Imagine that you are directing a production of 'An Inspector Calls'. Write to the actor playing one of the parts (except the inspector) and give them advice on how to play the character.
In this essay I will be directing Mr. Birling.
In the play 'An inspector calls' the Birling family and their daughter's fiancé, Gerald Croft, are celebrating their engagement. During the celebration an inspector calls, his name is Inspector Goole. He has come to investigate a suicide. The victim was a lady called Eva Smith and he tells the family that her body is in the infirmary. He also tells them that she killed herself by drinking strong disinfectant. The inspector investigates this with each of the members of the Birling family and Gerald Croft in turn. He questions them thoroughly and, at times, in a very unorthodox way. Each member of the Birling family gets angry at the way the inspector talks to them. Mr. Birling gets particularly cross as the inspector came in while they were celebrating the engagement. Later, after the questioning, the inspector left and the Birling family's secrets about each one's involvement with Eva Smith was discovered. They subsequently found that the inspector was a hoax and they jump to conclusions about public scandals. At the end of the play they receive another phone call - soon after the false inspector left - informing them that another inspector was coming to investigate a suicide case after a girl died at the infirmary having drunk some strong disinfectant.
The main idea that Priestly wanted to communicate was that the actions you take can, and often do, affect other people. ".... But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone but there are millions and millions of Eva Smith's and John Smith's still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives and what we think and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn their lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night". Through this he also shows the inspector to be extremely wise as he predicted the war i.e. if people did not learn that what some people do can affect other people in several different ways that they will learn through the pain and anguish caused by World War I. I think this is well implied through Mr. Birling as he makes statements such as "the titanic is unsinkable" and that war will never break out". As these events had happened, and this was well known to the audience (Priestley wrote this play after the First World War but set it at a time just before the war broke out) Mr Birling is portrayed as being rather ignorant and self-opinionated. The second major idea that Priestly wanted to communicate was that the way that people from a higher social status treated others was completely wrong. He also showed that these people - and in particular Mr Birling - were extremely morally corrupt. For them the main thing in life was money and status. The lives of others came a distant second. This is shown in one of his speeches in one of his speeches where he says that the engagement of his daughter to Gerald, who is a rival company owners boy, could mean they have made a deal to drive up prices and therefore make more money, this shows that he cared about money and status. This second speech was about people which wanted more money which was when Mr Birling was talking to Eric and Eric asked him why he did not give that girl a pay rise and how he would have if he was in charge, Mr Birling replied by saying that I will give the going rate for the employees and that he only gets the going rate as well so why should he give more and get less back. This shows that Mr Birling is a capitalist and that he regards himself as a reasonable person.
In this essay I will be directing Mr. Birling.
In the play 'An inspector calls' the Birling family and their daughter's fiancé, Gerald Croft, are celebrating their engagement. During the celebration an inspector calls, his name is Inspector Goole. He has come to investigate a suicide. The victim was a lady called Eva Smith and he tells the family that her body is in the infirmary. He also tells them that she killed herself by drinking strong disinfectant. The inspector investigates this with each of the members of the Birling family and Gerald Croft in turn. He questions them thoroughly and, at times, in a very unorthodox way. Each member of the Birling family gets angry at the way the inspector talks to them. Mr. Birling gets particularly cross as the inspector came in while they were celebrating the engagement. Later, after the questioning, the inspector left and the Birling family's secrets about each one's involvement with Eva Smith was discovered. They subsequently found that the inspector was a hoax and they jump to conclusions about public scandals. At the end of the play they receive another phone call - soon after the false inspector left - informing them that another inspector was coming to investigate a suicide case after a girl died at the infirmary having drunk some strong disinfectant.
The main idea that Priestly wanted to communicate was that the actions you take can, and often do, affect other people. ".... But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone but there are millions and millions of Eva Smith's and John Smith's still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives and what we think and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn their lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night". Through this he also shows the inspector to be extremely wise as he predicted the war i.e. if people did not learn that what some people do can affect other people in several different ways that they will learn through the pain and anguish caused by World War I. I think this is well implied through Mr. Birling as he makes statements such as "the titanic is unsinkable" and that war will never break out". As these events had happened, and this was well known to the audience (Priestley wrote this play after the First World War but set it at a time just before the war broke out) Mr Birling is portrayed as being rather ignorant and self-opinionated. The second major idea that Priestly wanted to communicate was that the way that people from a higher social status treated others was completely wrong. He also showed that these people - and in particular Mr Birling - were extremely morally corrupt. For them the main thing in life was money and status. The lives of others came a distant second. This is shown in one of his speeches in one of his speeches where he says that the engagement of his daughter to Gerald, who is a rival company owners boy, could mean they have made a deal to drive up prices and therefore make more money, this shows that he cared about money and status. This second speech was about people which wanted more money which was when Mr Birling was talking to Eric and Eric asked him why he did not give that girl a pay rise and how he would have if he was in charge, Mr Birling replied by saying that I will give the going rate for the employees and that he only gets the going rate as well so why should he give more and get less back. This shows that Mr Birling is a capitalist and that he regards himself as a reasonable person.
