An Inspector Calls by John Priestley "An Inspector calls" was set in 1917, a time of contentment prior to World War 1. This smugness is reflected in the Birling family but is soon disturbed by the inspector. We realise this character is far more than an ordinary policeman from the very beginning. The audience recognises this because of his abrupt arrival, his name (Goole) and the way his behaviour changes the mood of the party. At the beginning of the play in the stage directions it says "the lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder." This is changing the atmosphere. Priestley says that he has a "disconcerting habit" of looking at people, making it obvious that Priestley intended the inspector to be seen as sinister. The Birlings feel that they have only the need to bother with themselves and not care about anyone else this Priestley underlines with the "sharp" sound of a doorbell. At this point the family is having a party to celebrate the engagement of Gerald and Sheila. Birling sees this narrow minded, as a business arrangement. The inspector has been given the job of objecting Birling's philosophy. He goes about his questioning in a fairly menacing manner, although superficially he is always correct. A hint of this is when he is keeping the photograph away from Gerald and Eric and after being asked by Gerald if there was any reason he could not see the picture, he replies, "There might be." All the Inspector's answers are said in a non-definite fashion. So no one actually knows where he or she stands with him. Progressing later in the play we see he prefers to ... ... middle of paper ... ... World Wars. If we see this play metaphorically it doesn't matter who the Inspector is, instead we look at what he is representing. The Inspector talks about millions of Eva and John Smiths suggesting that the dead girl represented other victims in society. The Birlings stand for the bad qualities in humanity e.g. greed and lack of charity and Priestley suggests that we need to look after everyone in society. The ending is ambiguous. If the Inspector is a supernatural being this is suggested by his melodramatic entrance and prophetic speeches. Inspector Goole is quite portentous. Priestley aimed for his role to connect a series of unrelated events and bring a fellow creature to destruction. The Inspector could have been a sprit of conscience that belonged to everyone's guilt so it becomes a very powerful character
Priestley mainly uses the characters in the play to present his views, especially Mr and Mrs Birling, to present his ideas about class and society. In the Birling family, Mrs Birling is the most upper class, and is always referring to the lower class female factory workers such as Eva Smith as ‘girls of that class’. She seems to think that working class people are not humans at all.
He was particularly scathing about the class system and the extreme contrasts of wealth and poverty prevalent at that time. He also disapproved of the selfishness within the individual and the fact that many people were only concerned with their own power, profit and gain. Priestley powerfully highlighted the exploitation of women and through the character of Eva Smith, he illustrated the rights that women were beginning to voice in society. Finally, Priestley used the different characters in his play to show the how the sins of greed, pride and selfishness have so corrupted society that the individual has become oblivious to the consequences of their actions, in this case culminating in the death of Eva Smith. Although 'Inspector Calls' is set in 1912, it was first written in 1945 and produced on the lst October 1946, just after World War 11.
J.B. Priestley's Inspector Calls. An Inspector Calls is a play set in spring 1912. The writer, J. B. Priestly, tries to build up a view of Mr Birling through the set. stage directions and in his speeches.
A Comparison of Characters of Mr. Birling and Inspector Goole in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
The Dramatic Techniques J.B. Priestley Used to Create and Develop Tension in Act one of An Inspector Calls
Socialism is one of the greatest messages that Priestley conveys. This message is spoken through the inspector. The Inspector represents Priestley’s strong moral views. Through the play, the Inspector’s character is shown as if he is Priestley’s image, and also shows that he is no ordinary Inspector. His character is shown as if he is more concerned with morality than legality, other than that of an ordinary Policeman/Inspector.
JB Priestley’s intent in ‘An Inspector Calls’ was to convey the attitudes of socialism to the minds of the society in the Edwardian Era as he was a passionate believer of the concept. Priestley has attempted this through the employment of ‘Inspector Goole’ in the play. In the play drama is displayed through a variety of methods for the interest of the audience and the communication of personal views from JB Priestley.
Priestley’s Main Aim in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ to enhance the message that ‘we don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’. This is something Priestly felt strongly about and he succeeded in representing his views through the character of the Inspector in the play itself. He wanted to communicate the message that our actions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, always affect others.
especially for a woman. Even if a woman did get a job they would get
into a little house just big enough to stand in. It gives you a great
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
Through his play Priestley endeavoured to convey a message to the audiences, that we could not go on being self obsessed and that we had to change our political views. He used the Birling family as an example of the Capitalist family that was common amongst the higher classes in 1912, who took no responsibility for other people and he showed this with the power of Socialism, represented by the inspector; the uneasy facade put on by the Birling family to cover up their real flaws and how they have treated those whom they considered to be lower class could not stand up to any scrutiny without shame for what had happened, showing that they know they have been wrong.
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.
Contemporary drama is the type of drama that represents social and political changes of the world in the 19th century - and that is exactly what ‘An Inspector Calls is’ - a microcosm of society; It was written by English dramatist J.B.Priestley to portray the insecurities of the society in the 1900’s and reiterate the message of collective social responsibility. He executed this by advocating his own view through the characters in ‘An Inspector Calls’ as each represented the pressures and pleasures of the social hierarchy and how they all had a part to play in Eva Smith’s suicide. Though each character's behaviour towards Eva Smith was outrageous, Mrs Birling’s part in the death and her reaction to it was prominent. This is due to various things and we see this as her character develops throughout the play.