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How does Priestley present the character of the inspector in An Inspector Calls
Jb Priestley significants in an inspector calls
How does Priestley present the character of the inspector in An Inspector Calls
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In 'An Inspector Calls', by J B Priestley, Mr Arthur Birling is an affluent industrialist in addition to being the father of Eric and Sheila Birling. Mrs Birling, his wife, if of a higher social level than Mr Birling himself, although Mr Birling lives an established socially-distinguished life: “You'll apologize at once ... I'm a public man”, demonstrates Mr Birling attempting to use his social power against the inspector but in futility. The Inspector reminds Mr Birling that Birling is not just responsible for his actions, but for his failure to see that his public position entails a duty of responsibility to other people. Interestingly, this attitude draws on the traditional notion of the upper classes taking responsibility for the welfare of the lower classes, but in the newer, more democratic life of Britain, the "public men" are not necessarily of higher social class even if they have more public privileges; at any rate, their position of power comes with responsibility. Nonetheless, the audience knows little of Birling’s nature or profounder details regarding his habits. Howeve...
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.
“You know that awful feeling when your heart seems to jump, and stop — as though it were hanging in the air midway between its proper place and the ceiling? That’s how I felt” (Trease .65). Meet Peter Brownrigg, due to his unjust act he has been forced to leave his hometown. He is facing obstacles for his new journey which reveal character traits of Peter Brownrigg in the book Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease. Peter Brownrigg is a fourteen-year-old who lives in Cumberland, he is the novel’s narrator as well as the protagonist. Since Peter can handle his own complication matters with bravery, he will do anything to keep the people he cares most about safe. He is not a person who will give up, he will fight for the things that are right. This
I know you are expecting to read just another boring essay that some 8th grade student wrote; you are one hundred percent right but lets try to make this essay more interesting than average, lets have some fun. If you were captured by indians then forced to live an outdoor and wildlife what would you think?If it was me I know I would freak out and go crazy! My character's name is Francis Tucket (Mr.Tucket) from the book Mr.Tucket by Gary Paulsen. This fourteen year old boy is very adventurous and thrilling to read about. He lives with this crazy man named Mr. Grimes. Mr. Grimes becomes Francis’s mentor and companion; he basically shows and teaches Francis everything he knows. Mr. Grimes has only one arm but he is still capable of doing anything that someone with two arms can do. The character Francis Tucket that Gary Paulsen put together is outstanding, he is very bold, confident, brave, and intrepid.
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.
The Inspector, straight form his introduction, is commanding and authoritative. Upon his entrance he creates, “…at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.”(PG.11) The Inspector continues to create this impression as he progresses through his speeches and through his interrogation of the family. The Inspector remains confident, sturdy and composed, while people around him crumble and fall to pieces. His ‘solidity’ is proven by the fact he remains on task despite numerous attempts from Birling to digress from the points he is making. The Inspector is told to appear ‘purposeful’; this is shown where he explains to Birling that Birlings way of thinking “Every man must only look out for himself,” is not the case, and all warps of society are interlinked. The view is best illustrated in the Inspectors final speech, where he says, “We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”(p.56). This idea is one that Priestley, himself believed in deeply, and many of Priestleys writing shared this very theme.
J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls Britain in the early 1900's was a class-ridden society. Life was not
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.
Sir Robert Chiltern is a man who has invented a life for himself. He reveals this aspect of his personality as he says, “I had the double misfortune of being well-born and poor, two unforgivable things these days.” (Act 2; 23) Robert did not come from an old, wealthy family. Thus, he acquired the drive and ambition that poverty demands and that his social and professional circles lack. Other characters in the play view Robert as the ideal: a perfectly well-respected man with a clean slate. Little do they know, the skeleton in Sir Robert’s closet is the origin of his success. In his youth, he received nefarious advice from a mentor, and therefore came to possess a la...
In the mystery genre one can agree that for a mystery to function as it does, it must have elements like a case that must be solved, a detective or someone who is playing as the detective, and, in most cases, murder. But in the short story “A Scandal in Bohemia,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a social scandal is a part of the theme, which is also seen in “Witness for the Prosecution,” by Agatha Christie and “Amber Gate,” by Walter Mosley. Just as a murder or a crime disrupts an aspect of society, a social scandal functions the same way. Normally, what we view as the “private life” and “public life” is kept separately because private life operates as the “fantasy” of the two worlds by creating the image of a “normal life”, which consists of a good and happy husband and wife, the ability to be financially stable, social wellbeing and even in some cases a child. On the other hand, the public life consists of the poor, who are considered to be liars and cheaters, crime, murder, and heinous women. The private life predominately functions in favor of the man, more so a white male, and when the public, or characteristics of the public, alters the established private life, then his happiness ceases and the private fantasy is then disrupted or destroyed. Specifically speaking, the marginalized threaten the exposure of the social hierarchy by disrupting the domestic private fantasy by unmasking its instability.
