Similarities Between Inspector Goole And Birling

“An Inspector Calls” is a morality play by the socialist playwright J. B. Priestley written in 1945 but set in 1912. The play is based on the wealthy Birling family, who is questioned by a police inspector regarding a young woman’s death. Using characters of different ages to represent the contrast of political stances and attitudes, Priestley attempts to educate the audience. He believed that Capitalism was the sole reason for the start of world war one and therefor also the cause of the great economic depression and the second world war. Priestley uses the age in the play, to tell the audience that capitalists don’t have any social responsibility, as they do not accept any responsibility for Eva Smith’s death. The behavioural contrast between the Birling parents and their children demonstrate that if you are capitalist, you can still alter your beliefs and become socialist.

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

Social responsibility is one of the main themes in ‘An Inspector Calls’ play. J.B. Priestly wrote the play in 1945, but set it in 1912, at the time when there was a strong class division within the society which affected attitudes towards social responsibility. Priestly portrayed this in his play through different characters and differences between lower and upper classes as well as the younger and the older generation in the play. Priestley and the character from the play, Inspector, were in favour of socialism while in contrast, Mr Birling represents capitalism which affects his sense of responsibility.

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'

Arthur Birling at the Beginning of Act One in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote the play of ‘An Inspector Calls’ in 1945 but set the play in 1912, Edwardian Britain. The writer intentionally set the play in 1912 to make the audience aware of social conscience. Another reason why the play was set in 1912 was because, some of the historical events mentioned in the play, the audience would be familiar with as they would have lived through the time and would know the real results of how they ended and what the causes were because the era from which he set was very different to when he wrote the play. In the play, when these events are mentioned, Arthur Birling says the opposite to what actually happens such as when Birling said

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.

Explore the characterization and role of Inspector Goole in ‘An Inspector Calls’. ‘An inspector calls’ was set in 1912 but it was written by J.B Priestly in 1945 which means it was performed in 1946. The author’s purpose in this play was to convey to the audience that the world should be is equal to everyone and everyone should be treated equally not divided in classed.

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

The arrival of Inspector Goole in JB Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ creates a feeling of uneasiness and completely changes the course of the play. The inspector represents an almost ominous and mysterious being that suggests a manifestation of each of the character’s guilt and certainly calls to the fact that each of the Billings had a role in Eva Smith’s tragic death.

How does Priestley present Inspector Goole at different points in the play? Inspector Goole is portrayed as a member with no class but a lot of authority who is omniscient and omnipotent. He aspires to bring change amongst the upper class using the Birling family which in all is a victory amongst those with an open mind – Sheila, Eric but a waste amongst those who do not support his socialist views – Gerald, Mr Birling and Mrs Birling. Priestly carefully crafts Inspector Goole as a person of higher authority compared to the Birlings in the extract set in Act 1 when Edna introduced Inspector Goole. Goole has an “impression of massiveness” which clearly displays his power and status compared to the others in the room and how he has the ability to do whatever he wishes.

An inspector calls is a play which is used as a warning illustrates the clear division between higher and lower class but also between the two different generations. When we are first introduced to Mr Birling and Eric it is apparent that neither of them enjoy each others company and that they do not sustain a healthy father son relationship. Both character have different priorities as Mr Birling chooses business and welfare over his son, whilst Eric chooses drinking over socialising with his family. Mr Birling, a very conceited man, illustrates the greed of wealth and reputation in the higher class society, so much so that he pushed his son away to allow his future son-in-law Gerald to take main priority.

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.

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.

There is a power shift from Mr birling and inspector Goole I can tell this by the language that inspector Goole. A quote that supports my point is ‘nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along’. The inspector says ‘no wait a minute, miss birling’. Mr birling says to his daughter ‘nothing to do with you’. This quote shows us that Inspector Goole challenges Mr birling by controlling his daughter Sheila. This quote is significant because it shows that inspector Goole can stop an order that was not given to him but to Mr birling’s daughter. The inspector Goole uses the word ‘No’. The inspector hold the most power by extracting information from others yet not giving himself away. He has the ability to make the birling family say thing that help solve the mystery of the death of Eva Smith. Priestley perhaps decided to include this into his play to show that the socialist majority should stand up to the capitalist minority. I believe he is trying to show this through the characters of inspector Goole and Mr Birling. Inspector Goole is socialist while Mr birling is capitalist; I think that J.B priestly want to see a power shift from capitalist to socialist, by showing it through the characters Mr birling and inspector Goole. This is very similar to ‘Of mice and men’ and it can be linked to the novella. There is a shift of power shown throughout the scene when Curley and Lennie

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.