important today as it was in 1912‚ when the play is set‚ or even in 1945‚ when the play was written. The class system is extremely important in An Inspector Calls‚ as it is the basis for the moral undertones running through the play. The gap between the Birlings and Eva Smith in terms of class is enormous‚ and this is used by Priestly to show his own views on the system‚ and the problems inherent to it. Priestly criticizes a large number of the beliefs commonly held by the stereotypical upper class around
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Inspector’s meetings with the Birling family and Gerald Croft that each character is made aware of his or her selfish and uncaring attitude towards the less fortunate in society. In this sense‚ Inspector Goole is a staging device but he exceeds the expectations of such a role and it would be unfair to call him ’just’ a staging device. Before the Inspector arrives at the Birling home we meet the family celebrating Mr Gerald Croft’s engagement to Sheila Birling. Mr Birling is an industrialist and
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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 the
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and unfortunate. He does this by making the Birling family represent well off middle class society and using Eva Smith to represent the poor and needy. At the end of World War II Priestley wanted to change poor people’s lives for the better and chose to do this by writing ‘An Inspector Calls’‚ to improve public awareness especially among the middle classes. Various dramatic devices are used to influence the audience‚ to show that Mr. and Mrs. Birling are not right in their views- that everybody
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his parting speech challenging the Birlings‚ and the audience‚ to “Remember” that there are “millions and millions” of people like Eva Smith‚ all “linked” in some way. Clearly at this stage his examination of the Birlings behaviour and the investigation of the suicide of Eva Smith proves he is the voice of morality. Goole states “we don’t live alone” and are “responsible for each other”. This message is in direct contrast to the one delivered by Arthur Birling at the start of the play where he claims
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seems desperate for his father’s approval‚ and for Mr Birling to show any sort of affection or love towards Eric‚ which Mr Birling is oblivious to ‘Because you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble’. However‚ by the end of the play‚ Eric does not appear to care what his father thinks of him‚ as when Mr Birling says to Eric ‘You’re the one I blame for this’‚ and Eric replies ‘I’ll bet I am… I don’t care now’. If Mr Birling had said that to Eric in the beginning of Act 1‚ Eric
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the use of lighting so that the audience have an immediate impression of a ‘heavily comfortable’ household. Before the Inspector arrives the lighting is ‘pink and intimate’ representing the special occasion in which the Birling family are feeling very pleased about as Shelia Birling is marrying into a higher class. We then get told that when the Inspector arrives the lighting should then be ‘brighter and harder’ which foreshadows the events to come in the play‚ and the reality of the situation‚ as
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massively”. In addition to that‚ the stage directions‚ in which he is described as having an “impression of massiveness‚ solidity and purposefulness”‚ present the Inspector as being unconventional. This is because of the way he cuts into what the Birlings are saying‚ which is unusual for an inspector as they are supposed to be listening to what they are saying for evidence. At the start of the play‚ Priestly describes the set as having “pink and intimate” lighting; however‚ when the Inspector arrives
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play‚ the first hint of power we see is through the appearance of Mr Birling when Priestly describes him at the start of the play. Mr Birling is described as a ‘thickly built’ man‚ which gives us a sense of power due to his size. The audience (only being able to see the actor playing Mr Birling) may respect Mr Birling due to his appearance‚ confidence and his position in society. However‚ as the play progresses‚ we see that Mr Birling is powerful also in terms of business‚ and the fact that he fired
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Mrs Birling creates more of a negative force around Sheila by saying‚ ‘It would be much better if Sheila didn’t listen to this story at all.’ I say this because she is ‘supposed to be engaged to the hero of it.’ The quote from Mrs Birling‚ that I have given‚ is followed from the quote by Sheila‚ which I have also provided. This shows that Sheila is being aggravated by the rest of the family as they are all suggesting she isn’t there to hear the rest of the conversation between the family‚ Gerald
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