An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestly

An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestly

The play, ‘An Inspector calls’ was written by J.B Priestly in 1945.

The play is set in 1912 shortly before the First World War and the

voyage of the famous titanic, which sank after being hit by an

iceberg. Many ironic references are made concerning these events for

example Mr Birling describes the titanic as,

“The Titanic-she sails next week-forty six eight hundred tons-and

every luxury-and unsinkable absolutely unsinkable”.

The play was later performed in 1946 when many political and social

views were different throughout society due to the influences of the

Second World War. The short structure and easily studied context maybe

one of the many reasons why it is read in classrooms today, it has

various outlooks and focuses on modern day issues as well as post war

antics and beliefs.

Priestly observes the historical context of time, place, and action in

his structure, making the audience interested from the beginning, the

time span of the play in performance corresponds with the actual time

the events presented would take to unfold in real life. The Birlings

dining room is constant throughout; characters do leave from the scene

but nothing irrelevant takes place to distract the audience’s

attention. As it is short and has a clear formation it is accessible,

therefore it is easily understood making it enjoyable to watch. The

progressive revelation and their desire to find out who finally drove

Eva Smith to suicide sustain the audience’s interest.

The first act introduces the characters and establishes the idea of a

happy, close united family. In retrospect, there are a number of hints

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...hought which he

described as unsinkable

He also commented on how he believed in 1940 there would be peace and

prosperity, he was wrong in 1940 the Second World War was taking

place. All of Mr. Birling’s visions were incorrect. After the

Inspector has left, he continues to ignore the shameful things that

his family has done. When it appears that the Inspector might have

been a hoax, he is happy to believe that everything is as it was a few

hours before, he even accuses Eric and Sheila as

“The younger generation who know it all”.

This is an example of his pride, he must think of his reputation.

J.B Priestly is attacking the privileges of class in the play. He is

saying that there should be more equality and we should not take our

life style for granted. We also should take responsibility for our

actions.