An Inspector Calls Essays & Research Papers

An Inspector calls An inspector calls was written by J.B Priestley in 1934 and performed in 1945, 33 years after the war. But the play itself is set around 1912 just before the war broke out, the play is a neutralistic, mystery drama about a middle class family named the Birlings who all have a mischievous secret that involves the death of Eva Smith, which teaches people a lesson about social justice. When the play opens the Birling family are cheerfully celebrating the engagement of the...

?Inspector Calls. The story of an inspector calls is set in 1912, although it was written in 1945; it is set the seemingly respectable town of Brumley. Living on the edge of the town is the Birling family; this consists of Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, Sheila Birling and Eric birling. At the beginning of the play the family is having a small meal to celebrate the engagement of Gerald Croft and Sheila, The Story starts as the Birling family is having a meal when unexpectedly an inspector rings...

A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE PLAY “AN INSPECTOR CALLS” BY J. B. PRIESTLY The play, “An Inspector Calls” by J. B. Priestly deals with the underlying themes of social responsibility and moral conscience. It tells of how a wealthy, middle class family’s actions affect the life of a young, working class woman, Eva Smith, eventually resulting in her suicide. The play shows how every person plays a part in the community, and how selfish actions can lead to the death of an innocent person. These themes...

Emmanuel Omojola: An Inspector Calls: In the play “An Inspector Calls,” Priestley uses Mr Birling’s daughter Shelia to display society’s thoughts of the elite class, and how her actions and behavior emulate Priestley’s ideas. In this essay I will evaluate how Priestley delineates a change in responsibility in the character Sheila. Primarily, Sheila is characterized as quite irresponsible for a young lady in the elite class, however as the play progresses she emerges to become one of the most...

How important do you think is the theme of love in “An Inspector Calls”? How does Priestley presents different forms of love in the play? At the beginning of the play, Sheila and Gerald’s relationship is unbalanced because Gerald sees himself as the dominant one, and is controlling. Sheila is naïve, quite immature for her age and impressionable. Gerald chose and bought the engagement ring for Sheila, without her having any say about it, and she just accepts that without questioning Gerald....

St Patricks College 2013 ‘An Inspector Calls’ Ms. Galvin Lindsay Kotmel Classical Literature Major – Due 01/05/2013 AN INSPECTOR CALLS BY J.B PRIESTLEY Good Evening Reading Group, I am Lindsay Kotmel and welcome to a seminar on ‘An Inspector Calls’ inclusion within the western canon. Some institutions such as schools, religion and the media determine what is considered ‘truth’ and ‘knowledge’ on a variety of issues, theories and concepts within society. Thus constructions arrived from...

‘We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’ How does the play present the need to take that advice? The play presents the need to act responsible to one another. This is shown through language, the roles of the characters and the actions they make. This is what helps put the message across. The Inspector gives this advice to the Birling’s towards the end of the play for his final speech. The first character who Priestley expresses this advice...

I feel extremely responsible for the horrid tragedy of what had happened to that young lady. On the other hand at the time it took place I was in a furious temper; you see it didn’t seem so bad at the time because I lost all sense of what was right and let anger and jealousy fill me up to the direst spitefulness. I mean she did look very pretty and she looked like she could take a horrible comment. However now it is too late! I cannot even go back to say, “sorry Eva Smith”, never mind...

Response to literature: AN INSPECTOR CALLS John Boynton Priestly was born in Britain in 1894. He worked as a novelist and playwright, but he was also a political activist. Most of his plays, just like ‘An inspector calls’, have a very significant political content in which capitalism is criticized. He was interested in the idea of socialism, which defends a system without great differences between social casses. His greatest concerns were equality and fairness, and there are many references...

? 'An Inspector Calls' is a play written by J.B. Priestley, and was set in 1912, but was first written and performed in 1945. In the play, a girl commits suicide, and an inspector arrives to interview the Birlings - a very rich family - who seem to be involved in the crime. Inspector Goole interrupts their happy, celebrative dinner to prove to them that they were collectively responsible for the death of Eva Smith. He contributes to the play in a wide range of areas; playing different roles,...

‘An Inspector’s Calls’ is a play that was written by J.B. Priestley in 1945 but set in Edwardian England 1912. The play is set in a fictional industrial city in the North Midlands called Brumley. The fictional industrial city of Brumley would have been typical of many towns, as in the town there would be factory owners, who would provide much needed jobs, this meant that the factory owners were able to run their businesses any way they wanted to. These factory owners were more important in 1912...

