The Effects of the Dramatic Devices used by JB Priestly in An Inspector Calls
JB Priestley’s Play of ‘An Inspector Calls’ is about a family called
the Birlings. They are spending a happy evening celebrating the
engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft, a marriage that will
result in the merging of two successful local businesses. In addition,
just when everything seems to be going so well, they receive a
surprise visit from an Inspector Goole who is investigating the
suicide of a young girl. The questions he asks to each character are
relating to the case, this reveals that they all have secrets that
link them to the tragedy.
The main core of the play is about the investigation of the Inspector
into the death of Eva smith. Moreover, it is really a way of putting
across the author’s political thoughts. Priestley has put his own
political message across and he has used the characters in the play to
do this. Priestly has also used the Birling family and the
investigation into their part in her downfall, to make it less like a
straight forward political speech, and a way to engage the audience
and win their empathy.
The most distinguishable dramatic technique used is the way the
characters show the author’s way of thinking, in which they act. This
can be seen through each member of the family, therefore each one has
a special role representing to us, something that Priestley is trying
to destroy. To embark on, the first character is ‘the man of the
house’, Mr Arthur Birling. Mr Birling seems to be a rich, irritable,
self-centred person. Birling is very much confident in himself; he
feels that his success from his small busine...
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...e father of Daisy/Eva’s child. Eric enters ‘looking extremely
pale and distressed’. When Act three begins time has not moved on, and
they are all in the same positions. Priestley teases the audience
again and makes them wait for Eric’s confession.
The historical content of ‘An Inspector Calls’ is that it was written
in 1944 and it was staged the year the Second World War ended. This
was when there was a social divided and now there is not. We could
blame the Birlings for the war. The play might have been set in the
past, however, it was the propose of the future. After Priestley had
finished the play he sent it to Moscow, where it received a world
premiere. Moscow was the home of Communism and an experience in the
equality that Priestley believed in. The play fits the mood of 1945 in
calling for major social change.
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.
This caused workers to become better organised and strikes were becoming more frequent as they demanded better conditions and higher pay. J.B. Priestley was writing the play for a middle class audience and was trying to speak up for the working class by showing how the Birlings and Gerald Croft were all involved in making a young working class girl's life a misery. Priestley wants to show us that we have a responsibility to others to act fairly and without prejudice and that we do not live in isolation. Our actions affect others.
At the start of the play, we are introduced to the Birlings who are no
A Comparison of Characters of Mr. Birling and Inspector Goole in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
Wells, both of whom references are made to in the opening pages of the play. A lot of the tension in the play is between Birling and the Inspector, both of who are powerful figures in the household and are both vying for dominance, creating a lot of tension. This is symbolic of the global struggle between capitalism and socialism, the Inspector represents Priestley's socialist views, and Birling, the antithesis of the Inspector represents capitalist views, which is made clear through his speech "the interests of Capital steadily increasing prosperity." When the Inspector is there, Birling is very fast to drop the blame on someone else, insisting "I can't accept any responsibility" which is a complete contrast of what the Inspector says, telling the family to "share the blame among yourselves when I have left" This constant conflict, which is often at the heart of the dramatic genre itself, makes sure there is tension whenever the two characters are talking to each other. This conflict is not the only one within the play.
Priestley explores the relationships between men and women as he shows that the Birlings look at people's gender to judge them. Sheila is a representation of stereotypical girls during that time period, who obsess over pretty clothing and expensive things. As when she gets the ring, she describes it as "a beauty". Moreover, Priestley shows that men have a higher status than women and they make all the decisions as Sheila asks Gerald "is it the one you wanted me to have?" Furthermore, in the play, it's shown that the expectations of women were to act innocent and pure and that they should seek protection from "unpleasant and disturbing" things. In addition, Priestley shows the stereotypical traits of women as when Sheila gets sacked, it's because
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.
He uses the downfall of Eva Smith and a chain of events to demonstrate this. This leads to a very convincing and well-devised play, which puts across JB Priestley’s views clearly and precisely. In Edwardian Britain there was a great difference in the roles of men and women in society and the outlook of what and was not accepted differed substantially. A prime example of this in the play is when Mr Birling says ‘Nothing to do with you, Sheila.
The history of the time the play was written helps us to understand the views and the feelings expressed by Priestley in the play. The inspector transfers Priestley’s views and he shows the difference in social classes at the time. A gap which he wants to diminish. He illustrates the reason for this in the play, via the inspector, where he outlines the ways each of the Birlings have influenced someone from a completely different background and social class. This is the way Priestley viewed pre-war England.
The play also conveys a strong political message. The play encourages the idea of socialism, a society in which responsibility and community are essential, also a place where the community all work together and are responsible for their actions. This is in contrast to capitalism. JB priestly wrote the play in 1945, but it was set in 1912 just before the war, it was later performed in 1946. The play was written after World War I and World War II, Priestley used this to his advantage, it makes the audience feel awful after what has just happened, the majority of the audience would have either lived through one or both of the wars.
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.
Birling is presented as a self-centred capitalist very early on in the play. His pleasure in the marriage of his daughter is purely for his own profit. "Now you've brought us together and perhaps we may look forward to a time when Crofts and Birling are no longer competing but are worki...
On overall, Priestley has presented the two characters, Arthur and Sheila Birling as completely differently. He wanted to match the story to the historical context of the 1910’s, but he has done this differently with Sheila. This is because the play was written in 1946 and the world had two wars and has started to comprehend the strength of community. She is the young generation of the 1910’s this means in a few years down the line, a war is going to break out and if they keep making the same mistake over and over again, it’s not going to turn out any better, by this, we see what happens in the second world war. This is why Sheila has been presented so that she understands consequences of what might happen if we don’t pull ourselves together.
was genuine and this allows the audience to almost predict their own ending; how will the family react to the arrival of the real Inspector? Will they acknowledge this as a chance to admit to their mistakes or will they try and conceal their guilt? I thoroughly enjoyed studying An Inspector Calls and have learned a great deal about how society has changed and how moral ideals have evolved over time. I found the play effective although because of the way in which society has developed Priestley's morals may not be applicable to life today. As wealth and power have become increasingly more important socialist feelings of responsibility for one another have been progressively weakened.