ipl-logo

Assess The Role Of The Inspector In An Inspector Calls

821 Words4 Pages

An inspector calls

In the intriguing play ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J. B. Priestley, there is a character who plays a key role - Inspector Goole. The play is set in 1912 in England, a time of a gender inequality issues. The drama begins with a family gathering to celebrate Sheila Birling's engagement with the rich Gerald Croft. Their evening is interrupted by inspector Goole, who interrogates each of them about their role in Eva Smith's death. Priestley effectively portrays Inspector
Goole as a key character by showing how much the inspector can change in one family in one day.

Priestly uses the inspector to bring important themes of social responsibility into the play.
He interrogates Arthur Birling, a man who shows little to no sympathy for his workers, about …show more content…

Arthur Birling found that offensive and fired her with no care.
“Rubbish! Do you know what happened to this girl after she left my works?”
This shows Arthur Birlings' lack of social responsibility as he can’t see why him firing Eva was a bad thing even though he previously admitted that she was a good worker and he had no real reason to fire her. Further in the play, he continues to try and find other reasons for her death that doesn’t involve him because he recognises nothing as his fault. This never would have been brought up if the inspector hadn’t come and questioned Birling about his involvement and he wouldn’t be as aware of his own actions.

They portrayed the inspector to have a key role in the play, as he effectively makes the other characters and the reader think with his speech towards the end of the play.
“'But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone–but there are millions and millions of Eva
Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, with what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for

Show More
Related

How Is Mr Birling Presented In An Inspector Calls

792 Words | 4 Pages

An Inspector Calls is a morality play, filled with controversial political viewpoints attempting to persuade the audience that socialism is the way forward. Such views are voiced by The inspector, Priestley's mouthpiece. The play is set in 1912, A year followed by world war 1, the miners' strike and the sinking of the Titanic, therefore, supplying the writer with the opportunities to use dramatic irony, which Priestley does, to further influence his audience in act 2 to reconsider accepting a capitalist society. Sybil Birling is one of Priestley's characters that lack development in their attitudes towards society, particularly the lower class.

Read More

Exposure And Poppies Comparison

931 Words | 4 Pages

Priestley's play "An Inspector Calls" is a complex one, and opinions differ on whether or not he is a hypocrite. Some argue that he is inconsistent in his behavior and actions, while others believe that his actions are justified by his overarching mission to expose the hypocrisy of the Birling family. In this essay, we will explore the evidence for and against the idea that Inspector Goole is a hypocrite. On the one hand, there are several instances in the play where Inspector Goole's actions could be seen as hypocritical.

Read More

How Does The Inspector Take Responsibility In The Crucible

370 Words | 2 Pages

In the inspector calls the inspector shown as a all knowing main charcter. His purpose within the play is to make the Birling family take responsibility for there foul actions they took towards eve smith/daisy renton Priestly uses the quote "each of you helped kill her"this imply that the inspector wanted them to accept there and share there responsibility for each action the Birlings faimily did. Alternatively it also shows that due to the class of Birlings it took the inspectors appearance for them to realise there Responsibility as before they were very adimate that they would not take responsibility"i cant take any responsibility"In summery it shows how much the inspector wants them to see the wrong they have done and accept it. Looking specifically

Read More

How Does Priestley Present Mccarthyism In An Inspector Calls

1401 Words | 6 Pages

As a result of the Birlings'' for all intents and purposes capitalist viewpoint, Priestley clearly actually shows the disparity between the for all intents and purposes upper and definitely lower classes in An Inspector Calls, which basically leads to Eva Smith\'s very tragic suicide as a result of the Birlings\' kind of capitalist viewpoint on life in a subtle way. There specifically is no doubt that Priestley focused on the patriarchal nature of sort of British society at the time, doing so to emphasise the need for change to basically take place in Britain, especially for families like the Birlings, who mostly are represented by Priestley\'s work, which basically is quite significant. At the start of the play Priestley actually highlights

Read More

Gender Stereotypes In An Inspector Calls Essay

1410 Words | 6 Pages

Priestly depicts gender stereotypes to emphasise gender in a capitalistic, misogynistic and patriarchal society, in his play 'An Inspector Calls'. Priestly portrays women as emotional, commodified, materialistic and irresponsible to highlight the way that a misogynistic capitalist society operates. In a similar manner, Priestly presents men as arrogant, ambitious, dominant, and strong. By doing this Priestly aims to critique capitalism and the underlying implications and undercurrent of problems which capitalism brings to provoke a reaction in the audience to promote socialism. Priestly presents women as weak, emotional and irresponsible throughout the entire play by using Sheila to show the 'pink and intimate' safety bubble and facade which her family lives in.

Read More

Class Prejudice In An Inspector Calls

764 Words | 4 Pages

J.B. Priestly wrote 'An Inspector Calls ' in 1944 when Britain was enduring the final year of The Second World War and the country was united in one community; together they were fighting for Britain. However, it was set in 1912 and, at the time, Social classes were a hefty issue resulting in a bitter division of people from different working classes. Priestly uses Eva Smith to cultivate the true idea of social classes that took place before the sinking of the Titanic and before the two world wars. She was an ordinary working-class lady and all of the other characters abused their social statuses over her; the Birlings, in particular, acted egoistical throughout the play without realizing how much pain they were inflicting on Eva 's life.

