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An Inspector Calls Essay 3

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An Inspector Calls Essay 3
In Act 1 of “An Inspector Calls” how does J.B Priestley use dramatic devices to convey his concerns and ideas to members of the audience as well as interest them and involve them in the play.
“An Inspector Calls” was written in 1945 but the play was set in 1912, a few years before the First World War. The place it was set was an imaginary industrial West Midland town called Brumley.
The play talks about the class structure in 1912. “An Inspector Calls” shows how big a gap there was between the rich and the poor. Priestley was against the class system. He shows the audience that the society had been divided into three categories; the upper class, the middle class and the working class.
J.B Priestley was a social reformer. He wished to see all people of society treated fairly. The play was an attempt to show the inequality in society in 1912. He knew his main audience would be upper class and middle class groups because they could afford to watch plays. Priestley’s intention was to make the audience think about their conscience. He emphasised the difference between the upper and lower classes very strongly throughout the play. He uses the Birling family as a representative of the upper class and Eva Smith as a representative of the lower class.
Priestley shows how in 1912, upper class citizens, such as the Birlings had no respect for Lower class citizens. Priestley uses the Birlings as the main character because the audience could relate the Birlings as they are part of the upper class group.
Priestley also used the Birlings to show the audience how the working class were exploited by the middle class and the upper class in 1912. Factory owners such as Arthur Birling would often not pay enough money to the factory workers.
“They were averaging about twenty two and six, which was rather more nor less than is paid generally in our industry. They wanted about twenty-five shilling a week. I refused, of course.”
Arthur exploited the factory workers by refusing to

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