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Theme of responsibility the inspector calls
Theme of responsibility the inspector calls
Theme of an inspector calls
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The Dramatic Importance of the Inspector in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls In this play, Inspector Calls J.B. Priestley expresses his personal viewpoint on society in general throughout the play by using the character Inspector Goole. His viewpoint is evident in the main themes through out the play which are social responsibility, power and lies. These themes help to articulate his belief that all people share a common humanity and so all are part of a community whereby everyone should help each other, regardless class. Social responsibility is possibly the most prominent theme through the play and is explored a number of times. Priestley shows how lack of social responsibility can cause a ‘chain of events’ which will lead to something rather more severe. One example of this lack of responsibility is when Mr Birling tells Eva Smith to ‘clear out’. He doesn’t consider what would happen to her if she had no money. He just saw her as a potential business threat she was one of the ‘four or five ringer leaders’ who demanded higher wages. Mr Birling feels no social responsibility for the welfare of his workers; he just wants to make as much profit as possible. Power is another theme that plays an important role in the play. Priestley illustrates how the immoral use of power can once again have severe consequences. He shows how the middle and upper class had great authority over the working class who were often in desperate need of money. The perfect example of this is when Sheila used her social standing to have Eva Smith sacked from Milwards. Sheila blackmailed the manager by saying ‘If they didn’t get rid of that girl I’d never ... ... middle of paper ... ...call has the same dramatic effect as the doorbell which we see at the start of the play when the inspector entered, they are both sharp, sudden and unexpected. It also brings what exactly the inspector was back into the lime light. He almost predicted what would happen and we as an audience wonder how he could predicted the death of the girl. The play ends shrouded in mystery and once again the Inspector becomes of dramatic importance although he isn’t actually present. The audience sense something rather strange. Throughout the play the Inspector has been of dramatic importance or had a dramatic effect. From his abrupt entrance where there is a ‘sharp’ ring of the doorbell to his dramatic speech and compelling disappearance he has imposed drama, tension and excitement adding to an enjoyable play.
There would be more of an effect on the audience at the time, as it
How Priestly Uses the Characters to Represent His Own Views on Society The play "An Inspector Calls" is set in 1912 but was written in 1945. Edwardian society at that time (1912) was strictly divided into social classes and over two-thirds of the nation's wealth was in the hands of less than 1% of the population. Below the very rich were the middle classes (doctors and merchants, shop workers and clerks), after that came the craftsmen and skilled workers. At the very bottom of the social ladder was the largest class of all - the ordinary workers and the poor, many of whom lived below the poverty level. The men of industry treated the workers very badly and they were paid pittance.
she needed more money. So she said to him give me 25/6 because of that
A Comparison of Characters of Mr. Birling and Inspector Goole in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
The play is very simplistic and overtly political. It heavily features varying aspects of non-illusory theatre to semaphor Priestley's political message. When reading the play, it is important to remember that the characters are not people but caricatures Priestley employs to manipulate the reader. This combines with the artificiality of the plot to form a completely biased play, from whichever angle one looks at it. However at the time of its publication it was not so outlandish, because it upheld the New Labour government, struggling so hard to bring about its reforms and stay in favour of a people who had suffered many hardships and were now looking to more years of difficulty and discomfort.
...are lower class or upper class (‘[W]e don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’). Priestley believed in socialism, he uses the Inspector to express his thoughts about this. This is the main message that he wanted the audience to take away.
J.B. Priestley's Motives Behind An Inspector Calls J.B. Priestley was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1894. His mother
Sheila is described as a ‘pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited.’ The fact that it says ‘very pleased with life’ and ‘rather excited’ shows that she is very proud of herself; this is typical with a girl in her twenties coming from an upper-class British family in the 1910’s. Priestley has done this carefully to blend in with the historical context of the play, which was set in 1912.
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
Examine Priestley's use of dramatic techniques to create tension in the play. Priestly was a socialist writer, and 'An Inspector Calls' is one of the plays in which he tried to display his socialist ideals in. The play was written in the 1940's, a little after the end of the Second World War, and it was first performed in 1946, in Russia, then later in England. Priestly had served in World War 1, and the terrible scenes he saw lead to him having socialist views. He was inspired by other writers whose views he shared, especially George Orwell and H.G.
Socialism is one of the greatest messages that Priestley conveys. This message is spoken through the inspector. The Inspector represents Priestley’s strong moral views. Through the play, the Inspector’s character is shown as if he is Priestley’s image, and also shows that he is no ordinary Inspector. His character is shown as if he is more concerned with morality than legality, other than that of an ordinary Policeman/Inspector.
At the start the playwright creates slight allusions that produce tension; Sheila wondered ‘half seriously what had happened to Gerald previous summer when Gerald never went near Sheila’. Lady Croft and Sir George have not come to the engagement feast and Eric is behaving quite anxiously. Eric’s strange behaviour on the cheerful occasion creates trepidation and foreshadows a rather surprising event which interests the audience.
An Inspector Calls is a play with lots of political messages as well as social messages. J. B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen to be a good way to go. It was a common way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was to influence the unconvinced in society.
J B Priestley clearly had a strong moral conscience which led him to hold socialist beliefs wanting to bring about change against the capitalists who were exploiting the poor working class. In 'An Inspector Calls' Priestley cleverly uses dramatic techniques, lighting and stage directions to produce an emotionally charged setting to bring home a very important message to the correct society of his day and remains a challenge to the society in which we live in now.
Through his play Priestley endeavoured to convey a message to the audiences, that we could not go on being self obsessed and that we had to change our political views. He used the Birling family as an example of the Capitalist family that was common amongst the higher classes in 1912, who took no responsibility for other people and he showed this with the power of Socialism, represented by the inspector; the uneasy facade put on by the Birling family to cover up their real flaws and how they have treated those whom they considered to be lower class could not stand up to any scrutiny without shame for what had happened, showing that they know they have been wrong.