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The Role Of The Inspector In J. B Priestley's An Inspector Calls

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‘An Inspector Calls’ was a play written in 1945 but set in 1912 as J.B Priestly knew about the past history. This shows that by setting in the past, J.B Priestley is able to use dramatic irony as the audience knows the previous events in the play before the actual characters do and Priestley wants us to be aware of that. During that time much of upper class society was capitalism and there were very strong distinctions between upper and lower class people. The agriculture and industries were privately owned and wealth wasn’t shared among society. The play is set around the Birling family and Arthur Birling is a wealthy factory owner who is seen as the dominant character with all the responsibility in the family as his wealth showed a clear separation in the classes of society. Socialism was on the rise …show more content…

J.B Priestly presents this development as a person when she says "But these girls aren 't cheap labour - they 're people." She shows much remorse and guilt on hearing about the girl’s treatment showing that she is a caring woman. Mr and Mrs Birling have been seen as arrogant but Sheila is contrasted to show compassion and kindness towards the conditions of the workers immediately when she hears about her father 's treatment of Eva Smith. This shows that Sheila is quickly changing her personality during the play compared to at the start she was seen as an irresponsible and not mature. This has a huge impact on the audience because in the early 20th century there was going to be a war in two years which would have caused a high surge in labor jobs as the men would’ve been sent to war. This shows that Priestly makes the individuals seek power rather than caring about others

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Some socialists eventually banded together to form political parties in order to secure more freedom for the working class. In the Gotha Program, presented in 1875, the Social Democratic Workers ' Party of Germany laid out their plan to demand reforms from the government in order to give workers more rights and freedom (Document 3). The socialist movement was caused by the great changes brought on by industrialization during the mid to late 1800s, and worked to create a socialistic organization of society. Many of these groups wanted to secure more rights and profits to the working class compared to the minimum rights and freedom they had with a pure capitalistic economy. Socialists groups like the Social Democratic Workers ' Party of

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By addressing his opponents in a companionable way as “Fellow Clergymen” King sends the message that he is willing to have a serious civilized discussion. And the audience is persuaded to listen to their colleague. Just as a medical doctor is obligated to discuss the cure to an illness with another doctor. The eight clergymen feel compelled to listen to King because both share the same profession and love for God. Following the establishment of King’s authority, he proceeds to maintain and emphasize the religious references throughout his letter to assure his appeal among the clergymen.

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Particularly, the speaker profiles Mr. Odger as a man engaged in “the useful profession of shoemaker” who “knocked in vain at the door that opens but to golden keys.” Here he obliquely patronizes Mr. Odger through the implication that the lower class should adhere to the bounds of their existing social status. Thus, the narrator retains a parochial view of the poor: any attempt on their behalf to transcend social hierarchy is a ludicrous notion. Following the narrator’s escape from the crowd into a hansom cab, he describes himself witnessing the affair as if “from a box at a play.” Notably, box seats are reserved for the opulent who can afford the luxury of sitting above the general audience.

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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.

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In the play An Inspector Calls written by J.B Priestley, the use of morality and double standards gives us an insight into the society of the early 1900s; which remains relevant in social stratification, cultural and deviance aspects. Through the story of Arthur Birling, Mrs. Sybil Birling and their children Eric and Sheila. The upper-class family, with untouchable reputation, enjoy of an intimate party soiree in honour of Sheila's engagement to Gerald Croft. Son of a well-known business man, Sir George Croft from Crofts Limited. When Inspector Goole pays a mood-changing visit, resulting in the systematic manipulation of the presumably respectable characters.

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J.B Priestly wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ in 1945, the last year of World War 2 but sets it in 1912 a time of inequality where upper and lower class was distinguished and treated differently within society and where a big gap existed among poor and rich people. The play introduces us to the theme of social inequality and social responsibility displaying the fact that trade unions were very weak, workers had few rights, wages were very low and many other injustices where made specially towards women; they were treated very differently then men and they were looked on as less important in society. Lighting is changed at the arrival of the Inspector "The lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder" this displays a contrast between scenes and atmosphere. It also shows the change in mood; suggesting a cheerful environment and a very joyfully and delight mood, everybody feeling thrilled for Shelia 's engagement and celebrating united as a family. But it changes to "brighter and harder" at the arrival of the Inspector and

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Here, there is a visible separation between the old and young characters because the old, Mr and Mrs Birling are still sticking to their arrogant and capitalistic views, however, the young, Sheila and Eric understands they have been immoral. Priestly had purposefully done this to highlight how corrupt capitalistic views were. As Priestly was a socialist he wanted to spread a message portrayed by the Inspector and the younger

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Also, the politicians would have had to been on board with these things instead of everyone trying to make themselves rich. When society works together as a whole, everyone benefits. It is easy to see why people would want to run to the Socialist Party after living and working in the conditions that they did. They would provide citizens with significant social benefits, including guaranteed employment or unemployment insurance and free or heavily subsidized health care, child care, and education. However, it would make people dependent on the state for things that could easily be obtained for themselves and people would be regulated to what kinds of goods and services are produced, how much they cost, the wages or salaries paid to people in different professions, and how much wealth a single individual may accumulate.

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The horrible working conditions in various industries caused respiratory and other problems for the workers which called for strikes for better working conditions. The socialists started posing a challenge to the capitalists as they demanded a proper division of wealth. The highs were too high and the lows were too low in the Gilded Age which was not tolerable. This led to the creation of labor unions which demanded economic freedom and industrial democracy. The government had been siding with the rich capitalists who were helping in flourishing the economy of the country.

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Eva Smith is a subject of common debate amongst the readers of the play ‘An Inspector Calls’. Priestley is a strong socialist and his views are expressed by the portrayal of the character of the inspector as well as Eva Smith. The entire story revolves around Eva which makes her the protagonist in the play. From the moment her character is first introduced in the play to later as the story progresses and unfolds the story revolving round her makes her the most central character. Indeed, when the play is over and we read back over those first few scenes, her manifestation can be felt from the very beginning to the very end: from Gerald’s ambiguous maneuvers when reminded of his evasiveness ‘last summer’ to Birling’s enthusiasm for lower costs

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An Inspector Calls Explore how Priestley presents the character of the Inspector in this text. Priestley presents the Inspector as working class through the Inspector’s use of language. This can be seen on page 184 (Act One), where the Inspector says, ‘...never did anybody no harm.’ The Inspector’s use of a double negative implies he had a bad quality of education, something which was common among working class families in the early 20th century.

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Oscar Wilde wrote his plays against the backdrop of the Victorian English society. It therefore helps to discuss the salient aspects of the Victorian society. Victorian England is known for many paradoxes -- glaring contrasts between the rich and the poor, insistence on morality on the one hand and the practice of cynicism on the other, blooming creativity pitted against blatant constriction, imperial grandeur since Britain was then ruling almost one fifth of the total surface of the earth and domestic squalor since the majority of people did not have decent means of livelihood, and finally collectivity dictated by tradition opposed to the rapidly developing individualism. The class system denied the talented members of the lower classes access to social and economic advancement. The upper classes alone had the privilege of working in the government, the armed forces, and the church, while trade was monopolized by the rising middle class.

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