J.B Priestly

called "Dangerous Corner" and this was written in 1932. His most famous

plays include "When We Are Married","An Inspector Calls" and "Dragons

Mouth", which he wrote in collaboration with his wife.

Priestly declined a knighthood and a peerage, but later accepted the Order of

Merit in 1977 from the Queen.

912

At the end of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th, there was an industrial

revolution underway, which led to a fall in worker' s purchasing power, which

left more money for businessmen like Mr. Birling to become successful.

The forming of the Labour party in 1893 was beggining to revoloutionise

business in that workers were told they were entitled to a certain amount of

money and that they should take drastic action if they weren't given it. This

may have affected the conduct of businessmen like Mr. Birling because of

the employees going on strike to earn more money, like Eva Smith in "An

Inspector Calls".

Between 1910 and 1912, Britain experienced a particularly long and bitter

srtike in the coal mines. This would have worried businessmen like Mr.

Birling as he would not have been able to get the coal to power his factory.

H.G Wells was a Brittish writer and philosopher, who was anti capitalist and

wanted more rights for women. Mr. Birling was probably against these ideas

as capitalism worked well for his income and as long as men had more power

he could become more successful.

945

The roles of women had greatly changed after the wars, as they were much

more valued in England than they had been before.This may have resulted in

the first audiences to "An Inspector Calls" regarding some of the references

in the play as sexist.

After the wars, Britain was down on supplies, however, the country had seen

of the Germans all by ourselves in the battle of Britain. this is outlined by Mr.

Birling when he states how proud he is of his country and how it could

withstand any attacks.

The poor in Britain at the end of the war were treated differently, as the nation

had experienced rationing and knew what life was like for them. The founding

of the "Welfare State" in 1942 was set out to help them in their time of need,

and did help them get the funds together they needed.