How Does Priestley Use Power In An Inspector Calls

“An Inspector Calls”, is a play written by JB Priestley in 1945. It is a thought-provoking play that explores the issues of accepting responsibility. The play centers on a wealthy family in the upper class, who refuse to accept their involvement in Eva Smiths death. Using the Inspector as a mouthpiece, Priestley is able to discredit the capitalist views of the audience and Mr. Birling.

The extract is located very close to the end of Act Three. Eric has just been identified as the father of Eva’s child and the Inspector is close concluding his inquiry.

The Inspector is portrayed as having a “calm authority”. This stage direction emphasizes his control over the situation and over the family. He has managed to turn the family on each other,

Here, the Inspector pulls out all the stops and leaves no stone unturned. The use of imperatives right from the beginning, “Stop!...be quiet….listen to me”. This highlight the Inspectors authority and power over the family. It foreshadows how he is going to use this power and his influence over them to force them to accept responsibility. Surprisingly, the Inspector changes his manner of speaking during this final part. Before, his opinions were very factual; he did not say much else than required. Whereas now, his speech and tone have become more emotive, showing how this is personal to him. Priestley uses dysphemism when reminding the family of Eva/Daisy’s death, “this girl killed herself…died a horrible death… you helped to kill her”. The repetition of “killed”, reiterates the reason for the Inspectors presence, as well as forcing the family to recognize the fact that a girl died tonight as a result of their actions, or the lack thereof. It pushes the family to recognize their part in her death, and accept responsibility. This is further emphasised when the Inspector “looks from one to the other…carefully”. It is as if he is “breaking down the walls” that Sheila mentioned previously, and unveiling their true selves, selfish, ignorant, pretentious and

In Act Two, when Mrs. Birling first meets the Inspector, she tries to use her social status to avoid the questioning, and as if to say that her family could not possibly be at fault for the death of a girl from “that class”. Furthermore, she almost tries to intimidate him by telling him Mr. Birling was a “Lord Mayor… and still a magistrate”. However, none of these methods appear to work on him. Sheila is the only one who seems to recognize that the Inspector is here for one purpose and one purpose only, to make them take responsibility for their actions. He is more interested in making the Birlings recognize their self-centered ways rather than bringing them to justice. Continuing on, the Inspector cleverly controls the entire play, “…have him in and get it over with… No, I can’t do that yet… He must wait his turn”, he keeps his work around unveiling the various roles that the family played in the death of Eva/Daisy, and then, coercing them to accept those mistakes to ensure that they do not happen again. His tone throughout the play is quite calm and assertive; he never breaks his composure, “coolly…imperturbable”, till he is just about to leave, “savagely…sardonically”. This then allows him to draw each character into Eva/Daisy’s story before he reveals the part they played in her downfall, “…looking for a job and became Daisy Renton, with other