‘an Inspector Calls’ by J. B. Priestley
‘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 juxtaposition to convey his ideas and the techniques used also create and maintain suspense which cause the audience to become more interested and involved in the play.
Although ‘An Inspector Calls’ can fall into the mystery, suspense, detective or family drama genre, it is overall a didactic play, as it is purposely written to teach a specific lesson or moral. It conveys a strong political message, and so it promotes the idea of socialism, as a society in which community and responsibility are central focuses because Priestley believed that community was non-existent in 1912 and that the world and its people needed to change as people were extremely egotistical in that period of time. The play was set in 1912, just before World War One. This was a time when there were many strikes, food shortages, political tension and community division and so every man kept himself to himself and wouldn’t take on any responsibilities other than his family. However the play was written and published in 1945, just after World War Two and so Priestley uses hindsight to show that the way forward is socialism, and he implies that in order to move forward and to rebuild a country, people have to work cooperatively and take on responsibility for each other. However, even though Priestley uses the play to convey his concerns and ideas, he also wants to entertain his audience as that is partially the overall purpose of a play. Priestley used Inspector Ghoul almost as an alter ego to convey his
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 juxtaposition to convey his ideas and the techniques used also create and maintain suspense which cause the audience to become more interested and involved in the play.
Although ‘An Inspector Calls’ can fall into the mystery, suspense, detective or family drama genre, it is overall a didactic play, as it is purposely written to teach a specific lesson or moral. It conveys a strong political message, and so it promotes the idea of socialism, as a society in which community and responsibility are central focuses because Priestley believed that community was non-existent in 1912 and that the world and its people needed to change as people were extremely egotistical in that period of time. The play was set in 1912, just before World War One. This was a time when there were many strikes, food shortages, political tension and community division and so every man kept himself to himself and wouldn’t take on any responsibilities other than his family. However the play was written and published in 1945, just after World War Two and so Priestley uses hindsight to show that the way forward is socialism, and he implies that in order to move forward and to rebuild a country, people have to work cooperatively and take on responsibility for each other. However, even though Priestley uses the play to convey his concerns and ideas, he also wants to entertain his audience as that is partially the overall purpose of a play. Priestley used Inspector Ghoul almost as an alter ego to convey his