An Inspector Calls Act 1: What Do We Learn About The Birlings
We learn a lot about the Birling Family in The first act of J.B
Preistley's "An Inspector Calls". There are several themes that are
portrayed by the Characters but the two main themes highlighted are
the themes of denial and egocentricity. The Birlings are an upper
class almost aristocratic family and they look down on any one who is
below them in the social hierarchy.
We see evidence of this egocentricity when Sheila reveals how she got
Eva smith let go form her job simply because she was jealous of Eva's
aesthetic beauty. This highlights the type of person Sheila is, it
shows us she is selfish and bitter person. This is a major way in
which we see the upper class thinking about themselves all the time
and not about community. We also see this in the way Birling tries to
belittle the inspector by telling him that he was lord mayor and that
he was on the bench. The Birlings feed off their social status to earn
respect and even to make people timid towards them and Birling is a
prime example of this we learn that as well as being selfish he is
also very much in moral denial. He feels no remorse over the fact that
he fired Eva Smith unfairly and he is now in denial about his
involvement over her death. We learn that he is self-centred hard
headed and very narrow minded.
We also learn about Mrs B. she is very aristocratic and goes about her
business in a very snobbish and demeaning manner. We get evidence of
this when the inspector first addresses her and she reminds him that
he is in an authoritative position. she does this to try and put
people down to make herself feel better and more in control. She also
has a superiority complex . She reminds Gerald that they once had
royalty visit them because Gerald is a high socialite she feels he is
the perfect son in law. But in the process of doing this she puts hr
son Eric down as well and we get the feeling that she is not proud of
There would be more of an effect on the audience at the time, as it
and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of a body. We are
deeply saddening for everyone, but especially Lil. She conducted the band at his funeral in
the end of the Second World War. The play is set in 1912, just before
satisfied. He talks a lot and likes the sound of his own voice. He's a
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley "An Inspector calls," by J. B. Priestley was written in 1946 and set in 1912. Priestley was a politician and a socialist who believed in equality and equilibrium for all, sex, race and class. Priestley had a long but arduous life, 1894-1984. He lived through both world wars, the unsinkable Titanic sank in 1912, the general strike in 1926, labour government resigning in 1931, and the two destructive atom bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Priestley deliberately set the play in 1912 because the audience watching the play had to have lived through all of this and would have empathised with him.
in jeopardy than how he may have driven a young girl down a spiral to
The Inspector in An Inspector Calls Examine the function and symbolism of the Inspector in the play – An Inspector Calls, and explain how Priestly makes him dramatically effective Throughout the play ‘An Inspector Calls’, by J.B Priestley, the audience sees the role of a mysterious investigator who interrogates a powerful and upper-middle class family: The Birling's. Priestley uses the role of the Inspector to expose the characters in the play, and to put his own views across about the Birling’s and their conservative beliefs. The play was written in 1946 and set in the spring of 1912. This means that the audience would have known the future events (the two world wars). Therefore they are in a position to judge the characters beliefs.
the suicide of Eva Smiths death. The aim of the story is to, try to
And what of the children in our family? Shawn, Kelsey, Sarah, Michael, Emily and Matthew, you should take comfort knowing that your grandmother is in heaven right now, looking down on us.
J.B. Priestley wrote the play "An Inspector Calls" in 1945 and set it in 1912. These dates are both relevant because he wrote his play in a world emerging from the Second World War, at a time when people were getting nostalgic about pre-world war one. Priestley used his play to try and show people that the idea of a community in 1912 was gradually being washed away by the upper classes and that the world needed to change rather than return to the egotistical society that existed in pre war England.
I have decided to stage a section of the play from where Eric says "He
... Eva Smiths all over the world and that we are all members of one body
... may mean that if a person does not learn from their mistakes the first
The Message of An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley An Inspector CallsA moral crime has been committed against a girl