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How does Priestley explore the importance of social class in An Inspector Call
How does priestley present the importance of social class in an inspector calls
The understanding of inspector calls
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An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
Title: How does Priestley's play give an audience a dramatic
experience in which they are made to think about how people ought to
live their lives?
Answer with reference to the script and any productions you may have
seen or heard about.
J.B. Priestley wrote 'An Inspector Calls' in 1945, at the end of the
Second World War and set the 20th Century drama in 1912, just before
the First World War. Many of the audience of the play therefore would
have lived through the horrors of the First World War and all through
the Second. J.B Priestley may have chosen to set 'An Inspector Calls',
at a pre-war date to compare society at these two points in time. The
precise setting of the play is on the night of Sunday 14th April 1912,
the evening the Titanic sunk. The Titanic was a symbol of the hopes
and achievements of the age, and was considered unsinkable. Perhaps
Priestley chose this date to symbolise the Inspector as the Iceberg
that destroys the Birling family's ship.
The Birling family are a rich, upper class family who have profited
from the Industrial Revolution. The Birling's are represented in 'An
Inspector Calls' as the uncaring class of the rich people in Britain.
In 1912, the date the play is set, Britain was strictly divided into
social classes; the Upper and Middle classes who took two thirds of
the countries income and the working class who numbered around
thirty-nine million and were often paid less than one pound per week.
Eva Smith and Edna, represent the working class and the 'do not
have's' of society in the play.
Mr Birling, the head of the house, runs his own successful comp...
... middle of paper ...
... to make the audience think about what
happened throughout the play and how they are responsible for the
actions that they take in everyday life. The audience therefore leaves
the theatre feeling slightly guilt about the way in which they treat
people but optimistic that there will not be another world war and
that things will change if they all put together, like they did in the
First World War.
The message that 'An Inspector Calls' presents, in my opinion is still
relevant to a 21st Century audience. Although we are not on the brink
of another world war and we live in a Socialist Britain, the message
the Inspector gives is of taking Social Responsibility for the actions
we take and makes us think about the way we live our lives; this
message is presented through a thoroughly stimulating and exciting
experience.
J B Priestley clearly had a strong moral conscience which led him to hold socialist beliefs wanting to bring about change against the capitalists who were exploiting the poor working class. In 'An Inspector Calls' Priestley cleverly uses dramatic techniques, lighting and stage directions to produce an emotionally charged setting to bring home a very important message to the correct society of his day and remains a challenge to the society in which we live in now.
and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of a body. We are
This coursework focuses on how each character contributes to the suicide of a poor girl Eva Smith/Daisy Renton.
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley In the introduction of Act One, we are given a few brief details about
The Reflection of J. B. Priestley's Political and Philosophical Beliefs in An Inspector Calls In 1945 J. B. Priestley wrote the play "An Inspector Calls". It is a very tense play; the audience are always on the edge of their seats. It is didactic as it conveys a social and moral meaning to the play.
An Inspector Calls' is primarily focused on he attitudes surrounding the higher classes in 1912, and how these attitudes can lead to actions with potentially devastating consequences. The attitudes are particularly aimed at women, especially those of working class status. In the play women are portrayed as second class citizens, after men. However the difference (e.g. in independence) between upper class men and women is greater than that of working class men and women.
In this essay I will examine how Priestly ends each act on a note of
Priestley's Social Message in An Inspector Calls The play an Inspector Call’s was written at the time of 1945 but is set in 1912. Priestley conveys a lot of social and important messages in this play. He conveys the messages through the character of Inspector Goole. One most important message that Priestley conveys is about Socialism.
satisfied. He talks a lot and likes the sound of his own voice. He's a
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.
JB Priestley uses dramatic devices to make An inspector calls a modern day morality play, to do this he uses dramatic devices, such as dramatic irony and tension in order to convey the message through the entire play. They are used accurately considering the time in which the play is set. Priestley also uses the characters as dramatic devices, they symbolise the dramatic devices, an example of this is Priestley makes us hate Mr. Birling because he symbolises capitalism, and in Priestley’s eyes capitalism is wrong. Throughout the pl...
Birlings, as they find out that they have all played a part in a young
J.B. Priestley wrote the play "An Inspector Calls" in 1945 and set it in 1912. These dates are both relevant because he wrote his play in a world emerging from the Second World War, at a time when people were getting nostalgic about pre-world war one. Priestley used his play to try and show people that the idea of a community in 1912 was gradually being washed away by the upper classes and that the world needed to change rather than return to the egotistical society that existed in pre war England.
The play "An Inspector Calls" was written by J.B Priestley in 1945, when the British people were recovering from over six years of constant warfare and danger. As a result of two world wars, class distinctions were greatly reduced and women had achieved a much higher place in society. It was due to this and a great desire for social change that Labour's Clement Attlee won a landslide victory over the conservative Winston Churchill. He nationalized the gas steel and electrical industries, established the NHS and introduced the Welfare State. The play was set in Brumley, a fictional industrial city, in 1912.The playwright believed passionately in the left wing perspective and his message is overtly political. He uses techniques such as "dramatic irony" and "direct mouthpieces", which define the genre of the play as non-illusory, to impart his left-wing message.
make him a better writer, and he felt that he 'must spend at least the