Inspector Calls
How Does J.B Priestley Present Arthur Birling in Act One and How Does This Reveal Priestley's Social Concerns? The play 'An Inspector Calls' By J.B Priestley is a drama written in the year 1945 but set in the year 1912 towards the end of the Edwardian era. The play is set in the house of rich, arrogant Capitalist called Birling. In the play the Birling family are celebrating an engagement when an Inspector enters, the Inspector is a Socialist and is the instant antithesis to Birling, the Inspector questions the family about their involvement with a young girl who has committed suicide and they discover they all played apart in her death. In this essay I aim to explore the first act of the play and comment on the different dramatic strategies used and the literary context. I also aim to understand the social and historical meaning behind the play and the reasons why I think Priestley wrote the play. I will also explore the character Birling and look at the way he talks to other people and his feeling towards the lower classes and Socialists. I believe that several things inspired Priestley to write this play one of them being Priestley's own upbringing. Priestley was born in Bradford in 1894, his mother was a mill worker and his father was a school teacher; both of his parents were Socialists and believed in equality and that social classes should not exist. Priestley
Pygmalion. It is the desire to obtain an education, or at least the appearance of one that takes Eliza to Dr. Henry Higgins house
Matthew Fisher Instructor Scrafford Essay One Final Draft September 9, 2012 “Eliza Doolittle and Dreams of The Manner Born” One of the great social satirist of his time, George Bernard Shaw often wrote of the social and class issues that plagued Great Britain in the years before World War One. It was during those years, under the reign of Queen Victoria, which saw Great Britain expand her empire to all the corners of the globe. With this expansion, came great wealth for many, as well as hardening of the lines of class distinction. These lines, or barriers, made it very difficult for a member of the middle class to join the ranks of the upper. And if it was difficult for the middle class to move upwards, it was nearly impossible for the lower class to move up to the middle class. Already greatly marginalized by rigid social barriers, the lower class struggled to survive in slums concentrated in London. Among those already marginalized, was a group of those even more marginalized: the lower class woman. Faced with a life of great hardship, brought on by a lack of means and most importantly the lack of an education, the lower class woman in Victorian England faced a life of grim prospects. With nearly no help from the government, in the form of such social programs that exist now, she had few avenues open to her, not just to move upwards or forwards, but to merely
'The way an audience experiences and appreciates a play...is by no means governed solely by what happens on stage. The entire theatre, its audience arrangements, its other public places its physical appearance, even its location in a city, are all import
Drama Essay 'The way an audience experiences and appreciates a play...is by no means governed solely by what happens on stage. The entire theatre, its audience arrangements, its other public places its physical appearance, even its location in a city, are all important elements of the process by which an audience makes meaning of its experience'. Discuss and analyse Carlson's statement in relation to at least one of the theatre events you have studied. Marvin Carlson makes a very valid and observant assertion here that I feel is pertinent to the study of theatre as a whole and universal issue. The idea that 'the entire theatre', the physical space in which a play is performed affects the audiences understanding of the theatre event, is one which, whilst has 'remained rather narrowly focused', 'has long been generally accepted as a legitimate, indeed, essential part of the historical study of both drama and theatre.'1 In this essay then, I will discuss and analyse this idea (which should not remain 'rather narrowly focused') in conjunction with Carlson's statement, and try to expand upon the issues he raises. In doing so, I will draw upon what I have studied in this module, and how I feel the statement applies to the theatre texts and events I have encountered. Firstly, I think that to understand Carlson's belief fully, semiotics must be addresses as they cannot be
To what extent, and in what ways, would you describe any TWO or THREE of the following as feminist plays: Overtones, Trifles, A Man's World, Machinal?
To what extent, and in what ways, would you describe any TWO or THREE of the following as feminist plays: Overtones, Trifles, A Man's World, Machinal? Throughout the early and mid 20th century, Feminism played an important factor in the readings of many literary works, mainly those written by leading women writers. The female cannon of Modern American Drama contributes to those feminist readings with leading authors such as Sophie Treadwell, Susan Glaspell and Alice Gerstenberg. Their literary work such as, 'Trifles', 'Machinal' and 'Overtones', are just three plays that express feminist ideologies; all of which feature female protagonists or female characters that "struggle for autonomy...in a male dominated society."1 The form of Expressionism and the use of Language, stage directions and names are all approached in a feminist way to go to the extent of providing awareness to the troubles of women in their society. Sophie Treadwell's 'Machinal' contains a central reading of feminism. Critics of her literary work often claim that her "Partisanship of Feminism" marks the majority of her works."² Within the play this "Partisanship" or devotion to feminism is clearly seen through the female protagonist Helen, otherwise known as 'Young Woman', "an ordinary young woman, any woman,"³ and the other women within 'Machinal'. Even just through this choice of character name, 'The
Examining the "insincerity, inauthenticity and unnaturalness" of Victorian high society in Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'.
ENGL 113 : Introduction to Literature and Cultural Politics Trimester 1, 2007 Assignment 2: Question 4: It has been suggested that The Importance of Being Earnest satirises the "insincerity, inauthenticity and unnaturalness" of Victorian high society. It has also been suggested that The Importance of Being Earnest celebrates these qualities and holds them up for our delighted admiration. Which of these interpretations of Wilde's play do you find more plausible, and why? If you think both statements are true, explain why. Thursday May 10, 2007 Charlotte French ~ 300075543 Tutorial Group : James, Monday 11am Word Count : 1556 words (including quotes) In the play The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde can be seen to both satirise elements of Victorian high society, and to celebrate them and hold them up for delighted admiration. Otto Rienert supports the argument of this play as a satire: "Wilde's basic formula for satire is [his characters'] assumption of a code of behaviour that represents the reality that Victorian convention pretends to ignore" (Rienert 15). But the assumption that The Importance of Being Earnest is trying to pass on a message to its audience about Wilde's opinions of Victorian society completely goes against Wilde's self-proclaimed commitment to aesthetic doctrines. As well as reading this play as a satire or celebration, it is possible to
A Comparison between Strindbergs Miss Julie and Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House
A Comparison between Strindberg’s Miss Julie and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House Miss Julie which was published nine years after Ibsen’ realist play A Doll’s House, is an example of naturalist movement which tried to show that heredity, environment and social conditions rather than hard work shape an individual’s fate. Strindberg considering himself a naturalist and being an opponent of Ibsen’s ideas in A Doll’s House, wrote Miss Julie with a naturalist pessimism and rejected the idea of women being independent and liberating themselves from the unfortunate situations they were in. The physical worlds of the two plays are somehow the same. In both cases the space is an interior one and the scene is a single room fully described by the author. However Ibsen has used more props on the stage in order to make it more lifelike. Time plays an important role in the two plays. As the time passes the peaceful happy mood of the beginning of the play changes to a nervous one and the protagonist approaches her doom. We can feel the same anxiety that the central characters feel from passing of the time. However, the social worlds of these two plays are different. Strindberg has portrayed the world of aristocrats and their servants where the differences between the social classes is important and referred to continuously while Ibsen has chosen people who are almost of