The Dramatic Importance of Arthur Burling's Speech in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
For my English coursework I shall write about the dramatic importance
of Arthur Burling's speech after dinner.
An Inspectors Calls was written by J.B Priestley in 1945 however it
was set in a pre-first world war setting (1912) in the fictional town
of Brumley. J.B priestly uses this difference of 33 years to create
dramatic importance as the audience would know about the outcomes of
historical events which the characters in the play had no knowledge
of. This allows Priestley to make the characters sometimes look quite
naive and silly especially Arthur Burling. The play is mainly about
how a rich upper middle class family are all made to confess about the
major parts they played in the events leading up to the suicide of a
lower class girl by a rather odd police inspector.
In the play Arthur burling can be viewed as a traditionalist who
preaches and practice the values of Edwardian Britain. He is a
prosperous business man who has worked very hard for his money, and is
very pleased with himself. He has also been active in local politics
and in the past has been the lord mayor of Brumley, however at present
Mr Burling is a magistrate.
The play starts with the Burling family celebrating Shelia Birling's
engagement to Gerald Croft. Mr Burling speaks on this happy occasion
about his daughter's engagement although he only touches upon the
topic of his daughter's future and happiness he seems more interested
in the business side of his daughter's engagement. This shows that he
is money orientated as he talks about his daughters future as though
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...an see that J.B. Priestly was a very political writer
who had very strong socialist views. His political and socialist views
were undoubtedly influenced by what happened to him during World War
One these experiences caused him to become a pacifist, which is
somebody who strongly believes in world peace.
The play 'An Inspector Calls' is a channel for Priestley's views and
criticisms on the social mores of the time. The message of the play
would have been particularly effective to the audience of 1946. J.B.
Priestley knew that the message of his play would reach the war-weary
audience of 1946 more effectively than it would reach the audience in
a different period of time. I believe that Priestley is trying to tell
the audience that they must learn from the harsh lessons of war and do
not repeat the mistakes of the past
This caused workers to become better organised and strikes were becoming more frequent as they demanded better conditions and higher pay. J.B. Priestley was writing the play for a middle class audience and was trying to speak up for the working class by showing how the Birlings and Gerald Croft were all involved in making a young working class girl's life a misery. Priestley wants to show us that we have a responsibility to others to act fairly and without prejudice and that we do not live in isolation. Our actions affect others.
A Comparison of Characters of Mr. Birling and Inspector Goole in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
Birling is presented as a self-centred capitalist very early on in the play. His pleasure in the marriage of his daughter is purely for his own profit. "Now you've brought us together and perhaps we may look forward to a time when Crofts and Birling are no longer competing but are worki...
audience in his play. I will be analysing act one of the play to try
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.
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
Wells, both of whom references are made to in the opening pages of the play. A lot of the tension in the play is between Birling and the Inspector, both of who are powerful figures in the household and are both vying for dominance, creating a lot of tension. This is symbolic of the global struggle between capitalism and socialism, the Inspector represents Priestley's socialist views, and Birling, the antithesis of the Inspector represents capitalist views, which is made clear through his speech "the interests of Capital steadily increasing prosperity." When the Inspector is there, Birling is very fast to drop the blame on someone else, insisting "I can't accept any responsibility" which is a complete contrast of what the Inspector says, telling the family to "share the blame among yourselves when I have left" This constant conflict, which is often at the heart of the dramatic genre itself, makes sure there is tension whenever the two characters are talking to each other. This conflict is not the only one within the play.
Victorian rich life out to be less than what it seems. I think it was
Priestley's Social Message in An Inspector Calls The play an Inspector Call’s was written at the time of 1945 but is set in 1912. Priestley conveys a lot of social and important messages in this play. He conveys the messages through the character of Inspector Goole. One most important message that Priestley conveys is about Socialism.
JB Priestley’s intent in ‘An Inspector Calls’ was to convey the attitudes of socialism to the minds of the society in the Edwardian Era as he was a passionate believer of the concept. Priestley has attempted this through the employment of ‘Inspector Goole’ in the play. In the play drama is displayed through a variety of methods for the interest of the audience and the communication of personal views from JB Priestley.
In this essay we will be comparing two female characters from different texts and different time periods. We will be looking in depth at Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth', and Sheila from J.B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'. We will be looking at their roles in their respective plays, and how their characters develop over time.
audience is left in suspense at the end of Act One, this is done so
The history of the time the play was written helps us to understand the views and the feelings expressed by Priestley in the play. The inspector transfers Priestley’s views and he shows the difference in social classes at the time. A gap which he wants to diminish. He illustrates the reason for this in the play, via the inspector, where he outlines the ways each of the Birlings have influenced someone from a completely different background and social class. This is the way Priestley viewed pre-war England.
Goole. Some the Birling family are used to show how we are not to act
... checks himself). As well the whole of act one is ironic as Eva Smith's