J.B Priestly utilises the enigmatic and dominant character of Inspector Goole to unveil the classist hierarchal society of 1912 through his interrogative, scrutinising questions. Through cleverly paced structure, the Inspector illuminates the faults of the immutable class system of the period and strips away the veneer of respectability that the Birlings pride in their position. Uniting all the Birlings faults together by the affliction of the Everyman Eva Smith, the Inspector pursues their repentance in order to expose the faults of British 1912 society. The Inspector first makes his presence and intentions clear by interrupting Birling’s pompous speech with a ‘sharp ring of a front door bell’, cutting off Birling half way through an inconsiderate …show more content…
claim about how men should only look after and prioritise themselves. The adjective ‘sharp’ highlights the fact that his introduction is unexpected, as well as emphasising the fact that he is preventing Birling from going any further with his self-absorbed capitalist philosophy, so he can intervene and teach the prideful family a lesson. Despite not being a large, domineering man in appearance, the Inspector at once creates an ‘impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness’, a descriptive phrase implemented by Priestly, employing the tripling of three power connoting adjectives, including ‘purposefulness’ which accurately describes every word the Inspector later says, as it’s for the purpose of exposing them. Additionally, he is also shown to have the upper hand instantly after his arrival, not allowing any of the gathering to interrupt his confession seeking plans. From the outset of the play the is presented as an enigmatic man, who only wears a ‘plain, darkish suit of the period’.
This simplistic appearance accentuated by the basic adjective ‘plain’ that mirrors how the Inspector believes that appearance and materialistic value is less significant than moral value of a person, which is a stark contrast to the airs and duplicitous nature the Birlings incorporate into their personalities. Furthermore, the fact that he doesn’t wear a police uniform of the time, causes suspicion in the Birlings later, when they are desperate to exonerate their faults. Priestly uses a variety of stage directions to enhance the Inspectors speech and overall influence over the Birlings. He often speaks ‘impressively’ or ‘weightily’ with confidence, displaying his implacable nature which is useful for exposing their faults, constantly giving him the upper hand in interrogations. The Playwright presents Inspector Goole as a strong-minded socialist, that detests the common capitalist beliefs of 1912, hence his reasoning for interrupting Birlings speech, and the overall communal morals he conveys in his speech. Birling claims he was prejudiced from the start, ‘probably a Socialist or some sort of crank’, which portrays the fact that although it is clear to him the Inspector has come to present the socialist ideals, he still refuses to accept any moral value and change his ways, writing off the communal and fair man as a ‘crank’. Despite being constantly undermined by the Birlings, in addition to Birling trying to intimidate him, the Inspector remains implacable and an authoritative figure throughout the
play. The Inspector exposes the cruel actions of each of the characters in chronological order, warning the others his methods consist of ‘one enquiry at a time’. Birling, who he addresses first, swiftly attempts to intimidate the Inspector through shallow boasting about his higher-up connections, such as playing ‘golf with Colonel Roberts’, in the hope that the Inspector will shy and not point out his flaws. As it is the Inspector’s intention for the characters to improve their attitude, he leads Mr Birling on with summarising techniques in order to force him to confess, but when Mr Birling realises the Inspector has the upper hand, he ‘still can’t accept any responsibility’ , despite the Inspector, in addition to other characters like Sheila, insisting Eva did nothing wrong and it was just Birling’s self-absorbed, money-motivated actions, to which he replies ‘I don’t like your tone.’ In Mr Birlings interrogation, the Inspector clearly presents Mr Birling to the audience as the representation of the entire, business-prioritising capitalists, exposing the consequences of their actions in 1912 society. The Inspector reiterates that it’s ‘better to ask for the earth than take it’ which not only adds a layer of defensive in Eva Smith’s case, but additionally foreshadows Eric’s crime and abuse of power that he will later reveal. Due to her emotional reaction and clear repentance, the Inspector adopts a less harsh tone when exposing Sheila’s flaws. This is largely down to the fact she confesses easily, with hardly any provoking, which also makes the Inspector believe she’s ‘desperately sorry’, and together they explore the way she abused her position as a privileged, upper-class member of society to get her own way. He repeats the same technique used previously with her father, giving her prompts to confess such as ‘so you used the power you had’ to lead her to realise her mistakes, and the flaws she embodied in the period’s society. Sheila describes his method to her family as ‘giving us the rope so that we’ll hang ourselves’, a perceptive metaphor that not only entails his method but also the fact he has taught her a lesson and she is now warning the rest of her obtuse family to be honest and change. Later, Priestley embellishes her perceptive nature as she takes on the role of the Inspector, showing that even with the absence of the Inspector after his departure, he has managed to employ Sheila as the ‘impressionable’ younger generation to pursue exposure in her parents cruel deeds. Gerald is the most forthcoming with his confession as he gives himself away immediately, so there is no need for the Inspector to corner him. Despite initially claiming he doesn’t ‘come into this suicide business’, the omniscient force of the Inspector makes the audience aware of the fact that the younger generation, when raised with the same values as previous generations, can be just as self-absorbed as their parents, and don’t change. The Inspector illuminates Gerald’s hypocritical side when he tries to protect Sheila from ‘unpleasant and disturbing’ things, which ironically, Gerald made Eva Smith suffer. He uses Gerald’s inconsiderate and self-serving actions to illustrate how upper class men could so easily take advantage of working class women, and portray it as honourable, when it is in fact, shown to be fuelled by Gerald’s landed-class ulterior motives. Inspector Goole receives the most resistance from the household matriarch Sybil Birling. Correlating her husband’s attitude, she is deliberately obtuse, originally denying any involvement. Haughtily thinking the middle-class Inspector has ‘no power’ to make her accept impunity
Discuss Priestley's depiction of the Birling household and Gerald Croft, prior to the arrival of Inspector Goole In this submission I hope to fully discuss Priestley's depiction of the Birling household and Gerald Croft, prior to the arrival of Inspector Goole. The play is set in the fictional town of Brumley, an industrial town in the North Midlands. It is evening in the town, in the spring of 1912. At the moment the play starts the characters are celebrating the engagement between Gerald Croft and the Birling family's only daughter Sheila. They are all very pleased with themselves and are enjoying the occasion.
Arthur Birling is glad because Gerald is the son of his business competitor and it will be a merger of businesses. Through the middle of the dinner there is a knock at the door. This is where we meet inspector Goole.
A Comparison of Characters of Mr. Birling and Inspector Goole in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
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.
The first impression of Arthur Birling is in the initial stage directions, when he is described as ‘a heavy looking, rather portentous man in his fifties.’ The fact that he is described as ‘heavy looking’ and ‘portentous’ suggests that he has a fairly comfortable lifestyle, and has an inflated opinion of his own importance. Priestley has done this to fit the typical man of the house during the 1910’s.
The Inspector had a very socialist views, he was the complete opposite to MrBirlingwho was conservative. The skeptics are the most conservative. The Inspector made his views clear in the play, when Mr Birlingtells. the Inspector that he refused to pay the workers 25 shillings a week. The Inspector asks, "Why?"
At this point everyone is in a happy mood, however their mood soon changes when the inspector arrives, the play shows Mr Birling as an inpatient powerful businessman, the play also shows that Mr Birling is a really proud man he is proud of himself and what he has accomplished. Almost the first thing Mr birling says to the inspector is “I was a alderman for years-and lord mayor two years ago-and I’m still on the bench-so I think I know Bromley police officers pretty well.” Mr Birling is trying to emphasise his status and how important he is to the inspector. His first intention is to make a good impression rather than finding out why the inspector has called; when Mr Birling does ask why the inspector has called Mr Birling soon becomes impatient when the inspector does not fully answer the question. This shows that Mr Birling is an impatient man and it also shows that Mr Birling thinks he is...
