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7. What is J. B. Priestley’s main message in inspector calls
7. What is J. B. Priestley’s main message in inspector calls
7. What is J. B. Priestley’s main message in inspector calls
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Responsibility in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
J.B Priestly wrote 'An Inspector Calls' just as the 2nd World War was
coming to an end in 1945. The play was based in the time just before
the 1st World War, around 1912. At this time the wealthy were
considered superior to the poor, all this had to change, though,
during the war, as all the classes were forced to mingle together in
the armed forces, evacuation centres and in air raid shelters. The
play shows all the members either accepting or rejecting
responsibility; in this essay I will explain this.
In the opening scene of 'An Inspector Calls', we see a contented Mr
Birling enjoying dinner whilst celebrating the engagement of his
daughter, Sheila Birling, to a respectable, very wealthy young man
Gerald Croft, son of Mr Birlings 'friendly' rival in business Sir
George Croft, of Crofts Limited. Mrs Birling and Eric Birling are also
present. Mr Birling is pontificating to the younger male characters.
Gerald really seems to agree with most of Mr Birling's views on life
and the future. Eric doesn't seem to agree with his father as much
though, and often can appear to be rude to his father. Speaking to his
father on the issue of speeches he said " Well, don't do any, we'll
drink their health and have done with it."
Mr Birling begins to speak on the issue of responsibility, stating in
his opinion responsibility has been 'created by modern writers', this
shows he doesn't really believe responsibility has anything to do with
him, like responsibility is just something created to shake the
population up a little. Just as Birling talks about responsibility,
Edna informs the part...
... middle of paper ...
...eath is due to anybody, then its him."
This last sentence is particularly interesting. Little does she know,
in a clear piece of dramatic irony, she is naming her own, upper-class
son, as the main carrier of responsibility for Eva Smiths death.
Although later she attempts to redeem herself by saying things such as
'Eric isn't like that'. It's quite clear she has a limited knowledge
of the outside world and closer to home happenings. This point is
backed up when Alderman Meggarty is mentioned as a drunk and general
layabout, which seems common knowledge among the party and the
Inspector, but Mrs Birling sees it as a 'revelation' and says 'we are
learning something', Sheila replies ' Everyone knows about Big Joe
Meggarty," this says to me Sheila is more aware and awake to the
happenings than her blinkered mother.
There would be more of an effect on the audience at the time, as it
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.
and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of a body. We are
Pellegrini, Ann. “The Plays of Paula Vogel.” A Companion to Twentieth-Century American Drama. Ed. David Krasner. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. 473-84.
technology and how a man should live. He says 'A man has to make his
talks with. He is a man who has come to the Birling's house to do his
the end of the Second World War. The play is set in 1912, just before
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.
I have decided to stage a section of the play from where Eric says "He
The play was written in 1945 - within a week of World War Two ending -
you must be. I was an alderman for years - and Lord Mayor two years
... may mean that if a person does not learn from their mistakes the first
back on the past and not just carry on life in the same way as before.