Preview

J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
884 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
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 from Cambridge University, and then moved to London to work as a freelance writer. Much of his writing was ground-breaking and controversial. He included new ideas about possible parallel universes (Ouspensky and Dunne’s Theories of Time) and strong political messages.
During the Second World War he broadcast a massively popular weekly radio programme which was attacked by the Conservatives as being too left-wing. The programme was eventually cancelled by the BBC for being too critical of the Government.
He continued to write into the 1970s, and died in 1984.

Social Historical Context:
The play was written in 1945 at the end of 2 World Wars. It is set in 1912, Edwardian England, just two years before the first war. This was a very difficult time for England. It was a period when there were many strikes, food shortages and great political tension.
By 1945 Europe was in ruins and two cities of Japan were destroyed by atomic bombs. During the war, the blitz and the evacuation of city children into the country meant that a lot of people were thrown or forced together. As a result, they learned about each other and felt responsible for each other as individuals and as a country.
This play has a moral message (like a fable, with a lesson to be learned at the end); that we should think of others and work together to ensure a fairer, more equal society, This idea is known as socialism; even now, the political party Labour to some extent follow this idea. When the play was

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The play takes places on a cold December night, on the hills of Lockerbie, Scotland, seven years after the bombing. Bill and Madeline Livingston have come to Lockerbie for a memorial service that is…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    J.B Priestley wrote this play in 1945 a period after two appalling world wars- The Holocaust and the Atom Bomb. He set his play in 1912 when class and gender were what ruled society- along with money of course.…

    • 2614 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The major theme/lesson of the play is to always put somebody else before you. If you do than you will learn more about yourself in long run.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    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 change, dialogue and the choice of words used by the characters show much more than what we take for face value. Though this is a three act play we see much contrast and drastic change and development especially in the younger characters, one of them…

    • 1254 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    ● Play set in 1912 but written in 1945. ● Britain after the war was a time…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Shoe Horn Sonata Themes

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The play is about the histories of the women and the nurses that were captive of the Japanese during World War Two; their individual histories and joint suffering. The stories of these women were never made official and there is no government recognition of their plight and few, if any, official records. These painful memories are not part of any ‘official' history and this is made clear in the play. "The British didn't want anyone to know about us. They'd…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The play is set in the 1929 in Western Australia, in a small settlement called Moore River. The story behind the play is about an aboriginal family and how they work to gain their purpose and fight to survive. This is well characterised and through it's characters we are able to see the theme to the play that one must have ones' purpose in order to survive. Characters like Jimmy Munday and Joe represent the stronger aboriginal, the side that stands up to the white man, the side that don't step back but take a few steps forward. Their courage and willingness to gain their purpose is passed on to the other aboriginal people throughout the play and help bring the aboriginal closer.…

    • 622 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book An Inspector Calls the character Sheila has more of an impact and changes her views on things. The writer, Priestley, uses Sheila as someone who helps the audience follow the play by what she says.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The play was written in 1945 and performed in 1946. This was significant as the second world war had just ended and it was the time when the higher and lower classes where going back to their usual ways. Priestly sets the play in 1912 for dramatic irony as the characters are unaware of such things as the war. For example Mr.Birling says ‘The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war,’ which of course turns out to be wrong. Also it reflects how the higher class behaved before the war. This makes the audience realize how it has changed, but changed for the better. Mr.Birling talks to everyone convincing them that it is certain there will be no war. He says ‘The world’s developing so fast that it’ll…

    • 1926 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    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 trigger the World War.…

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a political satire written by a devoted socialist, J.B Priestley – an ex-soldier who fought in World War I. The play was set in 1912, 2 years prior to World War I; however it was written and published in 1945 – just after world war II. Priestley uses this time difference effectively to emphasise the British society of 1912, where there were firm class and gender barriers; Priestly detested this and was passionate towards the need of collective responsibility – he believed that if there was no change, the consequence would be ‘blood, fire and anguish’. Nonetheless most of these barriers were violated by 1945; Priestly wanted to make the most of these changes. Throughout his play, he influences his audience of 1945 to take advantage of the opportunity the end of the war had set them to reform an enhanced, more compassionate society.…

    • 365 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This infers that although he may not be ‘massive’, he gains satisfaction from creating an impression of this. The word ‘solidity’ implies that he is a well kept together and reliable man, that perhaps he has the capability of making a point without losing his temper. Also, ‘purposefulness’ gives the impression that he is a determined and strong-willed man; that he will not fail to reach his aim, even on the face of difficulty. Priestley’s intentions may have been to create a man with good morals that he can voice his views and opinions through as during the 1940’s socialism was quite frowned upon and so expressing his views through a play would’ve been quite a safe option.…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    , both today and in the time the play was written? To portray the failings of society Priestley uses a combination of many different themes and idealisms, each represented by the attitudes of the different character. Arthur Birling represents power and…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How is Mrs. Birling presented in ‘an inspector calls’ and what does this reflect about Priestley’s ideas?…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Request Stop

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    During this time peoples beliefs and ideas were suppressed and neglected. By writing this play, Rinter was trying to criticise this conservative way of feeling by creating the impression of a contemporary London divided, where people do not interact or want to be involved with others.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays