The Ending of J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls 'An Inspector calls' is a 19th century play written by J.B Preistly. It is set in the early 1900s and focuses around a well-off family. They are celebrating the engagement of Mr. Birling's daughter, Sheila, to Gerald her fiancé, when they are interrupted by an Inspector Goole, who claims to be investigating the suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith. Every character has their part to play in the death of the girl. Eva Smith used to work in Mr. Birling's Factory, but he fired her after she went on strike over pay. After she left the factory, Eva Smith got a job at Milwards, a large department store, where Sheila persuaded the Manager to fire her because she had been very impertinent, when really she was jealous of her. The next person who was involved with Eva Smith was Gerald. She had now changed her name to Daisy Renton. Gerald and Daisy had a fling and when they finished Gerald gave her some money "to see her through to the end of the year". Just two weeks before the Inspector had arrived to talk to the family, Mrs. Birling had turned Daisy Renton/Eva Smith down after she had appealed to her organization for help. She was pregnant with Eric's baby. Eric and Eva Smith had had an affair after they met in the Palace Bar. Eric stole some money from his Fathers office for her to help with the baby and after that Eva Smith never wanted to see him again. The inspector reveals all these involvements, and then disappears. The family discover that he is not a real inspector, and they are not in trouble with the law. They also discover that Eva Smith has not committed suicide. ... ... middle of paper ... ...er classes treated the working classes. The most interesting thing about the ending of the play is the question about what Inspector Goole is, is he a ghost? Is he real? When Mr. Birling calls the Infirmary it proves the Inspector's supernatural powers. He tricked Mr. Birling into calling the infirmary; if Inspector Goole had never told them the story about Eva smith, he would never have called the infirmary to ask about her suicide. It was that call that he made which aroused the police's suspicions and caused them to send round a real inspector when the girl really did die. How could inspector Goole have known about her death, unless he was a ghost, and had supernatural powers of premonition? This keeps the audience guessing and wanting to know what happens. The play is very clever, it makes the audience think.
There would be more of an effect on the audience at the time, as it
After Gerald re-enters, he reveals that there was no Inspector Goole and that this was a hoax, to which everyone except Sheila and Eric are delighted to hear of the news.
family, but it must not be 'cosy’ or homely. The lighting is to be a
she needed more money. So she said to him give me 25/6 because of that
The play is about the death of a young woman, called Eva Smith- her demise relates to a family of the early 20th century. Through this story, Priestley finds clever ways in which to diminish his audience, although the time lapse allows them to not take it too personally.
The war was said to bring fire blood & anguish in to our lives. WW1 -
J.B. Priestley's Inspector Calls. An Inspector Calls is a play set in spring 1912. The writer, J. B. Priestly, tries to build up a view of Mr Birling through the set. stage directions and in his speeches.
· The social class system at the time when the play is set, (rich and
J.B. Priestley's Motives Behind An Inspector Calls J.B. Priestley was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1894. His mother
and Arthur Birling, a man who has worked his way up from being one of
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.
A morality play is a medieval play designed to teach the audience right from wrong. JB Priestley uses An Inspector call to convey a moral message, which is that you should not judge people on their class i.e. lower working class/higher class. He also expands the views of socialism within the message; this is all made very clear by the use of dramatic devices. Although it is a morality play it is not in the traditional format. Priestley makes it very clear in what he wants the audience to think is moral and immoral. The play also conveys a strong political message. The play encourages the idea of socialism, a society in which responsibility and community are essential, also a place where the community all work together and are responsible for their actions. This is in contrast with capitalism. JB priestly wrote the play in 1945, but it was set in 1912 just before the war, it was later performed in 1946. The play was written after World War I and World War II, Priestley used this to his advantage, it makes the audience feel awful after what has just happened, the majority of the audience would have either lived through one or both of the wars. This helped Priestley promote socialism against capitalism.
they have done even know they do not lead her to her suicide. But a
Birlings, as they find out that they have all played a part in a young
J.B. Priestley wrote the play "An Inspector Calls" in 1945 and set it in 1912. These dates are both relevant because he wrote his play in a world emerging from the Second World War, at a time when people were getting nostalgic about pre-world war one. Priestley used his play to try and show people that the idea of a community in 1912 was gradually being washed away by the upper classes and that the world needed to change rather than return to the egotistical society that existed in pre war England.