How Does Priestley Present Strong Attitudes In An Inspector Calls

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

How does JB Priestley present the older and younger generations differently throughout the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ (45 mins)

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.

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

The play "An Inspector Calls" was written by J.B Priestley in 1945, when the British people were recovering from over six years of constant warfare and danger. As a result of two world wars, class distinctions were greatly reduced and women had achieved a much higher place in society. It was due to this and a great desire for social change that Labour's Clement Attlee won a landslide victory over the conservative Winston Churchill. He nationalized the gas steel and electrical industries, established the NHS and introduced the Welfare State. The play was set in Brumley, a fictional industrial city, in 1912.The playwright believed passionately in the left wing perspective and his message is overtly political. He uses techniques such as

In line three, she uses a metonymy. She substitutes the word “bread” for “money”. The use of the phrase “earning their bread” (ln 2-3) suggests that children are working to be able to afford their necessities, which shouldn’t be the case if they are so young. This dramatizes the work that children do. Kelley goes on to use two oxymorons. She said, “Boys and girls … enjoy the pitiful privilege of working all night long” (ln 43-45). Privileges shouldn’t be pitiful. This provides a sarcasm that shows just how bad working conditions are. Her second oxymoron lies in lines 64-65, “free our consciences from participation in this great evil”. Evil shouldn’t be great. By using these contradictions, Kelley conveys her message with the irony of the way that child labor is being handled.

Eva smith was a hard worker in his company, but Birling fired her as she demanded for a pay rise and was one of the main ring leaders. Birling didn?t take notice on what would happen to Eva smith after she left his works, and what happened to her after that, and what would lead her to suicide. A chain of events which he had started. Which reflects on Priestleys main aim, our actions affect people around us.

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

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

"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.

This was a time of working class discontent when workers and the movement as a whole were seeking answers to the social injustices they suffered. The speech was made at a time when Parliament and government were dominated by the aristocracy (O’Day et al., 2011, p96). Democracy was seen as a way of resolving the economic circumstances of the worker and political action was thought to be the mechanism to bring this about. Paragraphs 3 and 5 contain almost exclusively political rhetoric with the speaker seeking the audiences support. There are many references to support this,” the rich unnaturally elevated above the proper spheres of the mortal man” (Para2 Line 3) and “mustering your thousands to aid

How does JB Priestly explore and present the theme of gender in the play ‘An Inspector Calls”?

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.

And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in blood and anguish.” This passage shows that Priestley wanted to make the Inspector the law bringer and the authority in this play because the audience has to agree with what the Inspector is saying for Priestley’s message to be effective. The quote refers to World War 1 and World War 2 and so Priestley uses the power and knowledge of the Inspector to scare the audience by using powerful sentences such as “they will be taught it in blood and anguish” which reminds the watchers of the pain and suffering they have already gone through. The inspector tries to persuade the audience that trying to pursue wealth is dangerous and destructive such as the case of Mr Birling starting the “chain of actions” for Eva Smith. Priestley had completely opposite views on the world to the main characters, mostly Arthur Birling. The Inspector is there to represent the views of Priestley and so is shown to be much of a better person and man than Birling and his family and whereas Mr Birling is shown to be greedy and selfish in his actions, the Inspector is shown to be the opposite. This shows the main role of the inspector is to present Priestley’s ideas.