An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
This play was written in 1945 the year World War II finished but the
story itself is set in 1912, in which conservative forces continually
portrayed the working classes as a threat to capitalism, and
capitalists such as Arthur Birling, who is the prime example of a
wealthy industrialist. Due to this, the backward-looking government
resisted creating any reforms to help the working classes many of
which were not able to buy enough food to survive. Most of the nation
was considered as the working class.
However in contrast 1945 was a time of great optimism and of a desire
not to repeat the mistakes of the past - since 1914 there had been two
world wars and a terrible Depression. Social barriers had been
abolished by the wars; everyone was forced to pull together and
support their country. By setting the play in 1912 Priestley is
reminding a 1945 audience of an era long gone that should never be
returned to. The strong socialist message of the play ('we don't live
alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other',
says the Inspector) is Priestley's way of conveying his support for
socialist principles; they were the way forward, towards a 'brave new
world' in 1945.
The play starts with an apparently normal scene from Brumley, a
fictional industrial city in 1912. The Birling family are an
upper-middle-class family and they are celebrating their daughter,
Sheila's engagement to the wealthy Gerald Croft. However, there are
several hints of unease which include Mrs Birlings stage directions
'her husband's social superior' reproaches Mr. Birling after he slips
up by complim...
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... mystery (why Eva killed herself) and the
audience are left clues as to 'whodunit'. However since none of the
characters have done anything illegal the main function of the play is
a moral one.
We never see Eva Smith therefore we cannot pass judgement on her as an
individual. All we are allowed to see is the way she is exploited so
the only way we are able to view her is as the embodiment of the
working classes. The fact that all of the characters are highly
symbolic enables us to view this not only as a play about the Birling
family, but about the whole of society, and our own flaws.
It is due to this that the play is still relevant today. In my
opinion, 'An Inspector Calls' will never cease to be relevant,
challenging and controversial. There will always be Eva Smiths because
there will always be Mr Birlings.
The story of Eva Smith is a dramatic one. JB Priestley is full of good
This coursework focuses on how each character contributes to the suicide of a poor girl Eva Smith/Daisy Renton.
J. B. Priestly was born in 1894 in Bradford and he died on the 14th of
event yet he chose to put his business first. This should be a part in
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley In the introduction of Act One, we are given a few brief details about
one – and so long as he does that he won’t come to much harm. But the
worked for him and asked for a pay rise and was fired from her job by
or two, or a few German officers have too much to drink and begin to
talks with. He is a man who has come to the Birling's house to do his
especially for a woman. Even if a woman did get a job they would get
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley "An Inspector calls," by J. B. Priestley was written in 1946 and set in 1912. Priestley was a politician and a socialist who believed in equality and equilibrium for all, sex, race and class. Priestley had a long but arduous life, 1894-1984. He lived through both world wars, the unsinkable Titanic sank in 1912, the general strike in 1926, labour government resigning in 1931, and the two destructive atom bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Priestley deliberately set the play in 1912 because the audience watching the play had to have lived through all of this and would have empathised with him.
in jeopardy than how he may have driven a young girl down a spiral to
upon so many levels. On the surface it is a simple tale of how one man
Birlings, as they find out that they have all played a part in a young
make him a better writer, and he felt that he 'must spend at least the