Arthur Birling says: “If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had had anything to do with, it would be very awkward wouldn’t it?” Considering Act 1 of the play, how does Priestly present ideas about responsibility in An Inspector Calls? The Inspector and Mr Birling are the main characters J.B. Priestly uses as his tools to portray responsibility. Firstly, Mr Birling acts as a contradictor to Priestley’s beliefs and messages. For example in one of Mr...

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly - A* GCSE English Literature Drama Coursework An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly - A* GCSE English Literature Drama Coursework Page 1 of 11 by Luno2012 29 Followers Scroll to the bottom of the page to find more A* GRADE GCSE coursework! An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley A* GCSE English Literature essay writing Helpful hints! The text in bold will give you pointers and advice as to what you should include in your essay, and why this...

------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- An inspector calls JB Priestley wrote the play ‘An Inspector calls’ in 1912, just when the Second World War was over. He was trying to make people see that a socialist government would work by voicing his socialist views. His is written in a very critical way about the class system, highlighting how it is the upper class causing problems. Priestley speaks about women’s place in society too,...

An Inspector Calls, by J B Priestly Word Bank: 1. Play - an activity on stage 2. Playwright - the person who writes the play 3. Predict - say what will happen 4. Action - something that somebody does 5. Plot - it is the story line 6. Characters - qualities of different people 7. Cast of actors - 8. Acts & Scenes - something that somebody does 9. Stage directions - an instruction for an actor in the script of a play 10. Scenery - in which scene the play...

An Inspector Calls, J.B Priestley: “Who is Inspector Goole and what is his role in the play?” Priestley creates a rather particular ‘character’ that interrogates each member of a more or less banal family in the beginning of the 20th century. It is in the very last lines of the novel that the reader becomes aware of the fact that Inspector Goole defies all rules of rationality and possible normality. Though this theme is maintained throughout the story, the author presents a moral when we...

An Inspector Calls – Controlled Assessment Draft An Inspector Calls, a play set in 1920, written by J.B Priestley, has many dimensions, many agenda’s and many outlooks on life and society. J.B Priestley uses the characters within this book to portray his message indirectly, even the tiniest of details have an array of meanings behind them, for example, the lighting and how they should be, intimate and soft until the inspector arrives and the lights turn sharper causing the whole atmosphere to...

 Responsibility. Responsibility is a duty to take of somebody or something despite the possibility of a consequence if something goes wrong. “An inspector calls”, a play written by J.B. Priestley, talks about an Inspector name is Goole who interrupts the engagement party of Gerald and Sheila because a woman named Eva Smith has died. In the end, he reveals all the characters have something to do with Eva’s death. However, only Sheila and Eric, the younger characters, feel responsible by the...

‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play set in1912. However it was written by J.B Priestley in 1945 and set in Brumley. As he lived through both wars he could see what had actually happened in the time the play was set. J.B Priestley uses the characters to express his views on the issue of social responsibility, morality and about class divisions with many themes including greed, regret, guilt and blame. ''An Inspector Calls'' is about the Birling family who are quite wealthy. They are celebrating their...

In ‘An Inspector Calls’, dislike for the character of Mrs Birling is created in numerous ways. A number of techniques are used throughout the play in order to portray this negative image to the audience. For instance, her naivety is repeatedly mentioned and her class conscious attitude is prominent in the play. From the outset, Priestley uses Mrs Birling’s persona to create an unlikeable character, a woman who is described as ‘cold’ in the stage directions, displaying the attitudes she will...

The Inspector Calls. Michael Johnson Explain how far Priestley uses the features of a ‘Well Made Play’ to create additional tense and suspension in an ‘Inspector Calls’. Inspector Calls was written in 1945 by John Boynton Priestley, renowned author. He subtly portrayed his socialist political outlook in his play, through the manner of the characters, and the goings on at the time. Inspector Calls was written during World War 2 so the dampened attitude felt by people at the time, might...

In my work on J.B Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’, I am looking for evidence on who the inspector is. I believe that Priestley didn’t want us to know for sure the identity of the inspector; he just wanted us to speculate. First of all, I believe he could be a spirit, moreover, a ghoul. The definition of a ghoul in the dictionary is ‘a spirit interested in morbid things’. The fact his name is Inspector Goole, a homophone of ghoul, provides more evidence that he could be a ghoul. The fact he...

Examine the function of the Inspector in ‘An Inspector Calls’ ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a fascinating play of guilt and innocence, and of prejudice and hypocrisy. Throughout the play, the Inspector acts as a physical object for Priestley’s personal views. The play is a morality play, in which Mr Birling is a Capitalist and the Inspector is a Socialist. As Priestly is obviously trying to achieve the audience agreeing with his views, he creates Birling to be a pompous and an ‘easy to dis-like’...

