Message & Tention of Inspector Calls, -Structure, Characters

A detailed Summary of Message & Tention of Inspector Calls, -Structure, Characters

J.B.Priestley was born on the 13thSeptember 1894, in a middle class home in Bradford, Yorkshire, which was a large industrial area that produced cotton in the mills. Priestley grew up in a thoroughly middle class home in a place where socialist ideals thrived, and was proud of the fact that his grandparents were mill workers.

He gained real experience and understanding of working class life and people when writing 'Rain upon Godshill' (1939). It was about his visits to "grandparents and uncles and aunts who still lived in the wretched little 'back to back' houses in the long, dark streets behind the mills.'' He uses 'An Inspector Calls' to expose the exploitation and oppression of the lower classes by the higher classes at that time.

Priestley set the play in 1912, thirty years earlier than when he wrote it, this way he was able to use dramatic irony to emphasise his point that the higher classes weren't as unbreakable as they believed themselves to be, and shouldn't have been quite so complacent. For example, during one of his rambling speeches, Birling says,

"...just because the miners came out on strike, there's a lot of wild talk about possible labour trouble in the near future. Don't worry. We've passed the worst of it".

Sheila is much more affected by the death of Eva Smith than Birling, the order or the interviews could be to emphasise the contrast between the characters, she confessed a lot easier and was far more worried about Eva than her own reputation.

"Well I don't think it's very funny" The audience would wonder why he is so uneasy.

As Inspector Goole goes on, and Birling learns more, he starts to realise that his family's actions could have influenced the girl in killing herself, but his feelings aren't guilt for her death, they are concerns for his reputation,

In Act two, there is a contrast between Mrs.Birling and Gerald's interviews. While Mrs.Birling acts very relaxed during her interview, Gerald seems very distressed all the way through his, because he knows he feels guilty.

"...when this comes out at the inquest, it isn't going to do us much good. The press might easily take it up...." - He is probably just worried about losing his chance of a knighthood

"...some people say that war's inevitable. And to that I say - fiddlesticks! ... Nobody wants war", and this play was first viewed in 1945, just after World War Two. The dramatic irony shows the audience that Birling isn't as knowledgeable as he would like to think, - he appears slightly foolish.

"He certainly didn't make me confess - as you all call it. I told him quite plainly that I thought I had done no more than my duty". She talks about it as 'her duty' like she had no choice, - she was just doing her job.

When Birling is first questioned about the girl, he shows no compassion and denies any responsibility for her suicide, because to him, all he did was sack her for being a troublemaker and demanding too much money,

"A man has to make his own way, has to look after himself...but the way some of these cranks talk now, you'd think everybody has to look after everybody else". This is a year after James Ramsay MacDonald has been elected as leader of the left wing Labour party; these are probably the "cranks" he is referring to. He is just about to go on, but he is stopped by the arrival of the Inspector, whose time of entrance is probably significant to the subject of the conversation, as Priestley socialist beliefs meant the world should be a community, with everyone helping each other.

Some common words found in the essay are:
I'm MrsBirling, Eva Smith, Palace Bar, Act Eric, Inspector Calls', Ramsay MacDonald, Inspector I'd, Gerald Croft, Bradford Yorkshire, Inspector Goole, stage directions, middle class home, feels guilty, creates impression, sheila speaking, eva smith, priestley's message, charity organization, atmosphere play, near play, including audience,

Approximate Word count = 2377
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English