An Inspector Calls :: English Literature

An Inspector Calls 'An Inspector Calls' was written by J.B Priestley in 1944. The play was set 32 years before the play was actually written. It was set around the year 1912. Britain in the early 1910's was very much a strong, powerful business nation, one of the richest in the world. For large factory and business owners, it was a time for great success. When J.B Priestly wrote the play in 1944, World War 2 was occurring and Britain was involved. The world was turned into chaos and the ideas of highly powered people of the past had been one of its majoring contributing factors. 'An Inspector Calls' is about a family called the Birling's which consist of Mr. Arthur Birling and his wife, his daughter Sheila and her fiancce Gerald and Eric, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Birling. They are a middleclass family in a town called Brumley. The play is based on a girl called Eva Smith who committed suicide by drinking disinfectant. The inspector then visits the Birling's house on the night of Sheila and Gerald's engagement. He interviews all the members of the family and without them realizing, they all have an awful story to say and they all have part to play to her death. At the end of the play, it ends with a very mind thinking twist which you end up asking yourself, how did he know? The twist is the inspector is telling this story about a girl who swallowed disinfectant and questions all the family and they all have something to say about themselves and Eva Smiths relationship. When the inspector leaves, Mr. Birling phones up the police to see if girl has died tonight. The police reply no there hasn't been but when Mr. Birling hangs up the phone, the police call straight back and say someone has just reported a girl committing suicide by swallowing disinfectant. How did the inspector know that the girl was going to die? J.B Priestley's aims are to show the audience that middle classed families in the 1910's were not as clever and capable as some may think. They can be in fact very foolish. Priestly puts across a clear message in the play is that being responsible for you is not enough to make the world a better place. Mr. Birling does the opposite to this in the play by when he says 'a man has to mind his own business and look after himself.' Also the message about power comes across quite clearly in the play. Priestley's view on having power is to use it carefully. You can relate this to Mr.