What is the role of the Inspector in “An Inspector Calls”? Set at the close of the Edwardian Era, J.B. Priestley’s “An Inspector Calls” is a detective story like no other. Premiered in 1945, the play explores the class divide and social hierarchy of early 20th Century Britain, warns of the evils of Capitalism and expresses Priestley’s own Socialist message. As a rich, middle-class family celebrate an engagement, their idyllic world is shattered by the arrival of a police Inspector,...

BOOKREPORT – "An Inspector Calls" by J.B. Priestley Short plot summary: The play deals with an inspector, named Goole, who arrives by the Birling family, who is celebrating Sheila's engagement to Gerald Croft. He tells about Eva Smith's suicide. After lots of questions it turns out that they are all more or less responsible for this tragically death and after the inspector left they find out that he wasn't a real inspector and that no girl died. The play opens with the engagement...

Shelia Birling – An Inspector Calls Sheila Birling is the character who changes most in the play. She begins as a naïve, self-centered and privileged young woman but soon develops into a perceptive and increasingly mature and wise character, who displays the attitudes of responsibility that form J. B. Priestley’s message in the play. Set in 1910, the author attempts to show how Capitalism led to the world wars, revolutions and economic disasters. Our first impressions of Sheila Birling...

An Inspector Calls Essay How does Priestley build the drama and tension in this extract? The extract is from page 47 starting 'MRS B: I'm sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for this at all' In this extract, JB Priestley builds drama and tension through the use of dramatic irony. Mrs Birling does not realise until the very end of the scene that her own son is responsible for Eva Smith's pregnancy. However, Sheila and the audience begin to realise...

Essay 1 ½ pages (c) Select one of the members of the Birling family. Write a character study, using the text for reference, to show how Priestley uses the character to convey his own opinions and attitudes. The playwright of “An Inspector Calls,” J.B. Priestley, was a dedicated supporter of socialism, and by writing this play, he vents his own opinions and attitudes through his characters. The play is set in 1912, two years prior to the First World War, in the home of a prosperous...

Get hundreds more free LitCharts at LitCharts.com. An Inspector Calls BA BACK CKGR GROUND OUND INFO AUTHOR BIO Ghoulish Goole. Many interpretations of the text consider the Inspector’s ghostly name to be symbolic of the mystery that surrounds his character. PL PLO OT O OVERVIEW VERVIEW Full Name: J.B. Priestley Date of Birth: September 13, 1894 Place of Birth: Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England Date of Death: August 14, 1984 Brief Life Story: Priestley grew up in Manningham,...

"An Inspector calls" takes place in 1912, where there are great social divisions and distinctions. Written by JB Priestley in 1945 this allows for hindsight which eventually leads to dramatic irony. There are many examples of this, all of which are said by Mr Birling, "Just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two, you'll hear some people saying that war is inevitable. Well I say to that - fiddlesticks" This play was first published after the second world war and so the audience will know...

Essay on power An inspector calls is a controversial play, written by J.B Priestly in 1945. Set in 1912, the controversial play includes certain touches of power between characters and scenes. This is highlighted through the power of status, power of law and morality, the power of money and of power and responsibility, that are particularly highlighted through an inspector calls in depth and how each character is shown to be linked to various elements of power through the play whilst analysing...

Personal response I was greatly excited by the BBC production play ‘The Inspector Calls’. The play seemed boring at first since it wasn’t easy for me to understand and I always had a bad impression towards literature texts. But the play made the whole play so much more interesting and easier to understand which make me get excited not only watching the first 27 min and continued to watch the rest afterwards. Watching the performance heightened my awareness and understanding of the play....

How does Priestley present the change in Sheila during the course of the play An Inspector Calls? How do you think this change reflects some of Priestley’s ideas? Initially Sheila is thought of to be quite childish and immature at the start of the play as she teases and has a playful argument with her brother and with her mother telling her off saying ‘’Now stop it, you two’’. This resembles an ordinary family and so we can see that Sheila is treated as a child and behaves like one through the...

Arthur Birling Husband of Sybil, father of Sheila and Eric. He is the owner of Birling and Company, some sort of factory business that employs several girls to work on machines. He is a Magistrate and two years ago, was Lord Mayor of Brumley. Gerald Croft Engaged to Sheila. His parents, Sir George and Lady Croft, are above the Birlings socially, and it seems his mother disapproves of his engagement to Sheila. He works for his father's company, Crofts Limited, which seems to be both bigger...

Write about how Priestley presents some of the contrasts in the Play ‘An Inspector Calls’ The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ by JB Priestley has many aspects of contrast in it. The aspects of contrast in this play is the differences between the classes with Edna, Eva and the inspector being of a lower class to the rest of the cast, also the contrast of Gender plays a big role in this play with females being treated differently to Males. The Birlings and Gerald Croft are both of a higher class with...

