How Do The Characters in An Inspector Calls Reflect 1912 Society?

How Do The Characters In An Inspector Calls Reflect 1912 Society?

J.B Priestley, born in 1894 in Bradford. He went to Bradford Grammar

School but did not decide to go to University but to follow his

passion for writing, first he wrote articles for the local London

papers before going on to be a playwright. He joined the army in 1914

at the age of 20. After being on the frontline in the Second World

War, Priestley became very political and started to involve his

political opinions in his work, as in 'An Inspector Calls' which he

wrote in the second week after the Second World War which only took

him a week to finish. He put his message across to the audience

through the play, which states that people of all the social classes

must learn to get along with each other since everyday is spent

together.

The play 'An Inspector Calls' is set in 1912 but written in 1945. The

characters reflect the society of 1912 in many ways. There are six

main characters that reflect 1912 society and one character, the

Inspector, who takes control and who basically expresses the opinions

of Priestley. The Birling family are the stereotypical upper class

family of 1912, they own a 'large suburban house', the father of the

family is a wealthy businessman and all have high social status.

Mr Arthur Birling is the man of the house he has his wife Sybil, his

son Eric and his daughter Sheila. He is a hard headed businessman,

only concerned with wealth, profit and social status. He reflects a

stereotypical upper class businessman of 1912 because the husband

would go out to work, run the business and earn the money. Mr Birling

is the person who got the Birlings their high social position, this is

all he cares about for example when he realises that Eric stole money

from his office he says, "I've got to cover this up as soon as I can.

You damned fool" here he shows how concerned about his social

position he is.

This is what Priestley gets at. Priestley is annoyed about the fact

that the upper-class businessman, such as Birling, had no outlook on

others, mainly the working class, and Priestley tries to get his

message across to the audience that people in Birling's position

should not act as arrogantly as he and realise the value of others

across the community. Mr Birling thinks very highly of himself and it

shows especially where he talks about the First World War and how war

was impossible, "Just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two, or a