John Boynton Priestley was born in Bradford, Yorkshire on September 13th 1984. The play “An Inspector Calls” was written by him in 1945, and came onstage in 1914. An Inspector calls, is a play that revolves around the apparent suicide of a young woman called Eva Smith. In the play, the unsuspecting Birling family are visited by the mysterious Inspector Goole. Priestley uses a variety of different techniques, especially language and quotations, to contrast and elicit differing responses to Mr Birling and Inspector Goole. Mr Birling and Inspector Goole are two opposite characters. Both characters have a similar age and are both male, but have a very different presence on stage. Mr Birling is described at the start as "heavy-looking, rather portentous …show more content…
Mr Birling is very selfish towards the other characters, and believes he is in control. However as the play continues, his behaviour becomes increasingly different and he starts to lose control and power over his family. He becomes agitated and uncomfortable, and displays anger towards his children. An example is when Mr Birling responds (angrily) to Eric ”Don't talk to me like that. Your trouble is – you've been spoilt--”. To contrast with Mr Birling’s behaviour, Inspector Goole remains calm and collected throughout the play. Unlike Mr Birling, Inspector Goole asserts his authority successfully over the other characters. He is an authority figure. An example is when the inspector yells “Stop!”, and all the characters are suddenly quiet, looking at him. Looking at both of their behaviours and how they interact with the other characters, can make the audience form an opinion about them both, and can make them place a liking over one character more than the …show more content…
Mr Birling makes long speeches at dinner about things that the audience would know were incorrect. For example, he claims war will never happen and that the Titanic is unsinkable. “And I say there isn’t a chance of war. The world's developing so fast that it'll make war impossible." He is confident that there will not be a war. The audience, (knowing that two years after his speech, World War One will begin), see that Mr Birling is wrong. This makes the audience lose trust in him as a character - if he’s wrong about this, what else could he be wrong about too? However to contrast with Mr Birling’s thoughts, as the Inspector delivers his closing speech, he prophesies a terrible future. "And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish." The Inspector predicts a future of hell, filled with a vision of ‘fire’ and ‘blood’. Priestley experienced war first hand, so some suspect that what he saw in wartime influenced the Inspector's final speech. Mr Birling is shaken by the investigation. He doesn’t learn any lessons during the course of the play. When it seems that the Inspector might have been an imposter he is overjoyed and mocks the others for having been 'tricked' by the investigation. Inspector Goole drives forward the drama, with his questions creating shocking moments and gripping cliff-hangers for the audience. By the
The Inspector enters during Birling’s speech where he is at his most arrogant. For example, in Act One the characters say “I’ve learnt in the good hard school of experience” and “Everybody has to look after themselves”. In lines such as these, Mr Birling is portrayed as a self- Confident and opinionated character to the audience. Priestley writes Mr Birling as believing he belongs to a higher social class that makes him superior to others. Therefore, he is more important than the other members of
An Inspector Calls is a three-act drama, which takes place on a single night in 1912, and focuses on the Birling family, who live in a wealthy but not particulary homely house in Brumley. The story begins when the mysterious Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family. The idea of the play, and particularly the role of the inspector, is to try to bring the Birling family to understand that they have a moral responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, if not a legal one. In Act Three, the Inspector tells the Birling family: “The girl killed herself and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.” But who was really the
In the play “The inspector calls” written by Presley, the story is set in 1912, and describes a family in the middle class. Eric, the son of Mr. Birling is one of the key characters in the play
He relates these ideas to the Birling family although the family members are stereotypes representing people at the time. Mr. Birling is ascribed very Capitalist views and believes "A man has to make his own way - has to look after himself. " These clearly contrast the views portrayed by the Inspector, Priestley's mouthpiece in the play, which are very socialist. "We don't live alone. We are members of one body - we are responsible for each other.
He shows we must all look out for each other and think before taking actions. Priestley uses Eva Smith’s death as an example of the suffering of lower class women in Edwardian times and directs the blame at the whole family caused by their small but consequential, chain of events. Priestley cleverly brings in the inspector at a strategic moment, just after Birling has stated ‘that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own’. This is the speech that Birling has just made, which reveals his true character. That of a narcissistic, unsparing old man.