‘We do not live alone. We are members of one body.’ How does this play highlight the theme of responsibility? ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a detective/drama play written in 1945 by J.B. Priestley. Priestley believed in very socialist views that are very much about sharing and same values for all. Theses get reflected in the play, most notably as his role as the inspector, where Priestley most outputs his views in direct contrast with Mr Birling. Priestley portrays Birling as an idiotic capitalist...

An Inspector calls - Why it is a successful play Priestly was a successful play writer who wrote a number of successful plays including ‘An Inspector calls’ which has all the qualities I would expect from a good stage play. That are the following an interesting plot which carefully unravels and a good use of dramatic devices such as cliff hangers also the way these devices are used to get the audience more involved. I would examine the play for these qualities by checking to see if it has all...

AN INSPECTOR CALLS MR JOHNSON’S EXAM REVISION BOOKLET HOW SHOULD I REVISE? 1. Firstly, you need to look at some past exam questions so you know what to expect – see pages 3 and 4. Do this now. Once completed put a tick next to this first step. 2. OK, now that you’ve done that you need to understand what to write and how to write it. You’ll find all of this information on page 4 and 5. Read and digest this information now. Once completed put a tick next to this second step....

An Inspector Calls Though responsibility itself is a central theme of the play, the last act of the play provides a fascinating portrait of the way that people can let themselves off the hook. If one message of the play is that we must all care more thoroughly about the general welfare, it is clear that the message is not shared by all. By contrasting the older Birlings and Gerald with Sheila and Eric, Priestley explicitly draws out the difference between those who have accepted their...

 In the Play “An inspector calls”, J.B Priestly presents the characters to take responsibility in different forms. Sheila Birling changes the way she takes responsibility throughout the play, including times before Inspector Goole arrives, during the presence of Goole and after the inspector leaves. Before the Inspector arrives, we are told that Sheila Birling is o be married with Gerald and there is a celebration being held at the Birling’s house, Sheila is known to be very irresponsible...

Throughout the play An Inspector Calls JB Priestly uses the characters to portray the different levels of society. He does this so as to give each class a moral belief and name. The play is called 'An Inspector calls' and was written in 1946 by J.B. Priestly. It is set in the year 1912, in between the time in which it was set and the year it was written two world wars had taken place. In 1912 classes were very different and were socially divided. There was a lot of poor people and very few rich...

'An Inspector Calls has been called a 'play of contrasts' write about how Priestley presents some of the contrasts in the play' Priestley presents the contrasts in the play 'An Inspector Calls' in many ways. There are many of these, the main contrast is the difference in attitudes of the younger generation and the older generation, this continues to develop throughout the entire play, we see how both generations act to their involvement with Eva Smiths death. Another contrast is the opposing...

An Inspector Calls was written by J.B. Priestley after the Second World War. It is set in the spring of 1912 at the Brumley home of the Birlings, a prosperous industrial family in the North Midlands. When the Inspector Goole first enters the scene, Mr. Birling is giving some ‘good advice’, as he calls it, “A man has to make his own way – has to look after himself…The way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has look after everybody else, as if we’re all mixed up...

Who, in your opinion, is the most responsible for Eva Smith’s death? An Inspector Calls was written by JB Priestley as a means of illustrating the flaws in the society of 1945 and the consequences that these flaws could bear. Priestley exemplifies this message most notably through the characters in the play. For example, although Eva Smith may not necessarily be a ‘real’ character, she is used as a representation of the entire working class community. This is central to the play because it...

An Inspector Calls Summary Act 1 The Birling family was having celebratory dinner on Sheila(the daughter of Arthur Birling) and Gerald(an aristocrat) while discussing the progress of Arthur Birling’s business and the events that has happened in 1912. Then an Inspector enters the scene and starts questioning the Birling family over the suicide of a pretty girl named “Eva”. During the course of the questioning it is revealed that Sheila and Mr Birling had contributed to the death of Eva...

An Inspector Calls, Summary. The Birling family have sat down to an evening meal, to celebrate the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft. Mr. Birling makes grand speeches giving his views on technology and industrial relations, emphasizing his opinion that a man should only care about himself and his family and no-one else. Their evening is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a police inspector called Inspector Goole. He is making enquiries into the suicide of a young woman called...

‘An Inspector Calls’ An Inspector Calls is a play about secrets and mysteries. The play revolves around the death of a young working-class woman called Eva Smith. An Inspector arrives during the celebration of Sheila and Gerald’s engagement celebration at the Birling household. Under interrogation, each character’s secret is revealed and we find out that each of them is linked to the death of Eva Smith. Mr Birling admits to sacking her for being one of the leaders of a strike for higher wages,...

