Role of the Inspector in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

The Effect of the Inspector's Visit on Sheila Birling in J.B Priestly's An Inspector Calls

Moral Messages in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Priestley wrote an Inspector Calls in 1945 - just before the end of WW2. However, The play itself is set in 1912 - just before the start of WW1, and in Edwardian England. Priestley was a socialist writer who had left wing political views with very strong beliefs; he enjoyed using types of theatre to get his messages across. When the platy was set, there was a lot of historical events going on at the time; Titanic, Captain Scott falling to reach S Pole, Suffragette movement campaigning for women's rights, worker striking for better pay and conditions, Russia unrest, no NHS/DHSS, and no help from state for poor. All of these are mentioned in In An Inspector Calls, Mr. Birling is a prime example of this stereotypical character of the time. In Mr. Birling's big speech before the Inspector arrives, there are many moral issues raised: First of all, the issue of whether the marriage is for love, money, respect or business - "Your engagement to Sheila means a tremendous lot to me…your father and I have been friendly rivals in business for some time now…and now you've brought us together." While Mr B does mention that they will make each other very happy he mentions his business a lot, and this shows how he wants the wedding for two reasons, as he wants to climb the social ladder to the top. This is mentioned a number of times at different sections of the play. Mr B refers to business later on in his speech, with the prosperity of the country brought up in the speech suggesting the marriage is for money, and when it turns out Gerald has been keeping a mistress, he still wants the marriage to go ahead making excuses for Gerald; this shows that all Mr. Birling wanted from the marriage was money, respect and prosperity for himself. A number of other issues that were around at the time the play was set

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

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

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

'An Inspector Calls' is a morality play - a form of play developed in the late middle ages in which a Christian moral lesson was brought out through the struggle between the forces of good and evil - set in 1912, and revolves around the questioning of a family by Inspector Goole about the suicide of a young woman (Eva Smith) that the family knew.The author, J.B. Priestley is trying to show us what some people's arrogance and selfishness can cause without them even noticing. Priestley was a socialist, therefore

The Role of Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls Examine the role of Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls & study the impact his role has on the rest of the characters in the play. Inspector Goole is the most important character in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ because he is the catalyst for the events that take place in the play. Priestley’s intensions were to reveal to his audience the social state of England in 1945. He felt that little had changed since the turn of the century. Preistley was a socialist and he very strongly believed that everyone should be equal. In this play Preistley shows to the audience that at this time it was Socialist vs Capitalist, and that everyone was separated in to social classes. These Even though these 2 families are very powerful people themselves. The Inspector treats them equal as anyone else where as most people do, he doesn't treat them with a great deal of respect. He says to Mr Birling '"Puplic men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privilages."' I believe that he is talking to Mr Birling as if he was a child when saying that to him. In the play Inspector Goole is a catalyst, the word catalyst means to speed somthing up. He gets the Birlings and Gerald to confess to being involved with Eva Smith/Daisy Renton in some way. Inspector Goole is very good at creating tension and drama. For example when someone asks he a question he will now answer it, he will just ask a question back.

Dramatic Functions of Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley In the play An Inspector Calls, a message is being portrayed to the reader by J. B Priestley and in my opinion, the main bearer of this message is the inspector. Being of an ambiguous nature, he appears to live in a different world to the family with whom he deals; the Birlings and it is his dramatic function in the play that I shall be analysing. Firstly, we have the Stage Instructions to consider. Throughout the play, there is no mention of Inspector Goole's physical appearance except in the first set of stage instructions when he enters the Birlings' house. He is said to "need not be a big man but he creates

