An Inspector calls

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An Inspector calls

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An Inspector Calls was written in 1945, just after the Second World War. It is set on a spring evening in 1912, part of the Edwardian era. The first production of the play was performed in London at the New Theatre on the 1st of October 1946. The play was written by J B Priestley's play is about a family that are celebrating the engagement of Gerald Croft and Sheila Birling. A climax is when the author builds up excitement and suspense. Priestley's social message was "we are all part of one body," this means that we should look after people and treat them the way we would like to be treated.

The characters of the play are Arthur Birling, Sybil Birling, Sheila Birling, Eric Birling, Gerald Croft, Inspector Goole, Edna (the maid) and Eva Smith. The Birling family are of high class and are very wealthy. Arthur Birling could be described as pompous, sexist and stubborn. His wife Sybil Birling has similar characteristics as her husband apart from the fact that she is cold, snobbish and arrogant. Their daughter, Sheila Birling, is not really like her parents at all. She is more compassionate, warm hearted, affectionate, thoughtful, considerate and kind. Eric Birling is the youngest child of the family, and certainly acts like it, towards the end of the play he seems to act like an adult. He is immature, emotional, ignorant, thoughtless and uneasy. Gerald Croft is the fiancé of Sheila Birling. He seems to be quite mature, self assured and confident. Inspector Goole is strong at proving himself. He is also very forceful. Eva Smith is never actually seen in the play, she is only spoken of or about by the other characters. From what we can tell she is honest, sincere, caring, hard working and attractive.
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This play is similar to a detective play because in the story it has an inspector, he listens to what everyone has to say but he only take" one line of enquiry at a time". As he does this he builds up to a climax when he unmasks the truth. An Inspector calls is also different to a detective play because it has no real inspector. I think it is also different because the inspector is talking to people of a higher class in a rude manner, after the last speech of the inspector he never returns and ...

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