"An Inspector Calls": How does Priestly introduce the theme of responsibility to the audience in Act 1 of An Inspector calls?

At this point Mrs Birling feels “distressed” and tries to pass of what she did “I didn’t know”. The inspector is quite rude to Mrs Birling “do you want me to tell you-in plain words” and has to really prompt her to talk about what she did “Aren’t you?” “As what then?” this shows that Mrs Birling is a very proud woman and does not feel that any of her actions were wrong.

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

Mrs Birling is described as "…her husband's social superior". She is a snob and is very aware of the differences between social classes. She tries to deny things that she doesn't want to believe a prime example would be Eric’s drinking she says at the beginning of Act 3 “you don’t get drunk” this line really emphasises the extent at which Eric is not only insignificant to the older generation but ignored. The reader is shocked by this statement as we know at the beginning of the play he is a drunk by the way he responds and sits in his chair ‘half at ease’ and it is ironic that his own mother is oblivious to it. As they are higher class than Eva Smith they also feel as though the death is less important, as Mrs Birling states 'Girls of that class -” this shows that she was prejudice towards the girl due to her class and her position (getting pregnant and not being married) she was therefore in Mrs Birling’s eyes not worthy of receiving any money from the charity, this is echoed when she says “I'm Mrs Birling, y'know” using a patronising

There is a change in Sheila’s behavior just after the inspector arrives. For example, when Sheila enters the room overhearing bits of conversation between the Inspector and Mr Birling, she is told to ‘run along’. However is very anxious to know what’s happening and to be involved. She is not so carefree once told of Eva’s suicide as she exclaims in shock ‘oh – how horrible’. Sheila is quite distressed as she later says ‘… I can’t help thinking about this girl–destroying herself so horribly...

Mrs. Birling reacts to Eva Smith’s death, by saying “She only had herself to blame”, whereas Sheila exclaims “Oh — how horrible!”. Mrs. Birling reacts instantly by thinking about herself, claiming her debatable innocence and emphasising that Eva Smith only had herself to blame and therefore everyone aprt from her is innocent, whereas Sheila reacts instantly by sympathising with the dead young woman and exclaiming her shock about the suicide. Priestley tries to tell the audience that the youth, who are not politically socialist, do develop socialist ideas subconsciously. The purpose of this, is to make the audience realise that even if they are capitalist at heart, they can still alter their views and become more

Birling enters “briskly and self-confidently”, with her social superiority to the Inspector being made very apparent following her social and easy tone. She then proceeds to deny responsibility for Eva’s death, which besides leading audience to form a negative bias towards her, also prompts Sheila to interrupt her and warn her about saying or doing “something that (she’ll) be sorry for afterwards.” This brings about Mrs. Birling’s protective side, with her first instinct being to send Sheila to bed, proclaiming her beliefs and statements to be “nothing but morbid curiosity.” This statement at first glance appears to be a mother sheltering her child from what may be a matter too gruesome to discuss, however, when Sheila denies the request, it is made obvious that the suggestion was made only to get Sheila out of the way, who at this point in the story, according to Mrs. Birling’s beliefs, is greatly impressioned by the Inspector. She conducts in the same manner later in the play, when talking about Eric’s drinking habits, using euphemism to explain his behaviour as “an excitable silly mood” and calling him “only a boy” and also when suggesting that “it would be much better if Sheila didn’t listen” to Gerald’s account of his affair with Eva. This leads the audience to believe that Mrs Birling either does not pay attention to her kids and their

In Act One of 'An Inspector Calls' how does J.B. Priestley use dramatic devices to convey his concerns and ideas to the members of the audience, as well as interest and involve them in his play?

A number of other issues that were around at the time the play was set

Priestley describes Mr Birling as a "portentous man". We can soon see that this reveals itself as throughout the duration of the play his character is constructed as arrogant and foolish. Even if Mr Birlings’ actions proved incorrect it wouldn't concern him or be any of his responsibility unless it affected his upper-class status. Mr Birling is represented as a strong believer in the capitalist ideology; he discriminates and mistreats the working class, thinking that the upper-class businessmen are superior. “We were paying the usual rates and if they didn't like those rates, they could go and work somewhere else. It's a free country, I told them,” Birling confidently delivered this line, knowing that later they

Both “Macbeth and “An Inspector Calls” by William Shakespeare and J.B. Priestley both explores the impact of guilt on their characters. For Shakespeare whose novel was set in Medieval Times and written in 1606 Jacobean Times, he writes the play for King James 1 of Scotland in order to gain patronage from King. However, Priestley (a socialist) whose novel was 1912 and written in 1945 (the end of WW2), he focuses on a capitalist family in Brumley just to promote the view of socialist to the audience in 1945. Despite the differences of the play, the overall impact of guilt are the same in both play but used in different ways. In this essay I will be focusing

Birling is also very dismissive of Sheila; we witness this when he says “nothing to do with you, Shelia. Run along”, the way in which he speaks to her is quite belittling and we are made to believe that although she is his daughter, women are second class to men, he truly believes that she is not worthy of being spoken to with regard to the inspectors visit. Birling is a very single minded man who does not take kindly to opposition to his beliefs. This is seen when he says “we’ve had experience – and we know” this shows he is no longer prepared to discuss the topic any further, when discussing war with his son Eric.

When assessing the various intricate denouements of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods of the British political history, one must stop and wonder about the performance of the Conservative party as one of the protagonists of the parliamentary struggles and changing social and demographic scenarios. By engaging in such exploration, it is almost impossible to avoid one of the most formidable questions which might consequentially arise – was the Conservative party a deliberate and conscious derivative of the changing political climate or merely a spontaneous chain reaction driven by luck and circumstance? The answer to this question may be crucial for understanding the nature of the party’s success/failure. In order to explain why this very nature may be the crux of articulating Conservative politics during these two historical periods, we will use the analogy of Real vs. Nominal wages .

To begin with, in this play the author unfolds family conflicts that involve its characters into a series of events that affected their lives and pushed them to unexpected ways.

Birling is worried when the inspector leaves in case anybody finds out what happened and is also worried about the knighthood. Again, this shows us he is worried about his ?social status? because he believes that life begins and ends with it ? believes his future is going to be a comfortable world.

In the context of the play, rather then ignoring the problematic elements, Anne Barton (1997)