Priestley's Main Aim in An Inspector Calls Priestly’s main aim in An Inspector Calls is to draw attention to the roles and consequences of capitalism in society and he achieves this successfully. As he managed to shock audiences of the earlier decades and through the play capitalist attitudes are portrayed as immoral and hypocritical to a modern audience we can see that the play has been successful to a certain extent. J.B. Priestly was born in 1894 and lived through the war. This is important as he witnessed changes in peoples’ attitudes before and after the year. In order to answer the question, the text must be explored, as must the historical context. It is found that the members of the older This would increase the audience’s hatred of capitalists and their views and therefore draws attention to Priestly’s main aim. An even more powerful example is the section of the speech referring to war. ‘Just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two, or a few German officers…begin talking nonsense’, Mr. Birling assumes that there is no chance of a war. However, the audience would certainly know that war was inevitable, a claim to which Mr. Birling exclaims ‘fiddlesticks!’ Mr. Birling tells everyone that he is a ‘hard-headed, practical man of business’ and that he says ‘there isn’t a chance of war’. His arrogance prompts the audience to dislike him immensely, as everyone knows that there was a terrible war. He also mentions that Capitalists cannot ‘let these Bernard Shaws and H.G. Wellses do all the talking’. This is also ironic as these two people are still powerful influences and socialist figures, and are recognised widely today whereas very few capitalist figures, if indeed any are recognised today for the better. Mr. Birling clearly represents capitalism within the play and we can see that this is true by looking at his speech and at the manner in

Ideas of Community in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley "We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that a time will soon come when if men

The Role of Arthur Birling in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley I am going to investigate the role of Arthur Birling in the play “An Inspector calls. Arthur Birling is the head of the family, he is rich and bad-tempered. He doesn’t care about anyone unless they are making him look good or richer. He is a very traditional man, and within his family, he likes to believe that what he says goes. Mr Birling is a pompous man in his mid fifties. At the beginning of the play, Birling is in charge of everything. He is a public figure and is obsessed with how things appear to people and maintaining the high status he has within the community. The Birlings are a middle class family. Sybil Birling is Birling strongly believes that “a man has to make his own way – has to

How does Priestley present ideas about responsibility in An Inspector Calls? (30 marks) Priestley explores responsibility through the behaviour of the Birlings and Gerald towards Eva Smith. Strongly believing that 'a man has to mind his own business' in addition to dismissing community as 'nonsense', Birling explicitly states he 'can't accept any responsibility' for Eva's death. Through these words, Priestley conveys how selfish Mr Birling is due to his capitalist ideologies, which is shown when his philosophy of 'lower wages higher prices' leads to workers striking and Eva being fired; this triggers the 'chain of events' to her ultimate death. The chain of events is a metaphor to show that everybody within society is responsible for each other. His clear statement shows how is an obstinate believer in his

The Dramatic Methods Used by Priestley to Convey the Social and Moral Message of An Inspector Calls J.B Priestley’s play “An Inspector Calls” is a medium to express his thoughts and feelings towards socialism. Priestley was known to sympathise with the plight of the

Analysis of the Inspector in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley The word Inspector suggests someone who looks closely at things, and this is his role in the events of the play. This, and the fact that

The Role and Function of the Inspector in J B Priestley's An Inspector Calls In 'An Inspector Calls', the main character is 'Inspector Goole'. Everything revolves around him and he is in control of the audience, characters and story. The story was set in 1912 and much of the context of the time relates to the Inspector's questioning of the Birling's. Inspector Goole is continuously trying to make all the Birling family members think about their conscious and guilt towards Eva Smiths death. He introduces numerous themes to the Birling family mostly linked with collective responsibility. He acts in a peculiar manner to make others think about their conscious, ' if there's nothing else, we'll Supporting this, we may see the Inspector as a spiritual person, as God. Possibly, because he does not punish the Birling's, he teaches them. His 'godliness' is also suggested through his speech where he claims 'we are members of one body'. He uses direct speech of what a Priest would say, allowing us to make a subconscious link between him and God. This could also show us that the Inspector is a religious and spiritual person, possibly sent out to do this job. But mainly, showing the consequences of the class system to the characters, audience and the effect on Eva Smiths life. He also knows everything before he actually questions everyone. For instance, it is as if he is waiting for everyone to confess to his