In the extract‚ The Birlings are celebrating the engagement of Sheila and Gerald. Even though everything seems fine‚ there are a few signs that not everything is perfect; Mr Birling is a bit too anxious impress Gerald‚ Eric seems rather nervous and Sheila is half-joking‚ half-serious to Gerald about last summer. Even though Mr and Mrs Birling are happy about the engagement‚ Priestley gives us hints that The Crofts disapprove of the marriage as they weren’t at The Birlings’ dinner and Gerald’s mother
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I promise. Good luck Year 11. Mr J HIGHER – PAST EXAM PAPERS – AN INSPECTOR CALLS JANUARY 2011 EITHER Question 17 How does Priestley show that tension is at the heart of the Birling family? (30 marks) OR Question 18 Priestley criticises the selfishness of people like the Birlings. What methods does he use to present this selfishness? (30 marks) JUNE 2011 EITHER Question 17 An Inspector Calls has been called ‘a play of contrasts’. Write about how
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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 through
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the Inspector’s entrance bringing a socialist message‚ interrupting the character who was speaking prior to his arrival‚ Arthur Birling‚ a capitalist who had been preaching the value of capitalist views such as "a man has to make his own way-has to look after himself’’ (pg9). However the events of the play show this to be unworkable. In fact the bell rings when Birling is in mid-sentence. It appears the Inspector deliberately timed his entrance to make it even clearer where his message is aimed.
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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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In Act 2 of An Inspector Calls‚ Sheila says to her mother‚ Mrs Birling‚ “But we really must stop these silly pretences”. How does Priestley show‚ in his presentation of Mrs Birling‚ that she often pretends to be something she is not? 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
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audience to feel as though the Edwardian society was wrong. Mr Birling and Mrs Birling‚ and Gerald are the personifications of Edwardian society. Priestley wants us to see the whole of the Edwardian Society as arrogant‚ foolish and over-confident. Mr Birling’s belief that the` economy will get better‚ the titanic being indestructible and the impossibility of war. Because of the time setting‚ the modern audience knows that Mr Birling is wrong about all of those things. “The titanic…unsinkable‚ absolutely
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“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. This play circles around responsibility‚ showing us‚ the audiences that each character in the play has a part of responsibility for Eva Smith’s death‚ everyone of them is responsible‚ except for the Inspector of course. Priestly uses the Inspector as a symbol of Social Responsibility‚ Inspector is the
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England‚ 1912. The main family in the play is the Birling family which consists of Arthur Birling the main character‚ Sybil Birling his wife‚ Sheila Birling his daughter and Eric Birling his son. There is also Gerald Croft who is planning on marrying Sheila. In the opening they are in their dining room which is a ‘fairly large suburban house’ implying they are of middle class‚ but rising up and probably at the higher end of the spectrum. Arthur Birling is seen by the audience when the curtains go up
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of Mr and Mrs Birling(Sheila and Eric)‚ support their parents in the beginning. Their character was exactly mirrored their parents view. Gerald however‚ is remains the same and refuses to change his character and is the same as Mr and Mrs Birling. This is not so obvious in the beginning‚ but if u study the book really carefully‚ you would see that there are many quotes that suggest that Gerald Croft was always in support of Mr. Birling‚ such as "Yes‚ exactly so" and so on. Mr Birling also goes on
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