In conclusion, Priestley presents Birling as a pompous, morally corrupt ruthless patriarch from the industrial ruling class. Through his presentation of Birling, he undermines the views for which Birling stands namely capitalism and conservativism. The purpose of his play ‘An Inspector Calls’ was to tell the post war audience of 1945 that the patriarchal Edwardian Era was not a time to be envied, and it was unwise to think of returning to that era. He displays the younger generation as the one which is sympathetic and the one which is prepared to change its ways and admit its wrongs. Priestley’s presentation of Birling highlights his own thoughts on the political issues of the time.
Although her contribution to the play, overall, is limited, her presence in this passage, and in the home, is a constant reminder of the more unfortunate, lower classes of the British society in 1912, which will always exist in the nation if the more conservative, individualistic people – such as the Birlings – are kept in power in Britain. Symbolically, she is the one to open the door to the inspector (i.e. the poorer people are the only ones who welcome the arrival of socialism in the country), despite the ignorance of Mr. Birling towards his [the inspector’s] presence (i.e. the richer, individualistic people in 1912 are reluctant to allow socialism to gain power/enter the politics of Britain – at the cost of their own wealth and prosperity). Edna is also evidence of the richer society’s ignorance and rudeness towards the lower classes and, in a sense, is seen as Priestley’s physical embodiment within the
The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is set in 1912 – the Edwardian era. The play focuses upon the Birling family and their changing relationships. The family is headed by the “prosperous manufacturer” Arthur Birling. During this era, social position was far more significant than it is today; Arthur Birling becomes the depiction of a typical Capitalist “hard headed businessman”. However, this era also marked a critical period of change and a rise in socialist activity. With the Labour Party beginning to have an impact on the political life of the country, the rights of workers that maintained Capitalist businesses were becoming slightly more apparent. Through, ‘An Inspector Calls’, Priestley makes it fervently clear that social change must be forced upon those in power such as Arthur Birling.
seems to get in a bit of trouble now and then. Gerald backs up Mr.
The Inspector, straight form his introduction, is commanding and authoritative. Upon his entrance he creates, “…at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.”(PG.11) The Inspector continues to create this impression as he progresses through his speeches and through his interrogation of the family. The Inspector remains confident, sturdy and composed, while people around him crumble and fall to pieces. His ‘solidity’ is proven by the fact he remains on task despite numerous attempts from Birling to digress from the points he is making. The Inspector is told to appear ‘purposeful’; this is shown where he explains to Birling that Birlings way of thinking “Every man must only look out for himself,” is not the case, and all warps of society are interlinked. The view is best illustrated in the Inspectors final speech, where he says, “We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”(p.56). This idea is one that Priestley, himself believed in deeply, and many of Priestleys writing shared this very theme.
During the play, Priestley portrayed these views in the form of the Inspector. The. He uses the Inspector to act as a mouthpiece, displaying and uncovering the lies and deceitfulness of the Birling family and showing the moral and social message of the play. He conveys that the actions and the thoughtlessness of the upper classes have repercussions on the lives of the lower classes. The play is set in the 1912, but was first performed in 1946.
In the play, he seems to know so much than anyone else and also knows more about Eva Smith and how the Birling’s are involved in her suicide, yet the girl died a few hours ago. In reality, no investigator could have the ability to know that much in such a short time. Goole disguises the knowledge on some sort of diary left by Eva (Act 1). Lastly, Inspector Goole may appear unreal in the form of a god or a prophet who has been sent to give warnings and instructions. This is depicted in Priestley and Bezant (Act 3) in Goole’s last speech. He speaks in a language similar to the on used in the biblical Old Testament. He uses a serious and threatening tone similar to a person preaching to an audience. Quoting an instance, “Fire, blood and anguish…” (Act 3) makes him sound like a prophet of God. He warns everyone that God will come and those who are evil will suffer punishment. This last evidence points out that the inspector is not
Inspector Goole has a big impact on the whole of the Birling family, and Gerald; however he has most impact on Sheila and Eric. They are the youngest, supposedly most innocent, characters, yet it is the exposure to the ‘other half’ - those living in poverty – which brings Sheila to understand the situation which E...