J B Priestley's Creation of Tension in An Inspector Calls Essay

he a question he will now answer it, he will just ask a question back.

for each other. And I tell you that a time will soon come when if men

In the play An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses different characters to portray women. At the start of the play, Sheila is seen as fragile, materialistic and inferior to the men in her life, which is typically the view of higher-class women. This is followed by the perspective of lower class women having excellent morals yet being disposable, which is seen through Eva Smith’s character. This contradicts to Mrs Birling’s control on others and her strong social class views.

Birling strongly believes that “a man has to make his own way – has to

soon find out that Eva worked in his factory, and how she was fired by

This part of the play also shows that the family is not as happy as

Birlings' house. He is said to "need not be a big man but he creates

Priestley’s Main Aim in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ to enhance the message that ‘we don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’. This is something Priestly felt strongly about and he succeeded in representing his views through the character of the Inspector in the play itself.

command at the end of Act I and the start of Act 2, and the end of Act

For instance, it is as if he is waiting for everyone to confess to his

How does JB Priestley present the older and younger generations differently throughout the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ (45 mins)

The play "An Inspector Calls" was written by J.B Priestley in 1945, when the British people were recovering from over six years of constant warfare and danger. As a result of two world wars, class distinctions were greatly reduced and women had achieved a much higher place in society. It was due to this and a great desire for social change that Labour's Clement Attlee won a landslide victory over the conservative Winston Churchill. He nationalized the gas steel and electrical industries, established the NHS and introduced the Welfare State. The play was set in Brumley, a fictional industrial city, in 1912.The playwright believed passionately in the left wing perspective and his message is overtly political. He uses techniques such as

see that this is true by looking at his speech and at the manner in

visit of Inspector Goole. But who is Inspector Goole? And who is the girl whose

In the play 'An Inspector Calls', many contrasts and paradox's are present and at the centre of them all is the character known as Inspector Goole. However, the inspector is not any ordinary inspector. I believe that the inspector is used as a device by Priestley to explore the wider themes of the play and to depict other characters true personalities. This essay will explore some of the techniques Priestley presents the inspector in An Inspector Calls.