian era. The play focuses upon the Birling family and their changing relationships. The family is headed by the “prosperous manufacturer” Arthur Birling. During this era, social position was far more significant than it is today; Arthur Birling becomes the depiction of a typical Capitalist “hard headed businessman”. However, this era also marked a critical period of change and a rise in socialist activity. With the Labour Party beginning to have an impact on the political life of the country, the rights of workers that maintained Capitalist businesses were becoming slightly more apparent. Through, ‘An Inspector Calls’, Priestley makes it fervently clear that social change must be forced upon those in power such as Arthur Birling.

One of the ways Priestley expresses his views is by embedding it into the characters of the younger generation: Eric and Sheila. He uses character manipulation using the Inspector to highlight the conflicting opinions, morals and social standards between the two generations. The playwright uses their emotions to unravel their positions in society, and roles within Edwardian society, through the death of someone they all allegedly knew and whose life they affected negatively.

A sense of foreboding is created right from the start of the play. In the opening stage directions the furniture is described as “heavily comfortable” but not “cosy and homelike”. My thoughts are that these descriptions represent the family’s relationships with one another, in the sense that their celebration with each other is more ostentatious opposed to genuine jubilance. This hints to the audience that everything is not as jovial as it seems and makes them aware of a tensi...

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...s you girls pick up these days”. The phrase “these days” shows the audience that Sheila and Mrs. Birling are in different time zones where the mother is more traditional and the daughter is up to date.

When Sheila begins to challenge the authority of her parents by agreeing with the beliefs of the Inspector, she is referred to as “hysterical”. This trope characterised women as less rational, disciplined, and emotionally stable than men. As a result female characters were coddled and their opinions were undervalued. This can be seen in ‘An Inspector Calls’, as it is used as a form of dismissal. Whenever Sheila is trying to state a point that is against the older generation’s ideology, they ridicule it by linking it with (what was thought to be) a psychiatric illness. This shows that Mr. and Mrs. Birling think that ideas not the same as theirs are literally insane.

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