Show how J.B Priestley demonstrates his political views through ‘An Inspector Calls’. You need to establish the social/historical background of the characters in the play in order to do this.

Adam Greenfield 10E

‘An Inspector Calls Essay’

Question – Show how J.B Priestley demonstrates his political views through ‘An Inspector Calls’. You need to establish the social/historical background of the characters in the play in order to do this.

In the essay on the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ written by J.B Priestley I will attempt to explain how he uses the play to demonstrate his political views. To do this I will look at history from society and the history of the characters. First of all I will look at how he acquired his political beliefs.

John Priestley was born on September 13th 1894. He grew up into a family and a wider group of friends who enjoyed the arts. As he grew up he was caught up in in-depth debates with his friends. His friends and family all discussed politics from a socialist point of view; this influenced his younger political life. He expresses these ideas and beliefs in the play he wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’. In the play his socialist ideas are expressed through the characters and by exploiting some techniques and devices.

Firstly I am going to write about the social and political climate of the day. Priestley wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ in 1944, but the play was set in 1912. Priestley took into account the political and social climate of not just 1944 but also when the play was set in 1912. Because of the time in between the two periods Priestley could use historical events and facts for his own use in the play. An example of this is when Birling says in mid-conversation,

“I’m talking as a hard headed, practical man of business. And I say there isn’t a chance of war.”

And in the Inspectors final speech when he talks about everyone being responsible for each other’s actions and the world is a whole and people shouldn’t be divided up into classes and social groups.

“I tell you that the time will come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish.”

In both these quotes Priestley touches on the subject of war. This would have attracted the audience to what Birling ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

“I’m talking as a hard headed, practical man of business. And I say there isn’t a chance of war.”

“I tell you that the time will come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish.”

In both these quotes Priestley touches on the subject of war. This would have attracted the audience to what Birling was saying and they would have started to dislike him and his ideas, as the Second World War would have just finished the audience would have been upset about there lost ones and would have been interested in peoples opinions and views leading up to the start of World War One.

Another part of the social and political climate Priestley uses to demonstrate his political views through the play is the class system. Priestley being a socialist himself would have hated the class system just as the socialists in 1912 did, this is a reoccurring theme throughout the play. The class system in 1944 was different in some respects to the one of 1912; these differences were the introduction of middle class, instead of having two classes; the upper and working class. In the play the Birling’s played an average upper class family in the 1900’s. They lived in a comfortable lifestyle unaffected and unaware what was happening on the other side of the population. The rich upper classes did not acknowledge the working classes as anything but cheap labour for use in production of goods.

In the play Eva Smith/Daisy Renton represents the poverty stricken working class people of Britain. An example of the split of upper class and working class can be found on page six when Sheila asks the Inspector about Eva Smith’s death and Mrs. Birling says,

“I don’t suppose for a moment we can understand why that girl committed suicide. Girls of that class…” This wasn’t just Mrs. Birlings view on the poor but also most of the upper classes too. Mr. Birling’s view on the working class didn’t differ much to his wives.

Characters in the play weren’t just split into classes but also split into what political beliefs they had, for example Right Wing and Left Wing ideas.

Priestley invented the Inspector as a representative of socialism come to sort out capitalism and the problems it caused for others. Priestley uses the Inspector as an outlet for most of his socialist views. When the Inspector arrives at the Birlings house he tries to intimidate the Inspector straight away,

“How do you get on with our Chief Constable… he’s an old friend of mine… we play golf together”, the Inspector replies “I don’t play golf”. Golf was quite a posh sport and past time played by the upper class, Birling tries to use his social superiority to intimidate the Inspector. The Inspector is a very mysterious character, in which the way he enters and exits his scenes, very dramatic. The Inspector talks about that it is wrong to live a lie all the way throughout the play and at the end he turns out to be a hoax himself. As the play passes by the Birlings respect the Inspector more and more. An example of her respect to the Inspector is when she hears about Gerald’s involvement with Eva Smith,

“Why – you fool – he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t know yet.”

The respect Sheila gave the Inspector grew to a point where she was interrogating the rest of her family when the Inspector wasn’t even present. Sheila’s left wing views are totally opposite to her mother’s right wing views, Mrs. Birling didn’t care about Eva Smith’s death.

At the end of the play Sheila is the only one to have learnt anything from the whole “hoax” of the Inspector. Eric seems to agree with Sheila about even if it was a hoax the deeds they have done still aren’t right. Sheila starts to understand about socialism and its meaning. The others start to feel the tension lofted as Gerald rings up the hospital and there are no reported suicides. When the police ring back and say there has been a suicide and their sending an Inspector over the whole ordeal seems to start again, another chance for them to learn from their mistakes.

After studying the play in this essay, J.B Priestley uses the social and political climate of the day, the class system, the Inspector and many techniques and devices to put his socialist views across in his play. Also Priestley gives us the idea that none of this would’ve had come to light if the girl hadn’t of committed suicide. The play is also like a test in the way that the Birlings have to keep taking it until they learn their lesson.