" 'An Inspector Calls' has been described as a well- made play. Discuss the description of the play indicating how far you agree with it."

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                An Inspector Calls- Coursework          Ayesha Akram

“  ‘An Inspector Calls’ has been described as a well- made play. Discuss the description of the play indicating how far you agree with it.”

   John Boynton Priestley was born in Bradford Yorkshire on the thirteenth of September eighteen-ninety four. At the age of sixteen, he left school and decided to enter University for a scholarship. Priestley had a clear picture of what he wanted to qualify in. He wanted a qualification of being a great and successful writer. In the year nineteen- eleven, people who liked to read surrounded Priestley, but amongst them were no such professional writers. All this persuaded Priestley to become prosperous.

   One Of Priestley’s first novels was ‘ The Good Companions’, and this book had become a best- seller, which made his writing career to become well and truly established. After this book, he went on writing his second novel, ‘Angel Pavement’, this book was published in 1930.  

 ‘ An Inspector Calls’ was one of Priestley’s early books. This book was set in 1912 and is an amazing book, which contains one of the first plays to be reputable by Priestley. This is a play published at the end of the Edwardian era and on the onset of the World War. This marked a time of harmony and stability, which is included in the main themes of the play. J.B. Priestley sets the play in the fictional industrial city of Brumley, which reflects a type of escape from an unpleasant and uncertain future.

   The social and historical contexts of the play are equally important. Communal position was more important at that time than it is today. In the play we are never given a comprehensible set of political policies, but J.B Priestley does make the general point that all of us have a share in the responsibility for what happens in our society. In the play we are left wondering whether our society today is likely to survive a similarly close examination, like with the characters in the play.

   Throughout the nineteenth century there was a dramatic expansion of industry, which gave many men a chance to face considerable fortunes. Many of these industrialists were granted titles for their wealth, which helped them to improve their social standing.

   In this play, J.B Priestley comprises a family with a very big name. The family comes from humble origins, who innocently don’t know what their unpredictable future is about to hold. The family initiated in the play are known as the Birlings. Mr. Arthur Birling lives with his wife Mrs. Sybil Birling, and their two children, Sheila Birling, their oldest daughter, and Eric Birling, their youngest son. Mr. Birling is a respected man, as he was an Alderman and a Lord Mayor quite some time before the play took place. In those days, having a Lord Mayor indicated the importance of a town. Arthur Birling clearly felt that his activities in local politics made him enough of a figure to justify his knighthood.

“ I was an Alderman for years- and Lord Mayor two years ago- and I’m still on the bench.”

    Most of the action in the play happens in the Birlings dinning- room. The play is set out into three acts, and each act carries the idea of trust and suspense. In the first act of the play Mr. And Mrs. Birling are celebrating the happiness of their daughter, Sheila, who will be getting engaged to Gerald Croft.

  ‘ An Inspector Calls’ is known as a well- made play, because each of the characters that take part in the play, are perfectly adapted to their given speech. Mr. Birling is seen as a throwback to the insensitive Victorian times, but unfortunately he is too typical of the greedy employers of that time. Arthur is a businessman, who thinks of himself very superior and rich. Therefore he feels responsible to make a success out of his business. Even though this may mean to pay his employers much less than they truly deserve. Arthur is described as a ‘heavy- looking rather portentous man’. This may be because of his size that helps to give him a threatening appearance.

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    The number of women who were poor and in need of help was suggested by the existence of the Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation with which Mrs. Birling is involved, though in the story, Mrs. Birling tends to lack her job. Mrs. Birling is described as a ‘ rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior’. Her coldness makes her seem as if she is out of touch with what happens and what really matters.

    Sheila Birling is described as ‘ a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited’. In the ...

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