Why has the play 'An Inspector Calls' remained popular for so long?
Ellie Whidden
English Essay 'An inspector Calls'
Why has the play 'An Inspector Calls' remained popular for so long?
J.B.Priestley 'An Inspector Calls' is a play set in 1912 in the Birling's family dining room. It was written in 1945 and set in Brumley. It features a typical affluent upper class family who own a well run business. The play starts with a small family celebration in which the daughter, Sheila Birling, is getting engaged to Gerald (a business man of the same class). The head of the family, a very prominent opinionated man, makes several toasts to the couple and lectures them about his knowledge of the world. Everything is going cosily until an unexpected visitor turns up on the Birling family's doorstep. It's a very sleek, mysterious inspector. The Inspector brings news of a young girl's suicide. The Birling Family and Gerald first deny all connections with the suicide until the inspector rigorously questions each one of them and their shameful secrets are revealed.
One of the reasons why J.B.Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls' has remained popular is because there is some hope for the younger generation. During most of the play the atmosphere is depressing, drab and sad. The play is based on the inspector accusing each member of helping with the suicide of the young girl. The family all concentrate on how it's not their fault. They try to blame it on each other and remain in a haze of selfishness. Towards the end of the play the younger generation, mostly Sheila, rise above this haze and look at the consequences.
Sheila says 'But you're forgetting one thing; everything we said had really happened and if it didn't end with the girl's suicide, then lucky for us. But it might have done.'
Sheila rises above the dilemma and tries to turn the investigation of the inspector from a depressing and pointless conversation to a well learned lesson.
During this Mr and Mrs Birling seem not to care about their harsh involvement with the girl. The younger generation care more and are deeply affected with their participation of the suicide.
During 'An Inspector Calls' both the children argue with their parents. Eric accuses Mr Birling as 'Not the kind of father a chap could go to when he's in trouble.' Mr Birling disagrees sternly with Eric and makes a point that he has treated him more than fairly. Mr Birling argues back with 'Your trouble is that you have been spoilt.'
Both the parents have images of what they think their children are up to and quite often they're false. Eric, a wild drunk and a bit of a womaniser, is thought of by Mr and Mrs Birling as still a harmless child. At the beginning of act two Sheila has to confront her parents about the truth of Eric being an alcoholic. The Inspector says 'And some young men drink far too much.'
Sheila replies 'And Eric is one of them'. Mr Birling is astounded by this.
J. B. Priestly shows that children and parents of 2002 have lack of communication with each other causing parents to have different ideas to what their children are actually doing.
In the play, Eva Smith, the young girl who committed suicide, was thrown out onto the streets after she was harshly sacked from Millwards. She then faced a hard time of trying to get a new job. Eva Smith then had to turn to Prostitution as a way of getting money to ...
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Sheila replies 'And Eric is one of them'. Mr Birling is astounded by this.
J. B. Priestly shows that children and parents of 2002 have lack of communication with each other causing parents to have different ideas to what their children are actually doing.
In the play, Eva Smith, the young girl who committed suicide, was thrown out onto the streets after she was harshly sacked from Millwards. She then faced a hard time of trying to get a new job. Eva Smith then had to turn to Prostitution as a way of getting money to help feed and clothe herself. She was forced out of her job and then forced again into prostitution. After a while she had to turn to an organisation for help financially. Once visiting the organisation she, again, was refused and this is partly what led to her death. The Burling family discuss how this ideally happening to women all over the country.
J.B. Priestly talks about how women turn to prostitution and portrays it very emotionally via the inspector. We then think about what is happening today. Women today are having to use prostitution as a way of getting money. They are, like Eva Smith, forced into it.
During the play, the Inspector questions each of them quite harshly. Most of the characters try to blame their actions on someone else. Mrs Burling is a prime candidate for this. When the inspector asks her why she turned Eva Smiths plead for help when she is pregnant, she turns the situation around and tries to blame the father. She stress quite heavily on how it's the fathers fault and if the man had any decency he would marry her. Mrs Burling says 'I blame the young man, who was the father of her child. He should be made an example of, and be dealt with very severely.' End of act two. Mrs Burling then goes on to say how he should be made to confess in public and it's definitely her fault. This is just one example of how there is a big 'Blame society'. Like prostitution this also features today.
In 'An Inspector Calls' there is a strong sense of classes. There is the Upper Class in which Gerald and his family come from, the top middle class which are the Burlings and the lower class which are the maids and Eva. Each class's opinion of each other are either jealous or disrespectful. Mrs Birling talks about how the lower class are always searching for money and greedy. She says 'As if a girl of that sort would refuse money!' End of act two. At the begging of the play Mr Birling express the lower class as cheap labour. Sheila, a slightly more respectful person realises that indeed Mr Birling is taking advantage of the lower class and says ' But these girls aren't cheap labour- they're people' middle of act one. In this play the middle class take great advantage of people less off than them. This is also happening today. Although it might not appear there are still faint classes in the world. Take Brazil for example, there are well off people living in houses in the cities and then the less off living in slums made out of scrap rubbish. The government over there don't regard them as people.
During the play you get the motion that money rules all. As well as the classes, which are judged on amounts of money, there is a strong sense of 'money = life'. This is shown when the inspector is questioning Mrs Birling about Eva Smith. When Eva Smith falls pregnant Eric, the father also son to Mrs Birling, realises money is needed and steals some from his father. Mrs Birling states, not knowing Eric has done this, that the decent thing the father should do is marry her, therefore giving her money.