[pic] Background An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 by J B Priestley, but is set in 1912, so the setting and characters are separated from the audience by two world wars and other historical events. This important fact gives Priestley opportunities to use the key feature of dramatic irony. The play promotes ideas that were introduced by the Labour government, which was elected in 1945: the Welfare State and the National Health Service. These institutions, which have been a feature of...

The role of Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly. Inspector Goole is probably the most important character in An Inspector Calls. He creates big impressions and somehow reveals all about the Birling family and Gerald Croft. He interrupts their celebrations to question them over the death of Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton. In the process of doing this he makes some of the characters realise what they are really like, and how the small actions they had done in the past affected her...

‘An Inspector calls’ is a play by JB Preistly that was written in 1912 and was intended to open the eyes of his 1946 audiences to a brighter future founded on community, responsibility, equality, peace and respect for all. Inspector Goole and Mr Birling are two of the main characters and have perhaps the most noticeably opposing views of any two characters in the play. Priestley displays this through the constant conflict between the pair, and notably in their vastly contrasting speeches...

In this essay I will be discussing why J.B Priestly wrote the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ and how he uses the to influence the social hierarchy in 1946. The play was set in 1912 in the dining room of the Birling’s house in Brumely, an industrial city in the North Midlands. The Birling’s consists of Mr.Birling, Arthur, Mrs.Birling, Sybil and their son and daughter, Eric and Sheila. The play also presents Sheila’s fiance, Gerald, the Inspector and the mention of Eva Smith. In the play the Inspector...

An Inspector Calls. ‘An Inspector Calls’ is full of lies and deceit. Write fully about the way Priestley explores weakness and wickedness not only in the characters on stage, but also in society. John Boynton Priestley was born in 1894 and died in 1984. He was famous for contemplating science, philosophy and writing many plays which displayed his Socialist views which advocates a socialist viewpoint since it is about caring for everyone and not just the wealthy. ‘An Inspector Calls’ is one...

visit of Inspector Goole. But who is Inspector Goole? And who is the girl whose suicide he is apparently investigating? Priestley deliberately set his play in 1912 because the date represented an era when all was very different from the time he was writing. In 1912, rigid class and gender boundaries seemed to ensure that nothing would change. Yet by 1945, most of those class and gender divisions had been breached. Priestley wanted to make the most of these changes. Through this play,...

‘Inspector Goole merely functions as a mouthpiece for Priestley's ideas.’ What do you think is the Inspector's function in the play and how does Priestley present him? ‘An Inspector Calls’ written by J.B Priestly is a play with hidden political morals within it. As Priestly believes in Socialism (treating everybody fairly and equally) he uses the Inspector to convey his ideas to the audience to try and encourage them to see his way of thinking by using a family that is Capitalist (that...

Inspector Goole is More than a Staging Device in An Inspector Calls Staging devices such as lighting, narration, dance sequences, sound effects, stage props and music are intended to serve a specific purpose in a play. A staging device is usually intended to enhance the play's central message or to create the desired mood and atmosphere. In An Inspector Calls, Inspector Goole's role is central to the play's message of social responsibility. It is through the Inspector's meetings with the...

An Inspector Calls is a play written by J. B. Priestley in 1945 about the prosperous Birling family being confronted by a Police Inspector who reveals during the play each family member's involvement in a young woman's suicide. The play has socialist undertones, as Priestly was a prominent socialist himself. The play is set in spring 1912 in the dining room of the Birlings house in Brumley, just before the First World War. It was first performed 1 October 1946 to an audience who had just lived...

Shahd Alnaji Ms. Kretschmar English II, Period 9 3 December 2014 Theme: Generation Gap J.B. Priestley demonstrates the differences in attitude of the younger generation and older generation by presenting them with the same problems and seeing how their reactions differ from each other. We see that the younger generation, overall, is more open­minded and honest in regards to the death of Eva Smith, while the older generation is resistant and very certain in their own ways. ...

‘An Inspector Calls’ Essay We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. How does Priestly present this theme through the use of character, action and dramatic devices? ‘An Inspector Calls’ by ‘J.B Priestly’ is a post world war 2 drama set in 1912. The play is set in the industrial town of Brumley, the play is set in the front room of the Birling household. The play follows the classical unities rule where the play is set in one place, this allows future...

An Inspector Calls A play where such themes may feature conflict is ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B. Priestly. The dramatist conveys this theme effectively through several techniques. An Inspector Calls is about a family called The Birlings. It focuses on the recent suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith, who also calls herself Daisy Renton. During the play, the Inspector helps the Birlings to realise that they were all partially responsible for her tragic death. The first scene in the...

