How important do you think social class is in An Inspector Calls, and how does Priestley present ideas about social class?
Social class creates a divide within society and within the play. Priestley has done this to emphasise the inequalities and prejudice ideas that were, and still are present today in society. The upper class, such as Mrs Birling, have high intentions to be seen as noble and are very aware of the differences between social classes, compared to the lower class, such as the Inspector, who are not seen as highly as those with the tighter upbringing. Mrs Birling is the social superior out of all the characters in the play, meaning that her presumptuous thoughts that are projected out loud come across as confident in her mind,
An Inspector Calls is a play written in 1945 by J.B Priestly. It was set in 1912 where there were strong distinctions between the upper and lower classes. Therefore, to convey the socialist message, Priestly portrays characters from the upper class in an exposed manner. He definitely doesn’t hide any of their flaws. Gerald Croft is one of the main characters in the play that Priestly has done a great job at showing the thoughts of the upper class.
Additionally, Mrs Birling is also unlikeable due to her condescending attitude towards the Inspector. Mrs Birling’s dominant role is shown when she is answering to the inspector: ‘what business is it of yours’. Her plain rude attitude ‘prejudices’ the readers against Mrs Birling. Furthermore, Sybil acknowledges that she is too powerful to answer to a man who is questioning her and threatening her status; she assumes that the Inspector is working class (but he represents no class). Concluding that she sees the lower class as morally inferior. Priestly hated this kind of attitude and believed that people had to change if society was going to work. Consequently, the author’s voice came through this extract as he was trying to make a change to humanity in 1946, when social class was vaguely present. Once again, we are shown of Mrs Birling’s high status compared to the Inspector: ‘You have no power to make me change my mind’. The use of the pronoun ‘you’ displays that Mrs Birling actually informs the Inspector that he has no power over her. Her constant
“An Inspector Calls” is a play written by J.B. Priestley in 1945. The play, which is set in 1912, illustrates the vast status difference in society at the time. Gerald Croft is a typical upper-class man, who already has his future carved out for him. He is the son of a wealthy businessman, who, in time will eventually hand the business over to him. However, being brought up in the upper class has made Gerald oblivious to the strife of the lower classes. He is content with his life and so does not care for anyone else.
In An Inspector Calls the theme of gender inequality is explored comprehensively. In the play, most of the women are portrayed as feeble characters, unable to make decisions for themselves. Many people often think this of Sheila, who the men feel needs protecting from lots of things, like the information that a girl has committed suicide. The play was set in 1912 when the patriarchal society was the norm. So the women that were in the play would have been seen as possessions to their husband and therefore did not work or have careers. However it would have been accepted for women to participate in charity work as Mrs Birling was. Apart from that, women would have been simply seen as wives and mothers not workers and fighters. Women did not have the same rights as men most notably women did not even have the right to vote. The
"I've done nothing wrong - and you know it!" Mrs Birling exclaims, refusing to take responsibility for her actions, which is just one of the reasons why the audience may not see Mrs Birling as a very likable character. This essay is going to explore how J.B. Priestley creates such a disagreeable character and why the audience feels this way about her.
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.
The character Mr Birling in ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B Priestley is a greedy, arrogant and selfish ‘hardheaded businessman’, father of two, Sheila Birling and Eric Birling. Through Mr Birling Priestley shows what upper middle-class men were like in 1912. I believe Priestley set the play in 1912 and first performed it in 1946 because this date represented an era where everything was different. In 1912 there was a strict class system and gender roles, Priestley took the chance the end of the war had given them to create a different, more equal society.
In An Inspector Calls, one of the main themes is responsibility. Priestley is interested in our personal responsibility for our own actions and our collective responsibility to society. The play explores the effect of class, age and sex on people's attitudes to responsibility, and shows how prejudice can prevent people from acting responsibly. In this essay I am going to explain how Priestley presents the theme of responsibility and how he uses structural and language devices to do so.
In ‘An Inspector Calls’, Priestley presents different ideas about class and society. His main idea is socialism. He believes that we ‘don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’ That whether we are upper class or lower class, we are responsible for each other and we shouldn’t look down on other people or think that they aren’t human but creatures just because they are a lower social class than us. Priestley tries to present the idea that society will only work if we work together and are responsible for each other. Otherwise, there would be no
Priestley creates Mrs Birling as an unlikeable character to try and get across the message of the play, that the rich should treat the poor better. He does this by making
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.
Throughout the play An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley, it is clear that Priestley strongly believes in the importance of a caring society and the consequences of our actions. He presents these views on inequalities through the presentation of Sheila Birling. This is done in various different ways using numerous techniques.
How does JB Priestley present the older and younger generations differently throughout the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ (45 mins)
Mrs. Birling, in the opening stage directions by Priestley is introduced as a “rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior”. This is important since readers realise early on in the story that Mrs. Birling is a representative of the aristocracy and her cold nature would be reflective of her pride on that fact. She is portrayed to be very conscious about her social status and extremely authoritative. She clearly likes being in control of things and demonstrates this trait repeatedly in the play. She is also constantly seen correcting flaws and contradicting members of her family. An example of this would be when she responds to Arthur’s statement about the cooks reproachfully, stating, “Arthur, you’re not supposed to say such things”.
Social class is conveyed through many points throughout the novel by the characters and the way in which they present themselves throughout society. It is evident throughout both pieces that social class is unfair and prejudiced by the way in which it is determined whether you 're popular or not. This in comparison to Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen provides a similar view on social class; despite still