How Does Priestley Present the Inspector in an Inspector Calls?

Writers do portray characters in several way; some are portrayed as bold and courageous while others come out weak and gullible. This essay focuses on the play ‘An Inspector Calls’. This is a play written by J.B. Priestley. It gives an account of how an inspector known as Poole investigates the apparent murder of a young working class woman known as Eva Smith. When the Inspector Poole visits the Birling family, he slowly reveals how every member of that family might have taken part in the murder of Eva. The main issue under discussion is how Priestly strikingly portrays Birling in Act 1 of the play. The main argument is that the author portrays the Birling as a self-centered, selfish and hardheaded businessperson, who does not take care of social responsibility and thus is anti-socialist.

Published in 1945 and set in 1912 “An Inspector calls” is a play that holds a lot of social and political messages. The writer of the play, JB Priestley was a strong believer in socialism and used his work to convince the public to his way of thinking. He wrote this play when Britain was ruled by a labour government and socialist policies were seen as the ideal way to go. Although socialism was a common way of thinking during that time period, there were still some members of society that believed differently, and with "An inspector calls" Priestley intended to convert their views. Priestley's main aim was to bring attention to the problems that society faced in 1912, and through this play he expressed the importance of taking responsibility

Throughout Priestley’s play, ‘An inspector calls’, a main theme runs about responsibility and differentiation between classes. Each character is accountable of doing something that brought about the death of Eva smith. All the characters contribute to her death in one way or the other, and all of them are at fault for the death of

In An Inspector Calls, there are things that we, as an audience, are unsure about. Who is most responsible for Eva Smith’s death? Was there really a girl called Eva Smith who committed suicide in the infirmary? And, most importantly, who is the Inspector? Well, Inspector Goole is in fact not a real police inspector; his assertive and impatient manner

The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ was written in 1945, by J.B. Priestley, yet set in 1912. At this time, society was mainly capitalist with industry and agriculture owned privately. Wealth is not evenly shared and there is a distinct divide between upper and lower class people. The play is set around a wealthy, upper-middle class family, headed by Arthur Birling a factory owner. In the beginning of the play, we see the family celebrating the engagement of Sheila and Gerald, the son of Lord and Lady Croft. This is well supported by Mr Birling who sees this marriage as a business deal, a time where his company and the Crofts would be able to merge, benefiting the Birling’s greatly. However, we see a drastic mood change when Inspector Goole arrives, bringing news of the suicide of Eva Smith.

All of this relates to the significance of the inspector. He is a mysterious, lying man that no one knows any information about him, they don’t even know if that woman was even dead, but yet his power, his persuasive ways managed to break a family and spill all their darkest

‘An Inspector Calls is a moralistic play set in 1912 and written in 1945 in which both: the audience and the characters learn something. One of the way Priestley presents strong attitudes is through the characters in the play. The majority of them are given strong opinions. Although, the author himself may disagree with them he has used dichotomy to differentiate between the different classes: lower and upper and the different people: capitalist and socialist J.B Priestley has some of his own strong beliefs; he wanted the current day society to learn from history and avoid repeating all the mistakes from WWI in WWII. From the play we can infer that he used the character

An Inspector Calls is a play which presents the role of responsibility through relationships in the characters Mr Birling and Sheila, where a natural role of responsibility comes through in Mr Birling’s parental role and where the development of Sheila forces the reader to empathise and ultimately understand the role of shared responsibility which Priestley cleverly crafts in the play. Mr Birling, being Sheila’s father, has a natural and innate conscience to care and look after Sheila. However, throughout the

First and foremost, the Inspector is the medium through which J.B. Priestley’s views on socialism are put across to the post-war audience of 1945. This are several instances of this throughout the play, the first being when the “sharp ring of the doorbell”, signalling the arrival of the Inspector, interrupts Birling in the middle of his rant

The inspector is not self-centred and we know little about his personal self, in contrast again to Birling’s ‘dominance’ of dialogue in Act 1 and use of the pronoun ‘I’ – the inspector is interested in social justice and finding a solution to the problem. He is deliberately designed to be a foil for Birling as he is less egotistical and more concerned about Eva Smiths death, showing a caring attitude which is at odds with the birlings selfishness and portrays Birling as a villain, for his lack of remorse.

Inspector Goole creates a massive presence within ‘An Inspector Calls’ and through him we are able to explore each character and Priestly himself. The Inspector is a vital character within the play and allows Priestly to channel through his thoughts, feelings and messages to society by creating the seemingly omniscient Inspector Goole. In the essay I will illustrate the importance of the Inspector and demonstrate how Priestly presents him.

In this following essay I will discuss who the inspector is and his role in the story. At first appears as a regular police inspector who is however rude and out of line but by the end of the play everything changes. Throughout the play he interrogates the Birlings and the Birlings for a crime they didn't even know they committed. However it is more likely that he is a ghost or a paranormal being or perhaps the voice of the author himself J.B Priestley. I will examine the evidence and come to a conclusion on who is the inspector.

In ‘An Inspector Calls’, J.B. Priestley’s main idea of collective responsibility embodies the play and is expressed through the views of the Inspector. ‘We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’ Priestley’s concept of an interdependent society is highly influenced by his experiences. Given that Priestley was part of the army in World War One and was later awarded a place in Cambridge University, he demonstrates a vast understanding of the views of people from different classes and the divide between the upper and lower class.

Explain how far Priestley uses the features of a ‘Well Made Play’ to create additional tense and suspension in an ‘Inspector Calls’.

Upon his arrival, he creates, “…at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. ”(Page 11) The Inspector continues to create this impression as he progresses through his speeches and throughout his interrogation of the family. The Inspector remains confident, sturdy and composed, while he causes the people around him to break and crumble at his feet.