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery”- Winston Churchill Winston Churchill thinks that socialism is a philosophy of failure however John Steinbeck author Of Mice and Men & JB Priestly author of An Inspector Calls would say that capitalism creates the failure in society not socialism. Both authors create a microcosm to show us how society was like at the time. This is called social realism. The...

The finale of An Inspector Calls brought cheers but most of all it brought about confusion. It was obvious this play wasn't going to lay out a neat plot for the audience; it was going to be a play that stays in your mind for the next few days. The intriguing part of this play was, for once, everyone didn't just wake up, bleary-eyed to give the cast a meaningless clap. When I looked around, I saw people I would have pegged for being gone before the lights had dimmed, actually paying attention,...

In play 'Inspector Calls' written by J B Priestley, Mr Arthur Birling is a prosperous manufacturer as well as father of Eric and Sheila. He is married to Mrs Birling and lives a stable social life. But does this explain everything? We do not know his character, his appearance or any deeper information about his habits. And yet at the end of the play everything is clear. So the question is how did the author let us know about Mr Birling's inside? At the beginning of the play Mr Birling seems to...

An Inspector Calls An Inspector Calls is set in 1912, during the Edwardian Era. It tells the story of a family's journey from ignorance to enlightenment by using both the plight of an unseen working class girl, and the exploration and questions of an (apparently) conscientious police Inspector in an attempt to change the attitudes of the middle class characters created for this play. This drama brings to light the important issue of how the working class is treated by their so-called...

How does Priestley use dialogue and stage directions to create a scenes of mystery in "An Inspector calls"? "An Inspector calls" written by - John Boynton Priestley or probably known as J.B. Priestley, who is widely regarded as one of England's greatest playwrights. J.B. Priestly was a playwright who found inspiration from his life and experiences during the world war one and two to create egocentric but ordinary characters at the same time. "An Inspector Calls" was set in 1912 shortly...

An Inspector Calls John Priestly was born in Bradford in 1894. Priestly had grown up into his father’s circle of socialist friends; he saw women and men, rich and poor, all working together. After the First World War women returned to being housewives, the typical life that the perfect woman was expected to lead. This greatly influenced Priestly’s writing because he didn’t agree with that...

Responsibility in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Priestley is very successful in putting across his views about responsibility. He reveals his views about responsibility and many other things through inspector Goole and all the way through you get the feeling that the inspector is not at all like a real police inspector. The inspector seems to take over the whole family and have total control over who he is speaking to. I think that the way the inspector talks to the...

INSPECTOR CALLS REVISION NOTES Political views During the 1930's Priestley became very concerned about the consequences of social inequality in Britain, and in 1942 Priestley and others set up a new political party, the Common Wealth Party, which argued for public ownership of land, greater democracy, and a new 'morality' in politics. The party merged with the Labour Party in 1945, but Priestley was influential in developing the idea of the Welfare State which began to be put into place at...

Major Themes Class Taking the play from a socialist perspective inevitably focuses on issues of social class. Class is a large factor, indirectly, in the events of the play and Eva Smith’s death. Mrs. Birling, Priestley notes, is her husband’s social superior, just as Gerald will be Sheila’s social superior if they do get married. Priestley also subtly notes that Gerald’s mother, Lady Croft, disapproves of Gerald’s marrying Sheila for precisely this reason. Finally, everyone’s treatment of...

Coursework – An Inspector Calls In act one of ‘An Inspector Calls’ how does Priestley use dramatic devices to convey his concerns and ideas to the members of the audience, as well as interest them and involve them in his play? An Inspector calls was written in 1944, (first performed in 1945) and although he had the idea for the play before the Second World War, but he never had a chance to write it. After the victory of the Second World War, he was reminded and began work on the play based...

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. One of the ways Priestley presents the...

An Inspector Calls ‘An Inspector Calls' remains as popular as the day it was written. This long running popularity is accounted for by the dramatic themes and the direct involvement of the readers. The play challenges us to review our own conscience and the intriguing genre and mysterious person of the Inspector makes this play a popular, entertaining and insightful outlook of social conscience and responsibility. The crucial fact that leads to the popularity of the play is...

What is the significance of Inspector Goole in the play? The audience are first introduced to Inspector Goole half way through act 1. He is a mysterious character from the very beginning, but we see that he is confident and has an air of authority about him and he is determined to make the family face their guilt. He claims that he has seen the dead body of Eva Smith who died earlier that day after she had ‘swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant’. He is of much significance throughout the...

What is the Inspectors role in the novel An Inspector Calls? The Inspector plays an intriguing role in J.B Priestley’s Inspector Calls. There are many different interpretations of the Inspectors role in the play but in my opinion he represents the author Priestley without the audience knowing until the end of the play. The Inspector as a character is used to show Priestley’s views of social and political unjust of his time. Priestley does this by giving the inspector power to, question each...

English homework An inspector calls 1) Find 3 quotations that show how characters change from Victorian to modern mortality “What an expression Shelia! Really the things you girls pick up these days!” “I think Shelia and I had better go into the drawing-room and leave you men” “Why the devil do you want to go upsetting the child like that?” 2) How would a modern day audience have responded to the characters/ the play? A modern day audience would be very shocked by the characters...

What is the role and function of the Inspector in An Inspector Calls? An Inspector Calls is a play with lots of political messages as well as social messages. J. B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen to be a good way to go. It was a common way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was...

"An Inspector Calls": Issues and Priestly's Viewpoint 22nd March 1997 Martin Howitt 11W Discuss some of the issues raised in "An Inspector Calls" and show how Priestly expresses his own viewpoint in the play. The play is set in the 1912 on an English street scene in the evening. The plot of "An Inspector Calls" is about a police inspector who interrupts an elegant engagement dinner party to question the family and their guests about an unsuspected suicide of a young working-class...

‘An Inspector Calls’ by J. B. Priestley In Act One of ‘An Inspector Calls’, how does J. B. Priestley use dramatic devices to convey his concerns and ideas to members of the audience, as well as interest and involve them in the play? In Act One of ‘An Inspector Calls’, J. B. Priestley uses several different dramatic techniques to voice his concerns, ideas and political message about socialism to the members of the audience. He uses characters, lighting, sounds, props, dramatic irony and...

Orla Brennan How are women presented in "An Inspector Calls" and why are they presented in this way? In the play, all the women are portrayed as delicate characters- particularly Sheila who the men feel needs protecting from all manner of things like the information that a girl has committed suicide. Set in 1912, the woman in the play would have been seen as possessions to their husband and did not work or have careers due to the patriarchal society. However, it would have been acceptable...

NOTES Priestley’s Life: John Boynton Priestley was born into a working class family in 1894. He knew early on that he wanted to become a writer, but decided against going to university as he thought he would get a better feel for the world around him by working. Instead, he became a junior clerk with a local wool firm at the age of 16. When the First World War broke out, Priestley joined the infantry and only just escaped death on a number of occasions. After the war, he gained a degree...

Of Mice and Men - Loneliness Most chararcters have isolation and loneliness, for example George is always playing solitaire which is a one-player game, and also he becomes lonely after the killing of Lennie. Crooks is isolate being the inly black character as he is not allowed and is not welcome with the other ranch hands to play cards, so he has a lot of books in his room as that is his only form of entertainment. Candy is also lonely, especially after they shoot his dog as his dog was his...

In this question I have been asked to explore how j.b. Priestley presents sympathy for Eva Smith in ‘’An Inspector Calls’’ In "An Inspector Calls", J.B. Priestley uses the characters and attitudes of the Birling family, especially Mr. Birling, to make the audience feel sympathy for Eva Smith. The family is "prosperous" and "comfortable", and Mr. Birling's extensive posturing and blagging emphasizes their good fortune. In the opening lines of the play, he is found to be drinking and discussing...

'Discuss the presentation of inspector Goole in the play' The inspector in inspector calls is a very supernatural character, how he appears in the play and how he leaves. The inspector says “And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish, Goodnight.” These last words from the inspector are the antithesis of what Mr Birling said, Mr Birling says “Every man for himself”, and the inspector says...

How do you respond to Gerald in An Inspector Calls? How does Priestley make you respond as you do by the way he writes? (30 Marks) The character of Gerald in An Inspector Calls is one that produces different responses; this is due to Priestley’s writing style. During the start of the play Gerald takes a low level status but by the end of the Play he is defiantly trying to save himself and the family. How does Priestley make us feel like that? Well it’s all down to the stage directions and how...

How does J.B. Priestley create dramatic tension at the end of act two? Events throughout the Act lead to the dramatic tension at the end of act two such as the gradual build up towards the shock of Eric as the father of Eva’s unborn child; Mrs Birling’s swift change form outright confidence to devastation at the end of act two and Eric’s entrance just as Mrs Birling has claimed that the father of Eva’s unborn child should take sole responsibility for the suicide. Priestley creates this...