Although there are some clear aspects of the inspector that show presents the inspector in different lights, but there are also slightly more subtle points Priestley made to present the inspector differently. One of these ways is through the identity of Inspector Goole. The fact that the inspectors name is 'Goole', gets the audience questioning his existence. This is because, although some people will argue that ghosts and such exist and others will argue against that, there is always a slight hint of doubt due to the fact that it cannot be proven. By naming the inspector 'Inspector Goole', the audience start to question the reality of what is happening in the story, later to realize that his name foreshadows what is too come. The audience also,, respond to the inspector in a slightly negative way as, stereotypically, ghosts and gooles are not usually viewed as a good thing, but as something supernatural and out of place. This also makes the audience become slightly sceptical of the inspector's intentions of questioning the Birling family and Gerald. For a different way of looking at how Priestley presents the inspector, you can relate the inspectors' name to the two main theories of time. The theory that I believe most relates to the inspector is
The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is set in the North Midlands, the industrial city of Brumley in 1912. The play revolves around the death of a young girl named Eva Smith and the wealthy, middle class Birling family. The Birling family consists of four main members. In addition, there is Gerald Croft who is engaged to the daughter of the family, Sheila Birling, and the maid Edna who plays a small role in the play.
This is evident in “We are responsible for each other.” The inspector implies that everyone is responsible for one another, utterly contradicting Mr. Birling’s speech before he came in. The inspector is the most conflicting character in the entire play as he stands cool and hard before the Birlings and the audience and unveils the consequences of their actions on those below them. The dramatic irony reinforces that the inspector is in fact voicing Priestley’s message out, therefore emphasizing the effect. Furthermore, the inspector is presented as the figure of authority in the play. This is reinforced in "massively taking charge as dispute erupts between them." He is the only character that calms down the household when an argument breaks. He also expresses no interest towards Mr. birling’s authoritative friends and disregards his threats. The stage directions reinforce that when capitalism destroys everything, socialism is the only answer. Both contemporary and modern audience is left in a conflicting situation as he creates conflict in the play between other
You feel that the Inspector knows everything already, and that by telling him, you are not giving information, but confessing to what you have done- which he already knows. This makes Sheila and Eric in particular give a lot more information than is necessary to the questions that the Inspector asks. The Inspector sets up a scene, and then inserts snippets of information that two parties will both be able to individually interpret, and will reveal more than necessary. The Inspector makes the information he gives ambiguous in order to draw the largest reaction. In this way, he is able to play off their response and extract more information from them. In some aspects, Inspector's character seems to be ahead of his time. The manner in which he conducts his questioning seems to be more advanced than the way in which they are received. Also the way in which he conducts himself gives the impression of being ahead of the family that he is questioning. He also has the sensibility of someone who lived during the 1945/46, after the wars. The Inspector does not fit' in with the way in which things where done during the time of this play. Priestley makes the Inspector seem ahead of his
I consider ? is a trifle impertinent Inspector?, indicating she does not like it when she is not superior to others or is undermined in some way. Throughout being questioned, Mrs Birling is reticent and has to be asked small details so the Inspector can extract the right information out of her, ?And if I was, what business is it of yours?? indicating that she may have something to hide. Like her husband, Mrs Birling refuses to accept any responsibility for her actions and is constantly in denial when questioned, ?I?ve done nothing wrong and you know it?. Perhaps this could be because she actually believes she has done nothing wrong, or because she is hiding what she has done wrong. However, not a completely cold-hearted or self-absorbed woman, she does not knowingly place the blame on the rest of her family, but on the father of Eva?s child, who she later learns is Eric. She asks the Inspector to force the father of the child make a ?public confession of responsibility? and so Mrs Birling is really condemning the family to bad publicity, exactly what Mr Birling has not wanted all throughout the play.
“But take my word for it, you youngsters - and I've learnt in the good hard school of experience - that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own - and - We hear the sharp ring of a front door bell.”This shows the power of Mr.Birlings and how he is a capitalist he always thinks that he is correct no matter what but when the moment when the inspector arrives it's now accidentally it arrives at that time to cut Mr.Birling's speech so he could stop with his capitalism, the inspector, the contrary of Mr.Birling decides to arrive at the perfect time to make tension in the family.
Tension is frequently current between the Inspector and Mr Birling due to their contrasting ideas. They are both extremely powerful figures clashing for dominance and status in the household. A major point hidden by Priestley is their political views, Birling represents a capitalists view point whereas the Inspector is a shadow figure of Priestley's ideas and represents a socialist. They are symbols of the global struggle between Capitalism and Socialism in the 40s. The Inspector is prominent to show his power when Birling attemps to interrogate him by warning him that the 'Chief Constable, Colonel Roberts' is 'an old friend of mine' and that they 'play golf together sometimes up at the West Brumley'. In response to this, the Inspector 'dryly'
‘What do you think is the importance of inspector Goole and how does Priestley present him?’
Write about Inspector Goole’s role in the play. How far is he a believable policeman? How does Priestly use the Inspector in the play?
Birling could not see that he did anything wrong when he sacked a troublemaker; Sheila thought her jealousy of a pretty shop-assistant was not “anything terrible at the time.” Mrs Birling is too spiteful ever to “have known what she was feeling.” Eric had resorted to theft, which he too needed to conceal. Without the Inspector’s ‘purposefulness’, each character would not have recognised their behaviour, or the behaviour of