Priestley's portrayal of Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls

Writers do portray characters in several way; some are portrayed as bold and courageous while others come out weak and gullible. This essay focuses on the play ‘An Inspector Calls’. This is a play written by J.B. Priestley. It gives an account of how an inspector known as Poole investigates the apparent murder of a young working class woman known as Eva Smith. When the Inspector Poole visits the Birling family, he slowly reveals how every member of that family might have taken part in the murder of Eva. The main issue under discussion is how Priestly strikingly portrays Birling in Act 1 of the play. The main argument is that the author portrays the Birling as a self-centered, selfish and hardheaded businessperson, who does not take care of social responsibility and thus is anti-socialist.

J.B. Priestley's Use of Dramatic Devices to Convey His Concerns and Ideas in An Inspector Calls

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.

In his play, An Inspector Calls, JB Priestley explores numerous ideas of responsibility. Priestley utilizes the setting of the play (1912) when socio-economic disparity between the upper and working class was high, and juxtaposes it with the social context of when the play was performed (1945), when aspects of socialism were growing rapidly in Britain. This creates dramatic irony and reflects the view of audiences first attending the play. He achieves this by using the mysterious nature of Inspector Goole, who pressures the upper-class Birling family to admit responsibility for the death of Eva Smith (a working class woman), to embody socialist Britain; exploiting the affluent and pompous Mr Birling to represent the unwillingness of Capitalism

The Dramatic Methods Used by Priestley to Convey the Social and Moral Message of An Inspector Calls

This was written in 1945 but was set in 1912. The play is written about a girl called Eva Smith who dies of a suicide consequently, The Birling family are questioned about her death. Mr Birling is shown as a capitalist because he only cares about himself and his business rather than his workers and his community around him. 'An Inspector Calls' is a play about morality which teaches the character and the people who are watching or reading the play, not only to care about themselves and how to treat others around them. J.B Priestley uses An Inspector Calls play to show how in 1912 the class system was very strict and always associated with the higher classes.

Mrs Birling is one of the principle characters in An inspector calls – she is used to portray the idealistic views held by the upper-class at the time. Mrs Birling is presented by Priestly as the body of Capitalism – by portraying her in a negative light allows the reader to draw assumptions between the negative characteristics portrayed by Mrs Birling and the negative aspects of a capitalist society, which is what Priestly intended to do.

Authoritative, does not get intimated even against Birling’s threat, that Chief constable Roberts is an “old friend” “play golf together sometimes”

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?

The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ was written in 1945, by J.B. Priestley, yet set in 1912. At this time, society was mainly capitalist with industry and agriculture owned privately. Wealth is not evenly shared and there is a distinct divide between upper and lower class people. The play is set around a wealthy, upper-middle class family, headed by Arthur Birling a factory owner. In the beginning of the play, we see the family celebrating the engagement of Sheila and Gerald, the son of Lord and Lady Croft. This is well supported by Mr Birling who sees this marriage as a business deal, a time where his company and the Crofts would be able to merge, benefiting the Birling’s greatly. However, we see a drastic mood change when Inspector Goole arrives, bringing news of the suicide of Eva Smith.

“An Inspector Calls” is a play written by J.B. Priestly in 1945. The play, which is set in 1912, illustrates the vast status difference in society at the time. Priestly wanted to show to the audience a more dramatic look at the relationship between the wealthy and the poor.

An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 the year the second world war ended but set shortly before the first world war in 1912 because he wanted to show the class divide before the war and the arrogance that the upper class or upper middle in Mr Birling’s case had and to try to stop us from going down that path again like the Inspector did with Eric and Sheila. Priestley uses the play to show others his socialist views and how he wants everyone to work together and look out for one another. Priestley opens the play in the Birling’s dining room “dessert plates and champagne glasses, ect.., and then replacing them with decanter of port, cigar box and cigarettes” many of the things on the table such as the champagne glasses and the port shows that the Birling’s must have been wealthy as they wouldn’t have been able to afford it all without being rich.

Not only was there was a substantial gap between the upper and lower class people, but also between the men and women. The 2nd World War was thought to have sealed that gap, as both men from lower and upper-classes went to fight in the wars leaving their jobs vacant to women who needed it. Priestley uses the role of the Inspector as a mouthpiece to convey his ideas of socialism. Mr Birling was ‘almost certain’ he would get the award, however, now, with this infamy he will certainly not! Priestly uses Mr Birling as a voice for capitalism, who is then ridiculed by the inspector, a representative of socialism. Upper class parents in 1912 really did treat their children like infants, despite their age. For instance, when Eric goes out for a drink Mrs Birling refers to him as a ‘boy’ further emphasising that idea. Priestly also uses uneasy laughter and accusations between members of the family, such as “unless Eric has done something”. This shows that Mr Birling is passing the bucket to the other family members as he doesn’t want to lose face to society as he was nominated for an award (which he failed to receive as in the dialogue between Mr Birling and the inspector, the inspector continually twists what Mr Birling says, showing he is the voice of truth, leaving it in suspense. This is a device Priestly often uses to captivate the reader’s interest and to create tension, for example at the end of the play Mr Birling answers the phone to find out that a second inspector is on

The play “An Inspector Calls” by J.B. Priestley is about a wealthy family in pre-war England. At this period at of time, society was capitalistic, with very strong inequalities between the middle and upper class and distribution of wealth. The playwright t refers to this family as the father Mr. Birling is a wealthy manufactory owner and his wife Mrs. Birling is an aristocratic woman who sees herself as the most powerful, because of her social position. The family is celebrating the engagement of their daughter Sheila when suddenly the whole atmosphere changes as a mysterious inspector arrives. Priestley’s aim was to reinforce the main themes: Responsibility, Generational gap, Inequality.

In the play An Inspector Calls by J.B.PRIESTLY compares the different generations. The young are Eric and Sheila Birling , the old being Arthur and Sybil Birling while Gerald lies in between the two. They all react differently to the Inspectors presence. At the time capitalism was ruling the country exploitatively .The setting of the play had a significant role in the play as it allowed the use of dramatic irony,mainly when Mr Birling speaks about the future,”were in a time for a time of steadily increasing prosperity”.