Social Class 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.

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

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.

The moral of the play is that everyone is part of a community, and everyone is responsible for each other, it does not matter whether they are lower class or upper class (‘[W]e don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’). Priestley believed in socialism, he uses the Inspector to express his thoughts about this. This is the main message that he wanted the audience to take away.

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.

Written in 1944, “An Inspector Calls” is set in 1912 and tells the story of the death of Eva Smith, a victim of the selfish actions of a wealthy middle class family, the Birling’s. Inspector Goole interrogates the Birling family and tries to convince them to see the error of their ways so they can take responsibility for their actions.

J B Priestley's Main Ideas in An Inspector Calls In the play "The Inspector Calls" by J B Priestley many views are put forward for the audience to contemplate. Priestly uses the characters to portray the views and changes that were happening and going to in the time when the play was set 1912. Mr Birling & Mrs Birling are a classic example of the typical upper-class citizens.

'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

Overall, I believe that social class is the main theme in the play, and that Willy Russell has presented the theme very effectively. The two different families living in such a close distance from each other allows the audience to see

“An Inspector Calls” is originally a play by J B Priestley in 1945, and has been represented in a variety of diverse ways, as a book, a play and many films.

In 1912, the classes were divided, creating very large gaps in between them, especially the upper classes and the lower ones. We can still see that money was a big aspect of classes as Mrs. Birling said, “as if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!” and we can also see this later on in the text when Mr. Birling offers a lot of money to the inspector to completely forget about the event and the inspector replies with, “You’re offering the money at the wrong time, Mr. Birling.” which makes Mr. Birling look foolish, and this makes it seem that people of that era, would always pay their way out of trouble. Priestly chose to put this in the script as he wanted the audience to see how people acted and how revolting this was. Priestly wanted certain members of the audience to realise and to change themselves. In 1912, women were told that they weren’t allowed to make decisions for themselves. This rule still applied to society in 1945, and Priestly wanted them to be called out for this, therefore he hid it in this play. The fact that the upper classes thought that the lower classes would do anything for money, was a disgrace as it showed how exploited they were and how much money was

A major inequality that has been highlighted in the play is gender Inequalities. Before the unexpected arrival of Inspector Goole, Sheila is presented to be very outspoken about her ideas to Gerald and the rest of her family. ‘I’d hate you to know all about port – like one of these purple-faced old men’ As Sheila tells this to Gerald it shows how she openly expresses her views to Gerald. The simple language emphasises how confidently she is able to voice her opinion without a second thought. This is something that wouldn’t be expected from women in the early 1900s so it shows how from the very beginning, Sheila is different to most women in the early 1900s. However, she is also quite similar to them in terms of her power because she had no power in the start of the play and despite the fact that she voices her opinion, it has no impact on anyone in the family in comparison to the effect it would have if Gerald or Birling said it. During the Inspectors visit Sheila increasingly breaks down the inequalities between

The play of Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley is made dramatic because it is all about an investigation of a suicide and how each family member is responsible. That is the whole aim of the play (in the Inspectors words): “We are all responsible for each other.” The theme of the play is affected by when the play was produced in 1946, after World War Two when the Welfare

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.

Social class in important in An Inspector Calls. This is because the Birling family all helped to contribute to Eva's suicide. If all the characters didn't think that class was important, Eva would be alive. The older characters, Mr and Mrs Birling who mainly care about class.