What was Priestley’s purpose in writing An Inspector Calls? Show how in two of the roles the actors/actress can make this purpose clear to the audience and increase the dramatic tension.

To show this message Priestley uses the characters in the play: Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, Gerald, Sheila, Eric. Eva Smith and the Inspector.

The characters that I think show this message in the best contrasting way are Mr Birling and his daughter Sheila Birling.

Mr Birling starts the play very sure of himself. He welcomes Gerald Croft into his family, as he is a business link between his firm and that of Gerald's father's rival firm. He uses much dramatic irony by insisting that the Titanic was unsinkable and that there would not be another war in the 1940's. I think he does this to try and prove to other people that he is better than other people and has the knowledge that people of a lower class would not have.

"Why a friend of mine went over this new liner last week-the Titanic-she sails next week- forty six thousand eight hundred tons- forty six thousand eight hundred tons- New York in five days- and every luxury- and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable"

(Mr Birling, Page 7)

I think that he repeats himself in these lines to make sure people get the point. He is trying to make them feel slightly lower than him, treating them as if they are slightly dumb and need telling something twice until they understand. But he is wrong when he uses dramatic irony and we have hindsight to prove it, because the Titanic sank and there was another world war.

As the play continues and the Inspector arrives the tension starts to increase slightly. The interrogation of Mr Birling is the start of much more tension to follow.

Mr Birling answers the questions that the Inspector poses very honestly and sometimes drops into his answers some subtle hints to try and make the Inspector feel slightly threatened

Birling: "How do you get on with our Chief Constable, Colonel

Roberts?"

Inspector: "I don't see much of him"

Birling: " Perhaps I should warn you that he's an old friend of

Mine, and that I see him quite frequently.

(Mr Birling and The Inspector, Page 16)

He also does not think about other people when responding to them, as when he refused Eva Smith a pay rise and then sacked her. This part of the play could also show how Mr Birling's actions may have partly led to Eva's death.

Mr Birling acts in a very strong way and is a strong believer that a man has to make his own way and does not realise the harm he causes people with his obnoxious attitude. He represents Priestley's hatred of Businessmen who are only interested in making money and will never learn from their mistakes. The younger generation are left to learn from their own mistakes.

His role should be acted very confidently and he should be afraid of nothing, he should also be impatient and show some humour at times when necessary. When being questioned he should stand up and walk around (when the Inspector is sitting) to show that he thinks he is better than the Inspector.

Sheila Birling starts the play very happy and pleased with life. She has just got engaged to Gerald Croft.

Sheila is the second person that the Inspector questions and her response to Eva's death is one of the most caring and heartfelt. She is genuinely upset by the death but is also disgraced by her father's response to the tragedy.

She is one of two people who actually realise that her actions and her family's actions may have had something to do with the death. She is very open with the Inspector and does not hide any points from him. Even when it comes round to the interrogation of her mother she tries to persuade her not to hide anything.

"(Slowly, carefully now) You mustn't try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do, then the Inspector will just break it down. And it'll be all worse when he does" (Sheila, Page 30)

I think that Sheila tries to help her mother answer the questions, so that she will learn from her mistakes.

Sheila only used her Social position once in the wrong way, when she gets Eva sacked from Milwards but since then she has learnt from her mistakes and does not treat the Inspector with any real disrespect, She treats him as an equal. She almost takes his side in some ways, like a second detective.

Inspector: "Yes she was a woman. She was lonely. Were you in

love with her?"

Sheila: "Just what I was going to ask!"

(Inspector and Shelia, Page 36)

Overall I think that Sheila acts with maturity and learns a lot from the death of Eva. Even after they find that no death has occurred Shelia still feels that they have behaved in an unsuitable manner and she is unable to accept her parents' attitude. She dislikes the way that they just put it behind them and do not learn anything from the episode.

At the end of the play Shelia is much more sensitive and realises that she has a lot to learn in life, which is a great contrast from her parents.

Her role should be acted very carefully as she needs to show a lot of emotions in the play. She goes from being very happy with life at the beginning to very guilty and shocked at the end. When she is being questioned, I think that she would sit down to show that she is slightly afraid of the Inspector at times, but would like to help with the inquiry and help get her family out of this mess.

I think the play is very well written and even though it was written 55 years ago it still has a valid message that we can learn from for years to come. The play can be enjoyed by all ages and has a very exciting ending that many plays lack nowadays.

Its message can also relate to the World Wars I & II, which Priestley lived through by making people learn from mistakes and live as members of one body together equally so that such atrocities never happen again.

As the Inspector says, "We are all members of one body. We are all responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night."