Mr Birling also thinks highly of money as he tries to pay the minimum wages to his factory workers therefore giving himself more. At the beginning of act one he talks about how it would be a good idea if his company and Gerald's father's should combined. This idea of his is truly based on how much money he can earn himself.
Mrs Birling also seems to crave money, but tries to give you the impression that she is innocent. She tries to shush Mr Birling when he brings this up and later suggests that they should talk in private. 'Now Arthur, I don't think you should talk business just quite now.'
Everything that J.B.Priestley either features or makes fun of Happens today. Today there is prostitution, a big blame society and class structures. Money also plays a big part in today's world. You often see lots of people selling big issues. When a man of middle class walks past someone like this the initial reaction is 'Why are they there, what have they done to make themselves so low.' Often people don't want to give money to them or even buy the magazine because people think they're just going to use it to buy drugs etc.
At the end of the play J.B.Priestley makes you think about how you have the urge you to improve society. Like Margaret Thatcher says 'There is no society today'. This play is very clever and this is why it has remained so popular.
I think that the drama of the play also pays a big part in why 'An Inspector Calls' has remained so popular. J.B.Priestley said 'to make a good drama you have to cut out all the drink mixing etc and get on with the storyline'. In the world today there is an ounce of how we like to feel some what clever and superior to someone else. This features in the play when Mrs Birling is talking about how the father of the baby is to blame and how he should be sent down for this. She says 'I blame the father for everything' end of act two. Of course during her speech the reader has actually acknowledged who the father is and sits there just waiting for Mrs Burling to discover this as well. We like to see and enjoy a dislikeable character reduce down to size. When Sheila manages to get a word in she confronts her mother about Eric being the father and the guilt sets in. When Eric appears on the scene Mrs Burling tries to make up excuses for what she's said and looks for a 'scapegoat'.
'But I didn't know it was you- I never dreamt. Besides, you're not the type- you don't get drunk.' This cleverness and 'reduce the character down to size' appeals to us and therefore make us read more.
During 'An Inspector Calls' the characters talk about other people in the town and shops, bar etc. This gives the audience knowledge that there are more people other than the main characters are involved with the play. It shows that the characters on stage aren't the only people in the world. Each character has a main key to them, Mr Burling is a man mostly obsessed with money, Mrs Burling a woman who blames others, Eric a bit of a womaniser and Sheila a hopeful yet jealous person. Buy mentioning other people J.B.Priestley is trying to get the audience to realise that there is, for example, more than one 'moneyiser' in the world and perhaps we are all guilty sometimes of these things. This is a clever way of getting the audience involved and almost part of the play. J .B. Priestly talked about this and said how it was important to include the world around them in the play because otherwise it makes the play seem totally based on the characters 'as if they are the only people on this world'.
J.B.Priestley 'An Inspector Calls' is a play mainly based around a family. It shows how they cope with which ever situation is thrown at them. During the play the characters snap and try to blame each other and Mr Burling, for example, becomes agitated. The audience become addicted and like the idea of watching characters dealing with difficult situations. It quite pleasurable, I think for the audience, to watch each one of them suffers in a different way. The play then suddenly becomes realistic as I some people today probably react the same way as some of the characters. Because people become addicted to this type of play modern versions a bit like 'An Inspector Calls' are seen today. Programs like 'Big Brother' and My Family are exact copies but with modern twists.
In the play J.B. Priestly uses quite a lot of dramatic irony. He has cleverly crafted his story line so that it carry's you part of the way and then suddenly drops you at the end. Up until nearly the end you know what's going to happen and realize that the inspector is a fake. Once the audience has understood the storyline there is an ounce of satisfaction as you think you know the storyline. It's not until the end when there is a telephone call saying there had been a suicide that you begin to wonder.
J.B.Priestley's use of dramatic irony at the beginning is skilful as it draws you into the play. When Mr Burling talks about how great the titanic is and how there is never going to be war, you feel superior as you know that Mr Burling's knowledge is not very reliable. Mr Burling says: 'There'll be peace and prosperity and the Titanic- unsinkable'. It also intrigues you about what's going to happen because of the characters lack of knowledge. Dramatic Irony also feature when Mrs Burling is accusing the father, of Eva Smith's baby , as 'irresponsible' and 'a drunken young idler'
In the play J.B.Priestley uses just a touch of humour in 'An Inspector Calls'. This enables the audience to relax more and become part of the play. By using humour it lightens the play and makes it more enjoyable for the audience. The type of humour J.B.Priestley uses is little amounts and sparingly. It brakes up the serious idea in the play and allows the audience to digest the play easily. The humour mostly features in 'An Inspector Calls' in the part played by the Inspector. I think this is because the audience envisage the inspector as quite a stern man. Like the storyline, Priestly has done this to allow the audience to digest him easily. The inspector says lines like 'We didn't think you meant Bucking Palace' and ' I don't play golf, It's a shame.'
Finally J.B.Priestley's 'An Inspector calls', I think, tries to convey one important message to it's audience; Helping others is the key to success. The play shows a very Christian message of how we need to make today's society better and to prove Margaret Thatcher's saying wrong, and perhaps the views of Mr Burling, 'that there is no such thing as society.' 'An Inspector Calls' is a play which reaches out through the inspector to its audience. The inspector, a very careful but weighty man, shows us that there isn't a need in this world for jealously, shameful secrets or class structures. Through interrogating the rest of the characters he unveils each of their problems and shows us how it is wrong.
'An Inspector Calls' has the ability and engross its audience and to educate them at the same time. It shows us that the lessons we learn from watching and reading this play makes us want to try and rebuild society today. Not many plays have this ability, and I think, it has remained popular because of its abilities to engross it audience and readers.
