The Dramatic Methods Used by Priestley to Convey the Social and Moral Message of An Inspector Calls

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

What is Priestley's main aim in `An inspector calls`? How successfully does he achieve it.

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

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

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

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.

J.B Priestly employs a various methods to present the inspector as well as showing his importance such as stage directions and from the language he uses. These methods allow us to understand and relate to the moral messages put across in the play.