Themes in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
Inspector Goole acts as a conscience for all members of the Birling
family. His role is to teach the Birlings that every action has its
consequences and that thinking about only yourself, without taking
anyone else into consideration could result in dramatic consequences,
putting the family in a position that they’d rather not be in.
Priestly’s main concerns that he put across in the play were that
people didn’t realise that each uncaring action and or statement is
backed up with ensuing consequences. Priestley's main point is that
people must learn to feel a sense of personal responsibility, not just
for their own actions, but also for the way their actions affect
others. Whether they like it or not. The play actually goes further
than this, though, by pointing out that we all have such
responsibilities forced upon us: we do not have any choice about this;
it is a duty which we cannot shirk.
An Inspector Calls shows how the family each help to destroy a young
woman's life - Eva Smith through their selfish and callous attitudes
which results in her death. The characters in this play are archetypes
representing stereotypes of each section of society on a smaller
scale. We are shown the flaws in society allowing the disadvantaged to
live alongside the privileged. This play runs parallel to what was
happening to society at that time. Each uncaring action/statement is
backed up with ensuing consequences seen through the chronology of
events between 1912 and 1945.
An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 within a week of World War Two
ending but set in the year of 1912. This was the a...
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...Sheila. This puts
the first suspect into the audiences head, pushing them to read on,
trying to find out more about the families involvement in Eva’s death.
Conclusion
The audience’s interest is sustained not only by the progressive
revelations but by their desire to find out who, ultimately, was
responsible for driving Eva Smith to her suicide. Using his skilful
use of climaxes within the carefully controlled plot and enduring that
the audience are left on tenterhooks by each conclusion of every act,
Priestly manages to heighten the audience’s suspense throughout the
play.
I think the message JB Priestly is trying to get across in this play
is about the responsibility of people, who separately inflict on
another person offences, the sum of which drives that person to
suicide. A theme that always applies.
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.
Criticism in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley "An Inspector Calls" has been called a play of social criticism. What is being criticised. Explain some of the dramatic techniques which Priestley uses to achieve the play's effects. "An Inspector Calls" has been called a play of social criticism as Priestley condemned the many different injustices that existed in the society between the first and second world wars.
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.
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
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.
The whole family’s actions are the cause of Eva’s death however the message about responsibility the Inspector presents is only take on board by Eric and Sheila. In conclusion, Priestley clearly gets across his message of responsibility towards others in the play. A clever script cunningly executed points out Priestley’s views to the audience. ‘Responsibility’ is the focal point of the play and is consistently addressed at the end of each interrogation, but the Birlings fail to recognise this.
they have done even know they do not lead her to her suicide. But a
Birlings, as they find out that they have all played a part in a young
In this male dominated investigation, it is empathy that truly is the mark that allows the investigation to be solved from an unsuspected place. Void of empathy, nothing can genuinely be understood. Empathy is the foundation with which we can see the world and understand the reason behind everything whether for the good or bad. Condoning the action of an individual is not taking into account their situation or what other options were available to them considering any existed. Labeling a criminal is putting an individual into a category of black and white without considering the complexity of the matter or the many shades of gray the world presents. In the eyes of the law, Mrs. Wright was a murderer. To those who could empathize with her struggles she was a survivor—despite her wrongdoing. Justice is found in this play, or rather the term may be favored as mercy, that Mrs. Wright was a victim who believed in her heart she chose the only path that lead to
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.
Goole. Some the Birling family are used to show how we are not to act
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley as an Effective Piece Of Social Criticism As Well As An Enjoyable Theatrical Experience
An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 but set in 1912. The play shows the stark difference between 1912 and 1945. J. B. Priestley reveals the errors of society and the faults of capitalism as well as the bias of the upper class and social status. As a firm believer in the concepts of socialism, he uses this play to expose society’s poor attitudes to the working class of the period. The way they treat Eva Smith reflects on how many of the working class may have been treated by their social superiors. Eva was a victim in society as she was very low in the financial hierarchy as well as in reality where she was at the bottom of the classes. Women at that time were seen as being delicate, obedient to their husbands. The inspector is used to correct the
The Message of An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley An Inspector CallsA moral crime has been committed against a girl