Who Do You Think Bears The Least Responsibility For The Death Of Eva Smith? The inspector calls takes you through an eye opening voyage on the death of a girl named Eva Smith, as well as how a family reacts when they know their involvement in the death. The Birling family as well as the soon to be husband (Gerald Croft) of the daughter Sheila, one by one are bestowed with guilt despite some refusing to believe they’re own responsibility. Very importantly we learn how each character has...

Arthur Birling is a self-centred man intent on climbing the class ladder, even at the expense of his family and employees. He regularly uses his obsessive behaviour over status to invoke popularity or power within a particular crowd, which is evident in the very first scenes of the play when Birling says to Gerald: ‘It’s exactly the same port your father gets from him’, suggesting Mr Birling bought it in order to imitate a more prominent societal figure as well as to gain a rapport with Croft....

The development of Sheila, one of the central characters of the second act, is very important to the play. She starts, in Act One, as “a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited,” and her excited reaction to Gerald’s engagement ring suggests she is comfortably settled in the economic and cultural traditions of her father. At the start of the play, she was suspicious of Gerald’s absence last summer, but showed no desire to investigate it further. Yet, by the...

How is the theme of responsibility Explored in ‘An Inspector Calls?’ There are many theme in the play in 'An Inspector Calls. This was written by J.B.Priestley on 1945 and set on 1912. The play begins with the engagement party of Sheila and Gerald. Sheila is the daughter of Birlings', who own a successful business. During the party an Inspector comes and started to enquire about a woman who has just committed suicide. From the course of the play we know that each members of the Birling family...

Arthur birling’s Character J.B. Priestley wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’, a three act drama which was first performed in 1945, which is after the Second World War ended. In this play, Arthur Birling is a wealthy mill owner and a politician. He represents the capitalist upper class. Since Priestley was a socialist and server in the war, he wanted to show this ruling class family as the ‘antagonists’ in this play, as he himself, in his life, accused the ruling class for their mistakes, who helped...

How does J.B Priestly use the inspector as a dramatic device in his play? J.B Priestly book “An Inspector Calls” is set in 1912. During the time the book was set in a lot of riots and people weren’t getting paid as much as they needed. It is a play that grips the reader from the start. It’s a play that was turned into a book and it is about an inspector who visit’s the Birlings to investigate a murder or possible suicide from drinking disinfectant. At the beginning of Act 1 play in...

In the play “An Inspector Calls” by J.B. Priestly, Mr. Birling and Sheila Birling have contrasting attitudes to social issues. J.B Priestly uses this difference to highlight the diversity between generations and their reactions to the situations faced. He also shows the difference in the way they act upon hearing the news and how they change throughout the play. Arthur Birling is the father to Sheila Birling and so is presented as the older, “old-fashioned” generation whereas Shelia is the...

Analyse the role of the female characters in An Inspector Calls Priestley includes a range of female characters in An Inspector Calls from an upper class snob, through a vain daughter to an oppressed factory worker. Throughout this play, the selfishness and moral hypocrisy of upper middle-class capitalist society is revealed. The vulnerability of women evokes sympathy, which supports Priestley’s belief in gender equality and community as “one body”. At the beginning of the play,...

To what extent is “An Inspector calls” a socialist play? J.B Priestley uses his play as tool to get across his message of socialism. Priestley was a well known socialist and so would obviously want to express his views in some way. Priestley uses “AIC” to convey his views on capitalism and socialism: he uses the Inspector and some of the other characters as his mouthpiece of socialism, and uses some of the more arrogant and ugly characters to represent capitalism. Priestley would obviously be...

How does Priestly build tension within the play ‘An Inspector Calls?’ The tension first begins to build when the inspector first appears and begins to interrogate Mr Birling. “I’d like some information, if you don’t mind Mr Birling.” The family were having a nice family meal when suddenly he appears and ruins the mood. The audience understand this when Mr Birling says “We were having a nice little family celebration tonight. And a nasty mess you’ve made of it now, haven’t you?” Tension is...

An inspector calls is set in 1912 but was written and perfomed in 1945/46 to a post war generation.Setting the play before the first world war enables priestly to make the most of class divison and social hierachy in england.Priestley has used throughout this play the devices of dramatic irony and foreshadowing. He shows lies, deceit, wickedness and weakness within the characters. The play can be seen as a microcosm of society with different attidues being shown in different characters. Priestl...

‘An Inspector Calls’ has been called ‘a play of contrasts’. Write about how Priestley presents some of the contrasts in the play. In the play there are wide differences in not only the treatment of Sheila Birling and Eva Smith but also large contrasts in the girls themselves- with Eva being a poor uncared for girl and Sheila being a privileged upper-middle class girl. This not only separates them as they would be unable to fully empathise with each other as they experience widely contrasting...