The first impression of Arthur Birling is in the initial stage directions, when he is described as ‘a heavy looking, rather portentous man in his fifties.’ The fact that he is described as ‘heavy looking’ and ‘portentous’ suggests that he has a fairly comfortable lifestyle, and has an inflated opinion of his own importance. Priestley has done this to fit the typical man of the house during the 1910’s.
Women have often dealt with the double standard when it came down to the difference between men and women. In fact, women only gained their right to vote in Canada in 1929; excluding the province of Quebec. Men are usually seen to be the superior sex, and also the leaders of significant matters. However, women on the other hand tend to be followers, or the lesser version of a man. “A Jury of Her Peers” written by Susan Glaspell is a short story that deals with this moral issue. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are called into an investigation with their spouses for the murder of their neighbor, Mr. Wright. The men go upstairs to find a motive to convict Mrs. Wright, and ask the two women to stay in the kitchen. The women are seen to be inadequate and are unable to find clues, therefor they stay where they belong; ironically, the women find the only clue that could convict Mrs. Wright for the murder. This paper will examine the significance of women’s role, and the relationship between women and men in a patriarchal society.
Margaret is an intelligent, articulate, and ambitious woman who desires to rise up in social status by marrying a man of higher social rank. She attends to those above her, in hopes of elevating her status as she becomes closer to the upper-class. As a minor character, she plays a small yet crucial role in advancing Don John’s plot to slander Hero and spoil her wedding. As a lower-class character, Margaret serves as a foil to the rich girls, particularly Hero, who embodies every attitude and mindset Margaret does not. But she also offers an alternative perspective on the upper-class characters in the play. Because Margaret is victimized because of her social ambitions, punished for wanting to rise above her ...
In conclusion, Charles Dickens, a social critic of humble origins himself, has conveyed his conception of a true gentleman, which is such a good conception that it is commonly used in our society today. He shows that you can only be a true gentleman at heart and if you are not it will be revealed. Matthew Pocket’s metaphor that ‘No varnish can hide the grain of the wood; and that the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself’ very successfully delivers and summarises Dickens’ message, that no matter how much you try to, your true identity will always be revealed. It also effectively reinforces Dickens’ treatment of the Victorian preconception of a gentleman as misconstrued and mistakenly engrossed with social status, wealth, birth, and apparel.
In William Wycherley’s The Country Wife, William Wycherley enlightens the audience to capture several different ironical statements and questionable behaviors. The play fits perfectly into Greenwald’s definition of a comedy of manners: “[Critics] assert that a comedy of manners and the people who inhabit it represent the ostentatiously idle upper-class” (“Social Heirarchy” web). Wycherley also distinguishes several oddities in his characters not typically used to describe the upper-class. For example, Mr. Pinchwife, a wealthy newlywed husband, is so afraid that he is going to become a cuckold, that he does not allow his wife to leave the house (Wycherley act two). One of Wycherley’s goals in writing The Country Wife is to point out the flaws of society (“Q & A” web). Wycherley understands that no one is perfect and that a person’s virtues can be altered if pressures and outside influences become prominent. This is precisely how Wycherley uses Mrs. Margery Pinchwife’s character. Mrs. Pinchwife, a virtuous woman, still succumbs to the immorality of the city of London. Wycherley develops characters who precisely bring out Mrs. Pinchwife’s flaws. Mrs. Pinchwife takes the risks of public shame and a damage reputation to have an affair with Mr. Horner.
Throughout act one this makes Mr. Birling increasingly angry with the inspector as Mr. Birling believes that “if they are poor, it is of their own fault”. This is because Priestley is trying to emphasis the theme of responsibility throughout the whole play, and Mr. Birling refuses to take any for Eva Smith. This is further emphasised by the word “fault” which suggests that Eva Smith is responsible for her situation. The only concern about Eva Smith he had was the possible damage to his reputation and the “public scandal” it could cause. This makes Mr. Birling come across as a deeply unpleasant character to the audience throughout Act one.