What reaction does Priestley intend the audience to have to the content of the play?

Gladmore Nyasha Ryder Chinyuke 10.6

07.04.03

English Course Work for >An Inspector Calls

Priestley was born in Bradford West of Yorkshire in 1984. Priestley left school when he was 16 and be came a junior clerk and later on he started to write poetry.

Priestley grew up with his father’s circle of socialist friends and then he became politically minded and found him self-joining in with his father’s political arguments.

Priestley wrote the play An Inspector Calls in 1945 within a week of world war two ending but it was set before world war one. J B Priestley wrote this play intentionally as he saw an urgent need for social change and used the play to express his desires for social equality. Priestley hoped his play would give a society the chance with hindsight to look back on the past and not just carry on life in the same way as before. Priestley took advantage of writing in hindsight and made sure that it made the audience realise how wrong they have been assuming future events.

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During this time when Priestley wrote this play there were class systems the rich people who had business and were in a position to employ other people and they had power over most of the people because of their wealthy and some times used the power they had for wrong things, the middle class they had better jobs than the poor people or the bottom class people their life’s went that bed and then the poor people or the bottom class system had power over know one or anything their life’s were made difficult by the people of the upper class they had no wrights they did what they were told or if they didn’t they would get fired/sacked so they had to take all the abuse they got from their employer so life was very difficult for them and that’s what Priestley was trying to change when he wrote An Inspector Calls through the content of the play.

In the play Priestley used the stage directions and the lighting to the feelings of different characters and the way they expressed themselves so that it was very clear to the audience.

Mr, Mrs Birling and Gerald never felt guilty throughout the play even when the inspector told them that they all had contributed to the death of Eva Smith or daisy Renton they didn’t seem to care much. Priestley was trying to show that the older generation is not prepared to change or leave from their old ways keep finding excuses for their mistakes. Priestley clearly pointed this out in his play to the audience so that they could realise that they were being very selfish.

As we go along in the play we see a very big change in Sheila and just about the same from Eric. When the inspector pointed out to Sheila first that she had something to do with the Eva or Daisy’s death she felt very guilty and responsible she wanted to take the whole blame for her death. Eric did the same thing he told the truth did try anything. Here that’s when clearly Priestley show’s that the younger generation is willing to change from their old ways.

The reaction that Priestley wanted his audience to have to the content of the play was to try to change the views of people on society how we should treat people weather they were from an upper class family like the Birling’s or the lower class like Eva Smith or Daisy Renton. Priestley was trying to change the mind of the people on how they so the society and they treated each other in back in those olden day’s even though this still happens in our today’s society.

Priestley’s moral massage in the play (An inspector Calls) is that he was tying to send out to the world was the no matter what class or society people are we should treat the same way we want to be treated.