Tension In Priestley's An Inspector Calls

J.B. Priestley sets the play in a lavish and happy environment. Without Priestley even telling the audience that the play is set pre war it is obvious because of all the available luxuries and fineries such as 'champagne glasses' and 'dessert plates'. The war caused great shortages in goods and food, which led to rationing. No one in 1945 (when the play was written) would have been able to create a luxuriant celebratory dinner. This cunning use of setting deliberately reminds the audience of some of the luxuries lost because of the war.

A number of other issues that were around at the time the play was set

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.

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

By constructing the Inspector as just and omniscient, Priestley encourages the audience to view left-wing values as morally virtuous. Through the Inspector's authority, commanding presence and stature Priestley makes a direct jab at the audience with the Inspector's last

this is his role in the events of the play. This, and the fact that

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 the play ‘An Inspector Calls’, written by J.B. Priestley, there are 6 main characters. Sheila Birling, daughter of Sybil and Arthur Birling, is a childish young lady who’s engaged to Gerald Croft, the son of the owner of a successful business. Eric Birling, the youngest out of the family, is a seemingly quiet and insecure man who is consistently ignored and thrown back by his father who in comparison is a highly selfish, egocentric businessman. He only considers himself, money and reputation. His stubborn wife, Sybil, regularly attempts to portray herself as an upper class woman.The Birlings are a very wealthy capitalist household, meaning that they believe in responsibility for themselves and no one else. On the other hand, Inspector Goole,

the play is that it is a typical detective story. This is due to the

command at the end of Act I and the start of Act 2, and the end of Act

J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls 'An Inspector Calls' by J.B. Priestley is set in an industrial city, Brymley in 1912, just before the First World War. The Inspector's dealings with the Birling family cause some of the characters in the play to

Consider the ways in which Priestley's portrayal of Inspector Goole and the way in which he carries out his investigation of the Birling family and Gerald Croft create dramatic interest? 'An inspector calls' was written in 1945 by J.B Priestley. The play is set in 1912 and centres on Arthur Birling, a prosperous manufacturer and

Comparison of The Attitudes Of Arthur Birling And Sheila Birling From An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

For instance, it is as if he is waiting for everyone to confess to his

see that this is true by looking at his speech and at the manner in