John B. Priestley: An Inspector Calls The play was written in 1912, which was also a year of high moral in Britain. The British people had a general feeling of optimism, they thought that technology would never stop advancing and that war would never occur. There was a huge difference in social classes and women were seen as inferior to men. By 1945 when the play was first performed the moral was much lower. There had just been two World Wars that had affected Britain quite severely. British citizens’ lifestyles had completely changed: Class distinctions had been greatly reduced and women had earned a more valued place in society. In this play the Inspector is there to show the Birlings that treating other people badly, no matter what class, was not the correct way to live. He thinks that the class system in Britain is wrong and that everybody should be treated equally by everyone else. This play is set out so that the Birling family represent the audience; it relates to things that we, the readers, have done ourselves. The play is trying to teach us that it is morally wrong to treat people the way in which the Birlings treated Eva Smith. This play is really a morality play, but is written in the genre of a detective play. The detective/inspector plays on the morals of the Birling family and also the audience of the play. It is designed to make us think about the way we live and the way that we treat other people. In the opening scene of the play the Birling family are holding a diner party to celebrate the engagement of Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft. This marriage will see two great business rivals come together. Even... ... middle of paper ... ...he Inspector arriving and leaving in the same fashion and the new Inspector coming over to ask questions about a girls suicide. With this twist it makes the audience think about if they want to sympathise with the Birling family or to be glad that they may not get away with murder. In my personal view I am glad that they are not getting away with it. It also brings about the question “will the inspectors questioning proceed and end in the same way as previously?” JB Priestley’s message is that there should be no ‘classes’ and that we should treat each other with the same amount of respect. This message is still relevant because the same things are still happening, we still treat others differently, maybe we look down on some people, and our actions may start a chain of events which will end up in a tragedy for someone.