In this essay I will discuss why Priestley’s play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is effective, focusing on characterisation, dramatic devices and themes. Firstly, I would like to take a closer look at the character of Mr.Birling. Soon after the play starts we know that Mr.Birling is a man of some significance and is respected when the text states that he’s a 'heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners”. We also find that he is the one that first speaks in the play, this shows that he is a dominant character and because of the patriarchal society, he’s the head of the house and the one that makes the decisions. Despite the facts, he also thinks that he is the one that knows everything, but in most cases seems to be wrong. This is clear when he talks about how „there isn’t chance of war” and how Titanic, the luxury ship which at the time was about to sail next week is ‘absolutely unsinkable’. Of course, we know that in fact, Titanic did sink in 1912 and World War 1 started not long after that. Priestley knew that as well, and therefore by including these phrases in the play wanted to underline the fact that Mr.Birling is a selfish and unresponsible individual, who doesn’t seem to care about the effect of his actions on other members of the community. Another character who Priestley used to make the play more effective is Eric. It is from the beginning of the play , that we know that Eric is somehow different from the rest of his family members. We find that unlike others, he does not speak often and is a listener rather than a speaker. Eric is one of the main characters that creates the sense of unease throughout the play, especially when conversation between Gerald and Mr.Birling is taking pl... ... middle of paper ... ...of how The fact that only Eric and Sheila understand that there need’s to be a change and feel guilty for Eva’s death, even after they find that there was no suicide, might suggest that Priestley believes that young people can give us hope and together make the change for the future. Overall, Priestley has written an effective, profound play which is not only meant to be entertaining, but also will teach people that we should always take responsibility for our actions and think about how our actions affect other people around us. He used several methods to create a community and characters that may reflect some of us in our world and showed us what can be the consequences of it. He did not only want to warn people but to encourage us to keep together not as individuals, but as a ”one body” and to make sure we treat each other fairly. Works Cited www.wikipedia.com
This is the concept of collective responsibility. Priestley says, 'things could really improve if only people were to become more socially responsible for the welfare of others'. We have to confront our mistakes and learn from them. The play starts off with the Birling family celebrating their daughter's engagement to Gerald Croft. The family included Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, Eric Birling, Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft.
Priestley has presented Birling as an arrogant, egotistical, right wing or capitalist man. Priestley himself was a socialist. He believes that as a society, we have to look after one another and that the government should give the unemployed people or refugees free health cares and free education. This tells us that Priestley wouldn’t make Mr. Birling look good in this story as capitalists like Mr. Birling only care about wealth. This story was set in 1912 which was before WWI and was written in 1946 which was just after the WWII. This means Priestley had lived through the two great wars, which probably had a huge impact on him. He used dramatic irony especially with regards to Mr. Birling. In the play, Mr. Birling was confident about the theories
she needed more money. So she said to him give me 25/6 because of that
A Comparison of Characters of Mr. Birling and Inspector Goole in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
Wells, both of whom references are made to in the opening pages of the play. A lot of the tension in the play is between Birling and the Inspector, both of who are powerful figures in the household and are both vying for dominance, creating a lot of tension. This is symbolic of the global struggle between capitalism and socialism, the Inspector represents Priestley's socialist views, and Birling, the antithesis of the Inspector represents capitalist views, which is made clear through his speech "the interests of Capital steadily increasing prosperity." When the Inspector is there, Birling is very fast to drop the blame on someone else, insisting "I can't accept any responsibility" which is a complete contrast of what the Inspector says, telling the family to "share the blame among yourselves when I have left" This constant conflict, which is often at the heart of the dramatic genre itself, makes sure there is tension whenever the two characters are talking to each other. This conflict is not the only one within the play.
Priestley explores the relationships between men and women as he shows that the Birlings look at people's gender to judge them. Sheila is a representation of stereotypical girls during that time period, who obsess over pretty clothing and expensive things. As when she gets the ring, she describes it as "a beauty". Moreover, Priestley shows that men have a higher status than women and they make all the decisions as Sheila asks Gerald "is it the one you wanted me to have?" Furthermore, in the play, it's shown that the expectations of women were to act innocent and pure and that they should seek protection from "unpleasant and disturbing" things. In addition, Priestley shows the stereotypical traits of women as when Sheila gets sacked, it's because
The play is set two years before World War I, in 1912, and in the year
In this essay we will be comparing two female characters from different texts and different time periods. We will be looking in depth at Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth', and Sheila from J.B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'. We will be looking at their roles in their respective plays, and how their characters develop over time.
Gerald finds out at the end of the play when he takes a quiet stroll
A ‘sharp ring is heard of the front door bell’ interrupting Mr. Birling’s dialogue that explicates “that a man has to make his own way- has to look after himself” as though the ‘sharpness’ of the ring is opposing Birling’s ‘solemnity’ in his words. The stage direction instantly demonstrates juxtaposition between the Birling and the other anonymous individual; this also generates tension because of the fact that the individual is yet to be introduced. Eric felt very ‘uneasy’ after Edna said to Birling that an Inspector has arrived which gives the audience clues of Eric being involved in a crime, Eric’s uneasiness also makes Birling ‘sharply’ stare at Eric- this creates suspense for the audience.
The whole family’s actions are the cause of Eva’s death however the message about responsibility the Inspector presents is only take on board by Eric and Sheila. In conclusion, Priestley clearly gets across his message of responsibility towards others in the play. A clever script cunningly executed points out Priestley’s views to the audience. ‘Responsibility’ is the focal point of the play and is consistently addressed at the end of each interrogation, but the Birlings fail to recognise this.
John Patrick Shanley creates a movie as a whole I feel was more informative than the play. In the play you have 4 characters Sister Aloysius, Father Flynn, Sister James, and Mrs. Muller. While the movie introduces a few other characters, for instance the children. For me the children made a difference because they for one made me understand what kind of kids Sister James was dealing with. I really thought that being able to see the way Father Flynn interacted with all of the young boys including Donald Muller was really helpful when trying to draw your conclusion of Father Flynn versus when reading it your left to imagine for instance; what some of the kids are like. The way the book sets you up your left leaning to Father Flynn being exactly what Sister Aloysius accuses him to be. We also get to see how sister James interacts with the kids and how Sister Aloysius influences her to change the way she deals with and teaches her class.
Priestley presents Birling as an ignorant business oriented social climber, who is obsessed with bettering himself in the industrial city of Brumley. This claim is backed up by the fact that on page 7, act one, Birling says that war will be impossible, and the Titanic is unsinkable, which leads the audience of the 1940s to view him as a fool who holds forth about subjects that he does not know about. He is known to be a social climber as on page 8, act 1, he is talking to Gerald about his social status which he obviously cares more about than truth or law.
An Inspector calls, written by famous playwright J.B Priestly, was first performed in 1945. The play’s focus point is a wealthy family known as the Birlings. A visit from an unexpected, peculiar and very curious Inspector Goole emerges into something quite horrific and quite worrying for the Birling household, as they discover that they have participated in a suicide of a young woman known as Eva Smith, who died consuming a bottle of disinfectant. Priestley’s aims are to address people to take responsibly for their actions, not to allow others to be held accountable for their actions.