How does JB Priestly use characters in an inspector calls to have an effect on the audience
An Inspector Calls is a play written by J.B. Priestley in 1945, based before World War I, in 1912. The play is about a family, the majority of whom are aristocrats who live in a capitalist atmosphere; full of lies, pride and pure selfishness. Throughout the play a mystery inspector gradually reveals the characters' true identity, looking at how they all contributed to the suicide of Eva Smith. As the play progresses you begin to see that the characters start to understand their personalities, 'wrong-doings' and problems in a clearer light and each of them, despite differing degrees of transformation, move closer to being a socialist citizen. Priestley's main concerns at the time of writing An Inspector Calls was the state of society and social inequality; there was a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Priestley was a socialist, whilst the characters that he was trying to convey to the audience were, in general, capitalist.
Furthermore, Priestley's play is heavily influenced by his own experiences and emotions; he is attempting to convey the idea of social discrimination to his audience - a familiarity that Priestley knew all too well! The whole play is based in the Birlings living room where they are celebrating the engagement of daughter Sheila, to her fiancée, Gerald Croft. They are having a dinner party with the Birling family and Gerald, put on not just to celebrate the engagement but because Mr Birling is looking to revolutionize his business to join with Gerald's father, in what Mr Birling sees as a ...
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Furthermore, Priestley's play is heavily influenced by his own experiences and emotions; he is attempting to convey the idea of social discrimination to his audience - a familiarity that Priestley knew all too well! The whole play is based in the Birlings living room where they are celebrating the engagement of daughter Sheila, to her fiancée, Gerald Croft. They are having a dinner party with the Birling family and Gerald, put on not just to celebrate the engagement but because Mr Birling is looking to revolutionize his business to join with Gerald's father, in what Mr Birling sees as a great business opportunity. The atmosphere is very rosy and joyful until an Inspector arrives to question the family about the death of a young girl called Eva Smith. As the inspector discloses what each member of the dinner party did to contribute to Eva's suicide. Each character gets distressed and irate as the inspector turns to them to inform them of how they contributed to her death. Some of the characters are big enough to show remorse and take responsibility, whilst some cannot swallow their pride; are too scared to lose their status, and continue to lie. J.B. Priestley uses these themes to get across his concerns to his audience and the characters. He does this by using, what turns out to be an unofficial inspector. The characters in the play are, despite not all been at one extreme end, are on the capitalist side of the spectrum. Mr Birling is the most severe. He is very proud, he is a liar and he refuses to take responsibility for his actions. A typical quote in the play which sums up Birling's personality is, 'all these silly little war scares. They'll be peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere'. This shows that Mr Birling is a patronising snob, it shows his naïvety and his inability to see outside his own cocoon. Next, Mrs Birling. In act one, she gives the impression of been very protective of her children, showing love, which, is not something which comes too freely to Capitalist people. Despite the fact that you'd say Mrs Birling shows pride in the act one, it is not in the same context as her husband uses it. 'Yes, Gerald. Yes, Sheila darling. Our congratulations and very best wishes!' I believe that Mrs Birlings says this genuinely and is therefore showing love. Sheila Birling is the couple's daughter and she is the girl getting married. Sheila is the most emotional character and the one closest to being Socialist. Unlike her father she is very sympathetic and open-minded. However, despite this, Sheila does show her youth through act one. 'You're squiffy' is a juvenile way of saying 'You're drunk' and 'Oh - it's wonderful! Look Mummy - isn't it a beauty? This shows a playful, joyful and slightly immature Sheila. Eric, Sheila's brother, is a rather shy and even awkward young man. He is very close to being drunk through act one. Eric also comes across as being quite a strange a weird character, even! Eric randomly laughs, and when asked what he was laughing for, his prompt reply was, 'I don't know - really. Suddenly I felt I just had to laugh.' This shows both mountains of immaturity and influence of alcohol. Sheila's new fiancée, Gerald Croft is a confident, generally calm, protective and generous young man. Especially towards the beginning of act one, Gerald seems to be very self-secure and elated to be marrying Sheila. However, Gerald does show that he has a lot of pride. He states, 'I insist upon being one of the family now.' This shows that Gerald likes to think of himself as having a lot of authority. Finally, the character unrelated to the rest of the family - the inspector. Due to the fact that J.B. Priestley is trying to create the impression of Socialist members of society having the upper-edge in this play, the inspector obviously dominates all the characters, making each of them look very silly at times. 'I think you remember Eva Smith now, don't you, Mr Birling?' This shows that the Inspector dominates Mr Birling, making Mr Birling look and feel very small; and emotion that, as a proud man, he doesn't feel too often.