How does Priestley make a drama out of the theme of social responsibility in the play An Inspector Calls?

The first 200 words of this essay...

Bethan Hull 10.8 October 2000

An Inspector Calls

How does Priestley make a drama out of the theme of social responsibility in the play An Inspector Calls?

The play tells the story of a middle class family and how they have all contributed to a young working class woman's suicide. Priestley has set the play in 1912 as a way of making the audience of 1946 look back on their past. The consequence of setting the play 30 years or so earlier is that the audience can know more about events than the characters. He is also making people realise how social values have changed, for the better. In a way, the audience can relate to the Birling family, which brings across the message of the play far more intimately. The audience feel like they could be in the same position as the Birling's, bringing the theme of the play closer to home.

The dramatic irony relating to the audience's knowledge is particularly apparent in Mr Birling's speech to Gerald and Eric. Priestley is revealing aspects of the character to the audience; in this 'progress' speech there are numerous examples of this device. He paints