'An Inspector Calls' is a play with important messages for any society'. Explore the ways that Priestley communicates these messages. Are they as important for modern audiences as they were when the play was first performed?

Authors Avatar

Michael Hough 28/04/07 10:37

‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play with important messages for any society’.  Explore the ways that Priestley communicates these messages.  Are they as important for modern audiences as they were when the play was first performed?

‘An Inspector Calls’ appears at first to be a normal, realistic play following the three unities of time, place and action.  However during the course of the play the characters convey various social messages.  This exploration is about whether these messages are just as important for today’s modern audience as they were when the play was first written in 1945 and when it was set, a week before the Titanic sank, in 1912.  One of the main messages in the play is that everything we do, however insignificant or involuntary will have some sort of repercussion across the world in some way.  As Isaac Newton said, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”.  During ‘An Inspector Calls’ we begin to realise this.

Another important aspect of the play is the need for a social conscience amongst us all.  J B Priestley was a Socialist, he was born into a Socialist family and took on their beliefs and ideas, he conveys them rather appropriately for his cause in the play.  Some people may not necessarily agree with his beliefs and ideas but in a way this is a good thing as it shows an area upon which discussion about the meanings of the play can be given.  Socialism is intermediate between capitalism and communism in which the total ownership of the economy of a state under a dictator has not yet been achieved.  This means that the Socialist idea is a mild form of communism.  Unlike communism however the luxuries of free speech are still available but people are not free to use any intellect they may have to earn more money.  It is designed to be an equal society.  

In ‘An Inspector Calls’ we observe that Arthur Birling and Eva Smith are so completely different, this is deliberate as Preistley chose these two opposites of Edwardian society to show the huge social divide between the rich and the poor.  He also wanted to show how the rich businessmen exploited their poorer workers.  One is what every middle aged man would aspire to be – he is rich, married with two children and making profits - whilst the other is a lonely orphan who works for little and is poverty struck, lonely and eventually driven to suicide.  This may make the idea of Socialism look positive but if the idea is such a good one why has the USA never elected a Socialist President?  The idea is regarded as being too close to communism and this made Hitler especially hate the Socialist theories.  As this play was written shortly before Hitler’s defeat in World War Two it could possibly have been designed for the audience of the immediate time to show that Hitler hated people being equal and that the Allies were fighting against this.

The third major message in ‘An Inspector Calls’ is the fact that we must live to learn from, but not always regret, our mistakes.  By making mistakes we can learn what to do the next time we are confronted with another similar situation.  ‘An Inspector Calls’ was written to show this.  For example during the early part of the play Birling talks about the Titanic and how it is, “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”.  Priestley uses dramatic irony here as we know that the liner sank but the minds of the people of the day were fixed on the idea of the vessel being unsinkable.  Another reason, which could link back to the idea about the propaganda form of the play is that the Second World War was nearing its close in the winter of 1944.  Priestley may have wanted to convey a similar message like the one about the Titanic, he was saying we should not let this happen again – of course with reference to the war and the Holocaust.

The characters in the play represent a slightly different idea or meaning; for example Sheila is shown at the start of the play to be very naïve but she learns more as the play proceeds (this is another example of the play advancing from ignorance to knowledge), but, as was the custom during the period her parents did not want to listen to what she had to say.  Birling is the typical middle class man, who is only trying to make a living but at the same time does not really care about his employees or the people around him.  He does not notice that his son, Eric, has a drinking problem.  The failure of the relationship between father and son is illustrated by Eric’s lack of willingness to tell his father about his problems.  He says this is, “because you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble – that’s why.”

The play is rather unusual in itself.  It starts off as what would seem like a classical play following the three unites of time, place and action.  However the play also has a very high rate of similarity with the traditional medieval morality plays of the Middle Ages as well as having suggestions that it is a thriller or ‘murder-mystery’ story, such as Agatha Christie would write.  The play sends out social messages to the audience through the characters and most of all through the mystical ‘Inspector’.  His name, Inspector Goole, is cleverly chosen because it is a pun on ‘ghoul’, indicating a shadowy, ghost like character and the audience are compelled to dislike him. However, at the same time, the Inspector is conveying an important message by telling the Birlings that they have responsibilities to society in general and specifically to those close to them.   He tells the family what they have done to Eva Smith is wrong and they should never for it.   “If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it.”  The messages are subtly thrown out during the speeches the characters make.  The play is in effect a well-made and well-written one in that it delivers a message across to the audience but it is then completely reversed in the final act.  Many people will think that what the Birlings have done (collectively driving a girl to suicide) is acceptable when they realise that the girl may not be the same person each time – then the phone rings and the audience is confused by the multiple ways the play could end.

Join now!

The play can also be considered a well made play as during the course of the play all of the characters, some – unfortunately – in a negative way, progress from a form of ignorance to knowledge.  An example of this is when Birling comments on Eric’s drinking problem, he said, “I understand a lot of things now I didn’t understand before.”  This is all very good but he seems to be missing the point about the fact that collectively they just drove an innocent woman to suicide.  During the play the time span is designed to be equivalent ...

This is a preview of the whole essay