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Why Does Priestley Create Tension In The Inspector Calls

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“An Inspector Calls” is a didactic play which was written by JB Priestly in 1945, after WW2 and was set in spring 1912. The plot of this morality play primarily revolves around the Birlings and an Inspector revealing their involvement in Eva Smith’s death. The role of the Inspector is a mysterious one as he is described as all-knowing as he seems to know what the characters responses will be. It’s important to take in account the fact that J.B. Priestley wrote an Inspector Calls to convey his socialist views, as he was a member of the Fabian Society, a group of socialist writers. You can also tell the role of the Inspector in ‘An Inspector calls’ is an important one as he is the titular character.

Priestly uses the Inspector to create tension …show more content…

The audience can infer this through the quote, `Its better to ask for the Earth than to take it.’ The use of “the Earth” is a hyperbolic metaphor which is used to demonstrate how the upper class accumulate all of society’s wealth and power. When put into the larger context of the quote it also shows how they take resources and money away from those who need it with no care and how socially irresponsible it is to be greedy and to take things without permission. This shows that the Inspector is a moral character and is trying to teach the Birlings and the audience something, this makes “An Inspector Calls” a morality …show more content…

The inspector uses graphic and emotive language such as “burnt her insides out” and “she died in misery” in reference to Eva Smith’s death. The word burnt suggests.. This unpleasant and explicit imagery makes the phrases stand out to the post-war 1945 audience. This is further shown by her mistreatment by the Birlings. Priestly’s language encourages the audience to feel sympathy for Eva Smith and by extension, as she is a metaphor for working people, sympathy for the working class in

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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.

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