The Character that Changes Most in Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley During the play, the inspector prys into the personalities of the main characters, Gerald Croft, Eric Birling, Sheila Birling, Mrs. Sybil Birling and Mr. Arthur Birling. The two characters that change the most during the play are Sheila and Eric, the two younger members of the Birling family. They change as a result of the inspector linking them and their thoughts, actions and ultimately way of life to the apparent suicide of a local woman, "Eva Smith", who it appears, had links with all of the main characters in the play. Mr and Mrs. Birling do not appear to change in their personality or behaviour, although the inspector tries to open their minds to living without prejudices, but they cannot change. The inspector sums this up when he says "We often have more influence on the young", suggesting that the inspector does, and will have more of an impact on Sheila and Eric Birling, than on their parents. At the beginning of the play Sheila is; rich, spoiled, and arrogant and is unable to control her bad temper. For example she gets into a foul mood in a department store, when a dress she really likes suits the girl working there (Eva Smith) who tried it on and not her. The girl smiles to herself, looking good. When Sheila notices this, she storms out of the store. Sheila is brought up to believe that she (and those in her family and of the same social standing) is better than those lower down the social scale. She has a very privileged life to look forward to, is affluent and is engaged to the son of a very fine, wealthy family. Sheila's personality comes through when she meets Eva in a Department store, after Eva has been sacked by Mr. Birling from his factory for wanting higher pay. Sheila, in the store, is angry with her mother, as Mrs. Birling thinks that the dress that Sheila wants doesn't suit her.
In the act the actress who plays Sheila is told to act as though the
American Character by Colin Woodard, is a book about America’s history and the upcoming of how the United States has become. Woodard starts off first explaining what it was like when America was colonized by the New England colonists and goes onward to present-day America. A book like this should be deemed great for a political history class because of the vast amount of information it has. Although, this book is exceptionally very small for a book of such kind, Woodard loves jumping around from era to era and can leave his readers at a disarray. Claiming so, a strong and prior knowledge of the American history and its government is strongly encouraged. Historical and economic terms are also used immensely in this book, so a thesaurus and dictionary would be of great use. If those two resources aren’t of much help, a recommendation of facts found upon the Internet regarding an era of which Woodard is explaining would be helpful.
family, but it must not be 'cosy’ or homely. The lighting is to be a
it will create. He makes a toast to the couple and to the fact that
The new phases of life and social context is predicated through the sum of feats and experiences as crises and adversity are usually the greatest motivator which propel individuals to become better than they were before. J.C. Burke’s ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ (TSTB) is an example of the transitional process through entering a new, unknown area which acts as a catalyst for beneficial change. Obstructed by turmoil both mentally and physically, the protagonist Tom Brennan relieves his severe life in the town of Coghill achieving new standards in conjunction to Lisa Forrest’s article ‘Testing new waters after leaving the swimming pool’ (TNWALTS) is another type towards transitional change that explores the personal crisis and career changes over
The war was said to bring fire blood & anguish in to our lives. WW1 -
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.
An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 but set in 1912. The play shows the stark difference between 1912 and 1945. J. B. Priestley reveals the errors of society and the faults of capitalism as well as the bias of the upper class and social status. As a firm believer in the concepts of socialism, he uses this play to expose society’s poor attitudes to the working class of the period. The way they treat Eva Smith reflects on how many of the working class may have been treated by their social superiors. Eva was a victim in society as she was very low in the financial hierarchy as well as in reality where she was at the bottom of the classes. Women at that time were seen as being delicate, obedient to their husbands. The inspector is used to correct the
On overall, Priestley has presented the two characters, Arthur and Sheila Birling as completely differently. He wanted to match the story to the historical context of the 1910’s, but he has done this differently with Sheila. This is because the play was written in 1946 and the world had two wars and has started to comprehend the strength of community. She is the young generation of the 1910’s this means in a few years down the line, a war is going to break out and if they keep making the same mistake over and over again, it’s not going to turn out any better, by this, we see what happens in the second world war. This is why Sheila has been presented so that she understands consequences of what might happen if we don’t pull ourselves together.
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
The whole family’s actions are the cause of Eva’s death however the message about responsibility the Inspector presents is only take on board by Eric and Sheila. In conclusion, Priestley clearly gets across his message of responsibility towards others in the play. A clever script cunningly executed points out Priestley’s views to the audience. ‘Responsibility’ is the focal point of the play and is consistently addressed at the end of each interrogation, but the Birlings fail to recognise this.
was genuine and this allows the audience to almost predict their own ending; how will the family react to the arrival of the real Inspector? Will they acknowledge this as a chance to admit to their mistakes or will they try and conceal their guilt? I thoroughly enjoyed studying An Inspector Calls and have learned a great deal about how society has changed and how moral ideals have evolved over time. I found the play effective although because of the way in which society has developed Priestley's morals may not be applicable to life today. As wealth and power have become increasingly more important socialist feelings of responsibility for one another have been progressively weakened.
upon so many levels. On the surface it is a simple tale of how one man
The play “A Raisin in the Sun” was written by Lorraine Hansberry marking her first ever written play. Lorraine Hansberry was the first African American woman to write a play that was to be produced on Broadway. Although a brilliant writer, Hansberry’s opportunities of writing were cut short when she died at the age of thirty-five from cancer. Lorraine lived from 1930 to 1965, dying on the day that Broadway closed her second play, “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window”. “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” was written in 1964, only 5 years later than “A Raisin in the Sun” which was written in 1959. Later in 1959, “A Raisin in the Sun” won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, becoming the first
The Crucible was the turning point in literature and in history. It showed how people were convicted with only a minute amount of evidence. The only thing that would have caused a person to be convicted was if people went into hysterics. However, for someone to be accused of using witchcraft, someone else has to say he or she had seen them practicing it or they were the only person who could see it. The trials caused some of the characters to learn new attributes about themselves. Elizabeth Proctor is more reserved. John Proctor, on the other hand, is more prideful; whereas, Reverend Hale is more confident. These three characters go through their own personal journeys and uncover the person within them beneath the surface, which in turn broadcasts their true identity to the audience.