An Inspector Calls as a Tool for the Political and Social Criticism
of the Elite
"An Inspector Calls", by J.B. Priestly, is in effect a method the
playwright uses to convey an imperative political and social message
to his readers. John Boynton Priestley was born in Bradford, West
Yorkshire, in the north of England. After finishing school, he decided
to abandon education to pursue his passion for writing and literature.
In 1914 at the age of twenty Priestley was called to fight in the
First World War. As one may expect, the years Priestly spent on the
frontline, had an immense impact on his ideas towards the social and
political system in Britain, and are what fuelled his great
politically charged writings. Priestly began to ponder the state of
society and the way the social system worked. Perhaps most
importantly, he realised that while large numbers of people were
suffering, there were many egocentric individuals who were enjoying
grand luxuries.
"An Inspector Calls" was written in the very week that the Second
World War culminated. This shows the urgency with which Priestly
wanted to communicate his message. This play, like some of Priestley's
earlier work, explores the concept of time, and the phenomenon of how
someone's actions can affect someone else's life in the long run. The
play is set in an industrial Midlands town in 1912, just before the
First World War started. There are 5 main characters, other than the
inspector who appears at the very end of Act 1. These are Mr. and Mrs.
Birling, their children Sheila and Eric Birling and Sheila's fiancé
Gerald Croft. All of them are upper class citizens and are shown to
consider themselves to be part of the social elite.
Priestley uses this soci...
... middle of paper ...
...of pay. In his defence, Mr. Birling says:
"Well, it's my duty to keep labour costs down, and if I'd agreed to
this demand for a new rate we'd have added about twelve per cent to
our labour costs." (Act 1, pg 14) Again greed and egocentricity is
shown among the higher class. Birling says he had to come down sharp
or else they would have been asking the Earth. To this the inspector
replies: "They might. But after all it's better to ask for the Earth
than to take it." (Act 1, pg 15) Here Priestley is bluntly expressing
his anger at the exploitation of the poor by the rich.
At its simplest, "An Inspector Calls" is just another moral story, no
different from Aesop's Fables. Priestley is trying to teach his
audience that individualism and narcissism are one of the greatest
evils. He wants us to be aware that our actions today immensely affect
events tomorrow.
Mr. Bannister - one of the men of the town who admires Brady greatly. He is chosen to be on the jury because he does not know how to read.
The first character we encounter is Mrs. Freeman. She is the wife of Mrs. Hopewell's tenant farmer. She is a very outspoken woman, and "she [can] never be brought to admit herself wrong on any point" (O'Connor 180). Mrs. Freeman is a gossip; she is nosy and she "ha[s] a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children" (O'Connor 183).
There would be more of an effect on the audience at the time, as it
Mrs. Simpson- Emma's mom who was in the book for a short time . She help out around the house . Even with the fathers chores like watch the slaves .
A Comparison of Characters of Mr. Birling and Inspector Goole in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls is a play with lots of political messages as well as social messages. J. B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen to be a good way to go. It was a common way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was to influence the unconvinced in society.
John Proctor when they meet in a scene in act one. Although it as been
The secondary characters were Inspector Frank Bumstead, Dr. Daniel Poe Schreber, Emma Murdoch, Mr. Rain, Mr. Sleep, Mr. Quick, Mr. Wall, and all the rest of the Strangers that weren’t named. Frank Bumstead plays the role of an inspector. Dr. Schreber is Murdoch’s source. He helps him always stay one step ahead of the Strangers. He also works for them but secretly provides information to Murdoch. Emma is John Murdoch’s wife. She played a part of triggering Murdochs suspiciousness when she told him she was his wife, and he didn’t know. The rest of the Strangers such as Mr. Wall and the ones that weren’t named work with Mr.
Because this novel follows the "Who Done It" theme, there are the few obvious characters. 1) The inspector, always trying to get an accusation across as to who the murderer is(of course never correct). 2) The doctor, Devon Island's answer to the question nobody ever asked. 3) The old married couple (Mr. + Mrs. Rogers), always passionate to others, until a guest discovers an eerie secret.
Act 1 scene 1: in act 1 scene 1 we see servants of the Capulet house
...e characters such as Utterson, the maid and Jekyll. They are all seen as representations of the different elements that occur in the era. Utterson was a well-respected man of the middle class, the maid was a women of the working class and Dr. Jekyll was a polite and genial man who worked in the middle class just like his old pal Utterson.
Finestein, Miss Stuart, and Mr. Banerji. These three people all faced persecution. Mrs. Finestein, Elaine’s Jewish neighbor, faced the horrors of World War II. Miss Stuart, Elaine’s former teacher, was exiled from Scotland. Mr. Banerji was an Indian student of her father’s.
The second individual is Ann. Wolff does not divulge Ann's everyday character, but displays Ann's "indifference" to her Husband's assessment of the subject ...
The book A Man of the People is a postcolonial view on politics that is written by the author Chinua Achebe. There is a set stage of corruption, embezzlement, adulatory and bribes which all tie to the political arena that is described in the book. The political office won is has been merely a tool for the politician to secure wealth and control over a society being robbed for the self interest one mans greed. There are modern aspects of political campaigning. This postcolonial palace as some of the modern technologies we have today and some that we do not use. There is some major political difference from what was analyzed in the other book written by Chinua Achebe called Things Fall Apart. There are also some traditional similarities between the two books like polygamy and ideology of honor.
Several new characters are introduced in the central scenes. Their purpose is primarily to develop the plot and to shape the audience’s opinion of Faustus by showing how he interacts with those characters and by drawing parallels to him. The two most normal characters in the comic scenes could be said to be Robin and Rafe, featured in scenes 6 and 8. They can be seen to be used by Marlowe in scene 6 to show how easily the common man can become distracted by magic and could be a subtle warning to the audience of Faustu...