Responsibility In An Inspector Calls By J. B. Priestley

Mr birling was the most to blame as he started the chain of misfortunate events of Eva Smith’s life which eventually lead to her suicide.

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

HOW DOES PROESTLEY PRESENT THE THEME OF RESPONSEBILITY? Priestley has cunningly and cleverly set An Inspector Calls in `1912 when there was limited welfare and provision for the lower or working class; benefits did not exist, and people were expected to fend for themselves. A 1945 audience wouldn’t even have had to have that explained to them, as Eva portrays it clearly when she asks Mr Birling for a small raise and subsequently relies on Mrs Birling’s charity when she finds herself pregnant and destitute. Unfortunately for Eva, (and nevertheless a vast majority of the lower and working class people) these charities were more than oftenly run by the rich; nevertheless, it is clear that the Brumley Women’s Charity organisation is more for the

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

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.

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.

By constructing the Inspector as just and omniscient, Priestley encourages the audience to view left-wing values as morally virtuous. Through the Inspector's authority, commanding presence and stature Priestley makes a direct jab at the audience with the Inspector's last

What is Priestley's main aim in `An inspector calls`? How successfully does he achieve it.

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.

Throughout Priestley’s play, ‘An inspector calls’, a main theme runs about responsibility and differentiation between classes. Each character is accountable of doing something that brought about the death of Eva smith. All the characters contribute to her death in one way or the other, and all of them are at fault for the death of

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

“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.

Though some may argue Mr. Arthur Birling could have triggered the chain of events leading to Eva Smith’s death, I disagree. Birling, a man in his mid-fifties, is the first of the family to be acquainted with Eva Smith after he fires her from his business, Birling and Company, for being a ‘ring-leader’ and encouraging his female workers to go on strike and demand a higher pay. Birling is selfish and uncharitable. He refused the girls pay-rise requests, stating that, “We

this is his role in the events of the play. This, and the fact that