Read More

Responsibility In J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

498 Words | 2 Pages

How is the theme of responsibility presented in act 1 of An Inspector Calls? The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is set in a turbulent 1912 filled with threats of war and catastrophe. Priestley used this play to send a message to the generations in 1945 about how each one of them caused the war, and how we are all responsible for each other. There are many ways responsibility is presented within each character, depending on their generation, gender and class.

Read More

Gender Roles In J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

609 Words | 3 Pages

‘Inspector calls’ was made in 1944 but set in 1912. As during that, time men were seen to be deemed superior to women, as they would work and represent the family since their last name came from the man. This is shown in the play when Mrs. Birling says to Sheila, her daughter, “when you’re married you’ll realise that men with important jobs to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time on the business”. Priestly writes Mrs. Birling to represent the ‘traditional wife’ although Sheila can be seen as a modern woman as she is the next generation after Mrs. Birling. This suggest that they have different values and ideologies, and how some are better than others, due to the new generation being able to learn from the older generations mistakes.

Read More

J. B Priestley's Use Of The Inspector In The Crucible

1359 Words | 6 Pages

In the Inspector’s final speech, he warns Mr Birling and his family that if they continue this way, they can lead “millions and millions of Eva Smiths’ and John Smiths” into further suffering. The Inspector then exits abruptly at the end of his speech with no hesitation, he does not look back but instead walks “straight out”, implying there is no room for discussion. He firmly believes that Mr Birling (and his family) must change the way they behave. The use of dramatic irony allows Priestley to discredit Mr Birling and his exploitative school of thought while fostering his message. Mr Birling is set up to think that the Inspector was a sham and then finding out that there was in fact a suicide, giving the audience a sense that he isn’t as intelligent as he thinks which creates a negative bias towards him.

Read More

How Is The Inspector Presented In An Inspector Calls

1396 Words | 6 Pages

In "An Inspector Calls," Inspector Goole is used as a dramatic device; the inspector is presented as a moral mouthpiece for J.B. Priestley to convey the main themes of social responsibility, age, gender, and class. This play was written in 1945 in Britain (post-World War II). However, this play was set in 1912 in the Birlings house in the industrial heavy town of Brumley in the north midlands. Priestley deliberately set this play in 1912 due to the Edwardian era, an era where there is a hierarchy in regard to class and gender that is prejudiced against women and working-class individuals. Additionally, Priestley utilizes the Inspector to express his own ideas on social responsibility.

Read More

Priestley's Use Of Repetition In An Inspector Calls

109 Words | 1 Pages

From this quote, it is evident that priestly wants people to change their attitude towards each other, especially those of a lower social class. At the beginning of the quote the Inspector claims there are “millions and millions and millions” of people like Eva Smith. In this short quotation, Priestly has used repetition to emphasise the word millions. From the use of repetition, we, the audience in 2017, can infer that Priestly wanted whoever was to play Inspector Goole, no matter when the play was being performed, to emphasise the point that there are so many people like Eva Smith.

Read More

The Power Of Gender In An Inspector Calls

544 Words | 3 Pages

The power of gender in “An Inspector Calls” is evident throughout the play, and shows how women were often mistreated and marginalised. In 1912, women still had few rights, and were expected to be obedient and subservient to men. The play shows how women like Eva Smith were vulnerable to exploitation and abuse due to their lack of legal and social power. It also highlights the limited opportunities available to women, particularly those from lower social classes, and the pressure to conform to societal expectations. The male characters, especially Mr. Birling and Gerald Croft, use their power and privileges to control and dominate the female characters.

Read More

Princess Diana Research Paper

1336 Words | 6 Pages

The vulnerable young woman, whose smile was always ready to greet other people died a tragic death. Diana Spencer lived a short but fruitful life, full of compassion, love and

Read More

Gender Roles In The Play Trifles

1001 Words | 5 Pages

Nevertheless, while using the play’s setting to first project the notion that men are superior to women in the society, the actual murder investigations depicted by the play goes to underline that indeed women are not inferior to men. Therefore, while placing the women’s intelligence over that of men, Trifles challenges the typical male-dominated detective story by deviating from the norm of men being superior, women only being good for the kitchen, and women paying attention to unimportant things like a jar of preserves busted. Although the men in the play, Trifles, are depicted most determined to resolve the murder by combing throughout the entire house to discover the clues related to the murder and the motive of the murder, women are keener in observing the small spaces they have been allowed to access. In the

Read More

Discuss The Role Of The Inspector In An Inspector Calls

778 Words | 4 Pages

The point in the play, in which the Inspector comes into play, is when he enters the room where all the Birlings and Gerald are seated. He is described as quite harsh and frightening upon appearing. In fact, his appearance suddenly changes the entire mood of the Birling family. In the play at this point, there are stage directions saying: “The Inspector need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.” Here, I believe the term ‘massiveness’ is not meant in the literal sense, since it says the Inspector doesn’t have to be tall.

Read More

More about Assess The Role Of The Inspector In An Inspector Calls

Related Topics

Open Document