An Inspector Calls: Revision notes These notes are to help kick-start your revision of the play for the GCSE exam. Good Luck! Miss Stonehouse Introduction There are a number of references to external events within the play and these could provide the areas which could be developed further. Among these are: The Titanic The emergence of Russia as a world power The outbreak of World War One The importance of the Women’s Rights movement The rise of Socialism
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An Inspector Calls John Priestly was born in Bradford in 1894. Priestly had grown up into his father’s circle of socialist friends; he saw women and men‚ rich and poor‚ all working together. After the First World War women returned to being housewives‚ the typical life that the perfect woman was expected to lead. This greatly influenced Priestly’s writing because he didn’t agree with that way
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An Inspector Calls Though responsibility itself is a central theme of the play‚ the last act of the play provides a fascinating portrait of the way that people can let themselves off the hook. If one message of the play is that we must all care more thoroughly about the general welfare‚ it is clear that the message is not shared by all. By contrasting the older Birlings and Gerald with Sheila and Eric‚ Priestley explicitly draws out the difference between those who have accepted their responsibility
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Shelia Birling – An Inspector Calls Sheila Birling is the character who changes most in the play. She begins as a naïve‚ self-centered and privileged young woman but soon develops into a perceptive and increasingly mature and wise character‚ who displays the attitudes of responsibility that form J. B. Priestley’s message in the play. Set in 1910‚ the author attempts to show how Capitalism led to the world wars‚ revolutions and economic disasters. Our first impressions of Sheila Birling are
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why J.B Priestly wrote the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ and how he uses the to influence the social hierarchy in 1946. The play was set in 1912 in the dining room of the Birling’s house in Brumely‚ an industrial city in the North Midlands. The Birling’s consists of Mr.Birling‚ Arthur‚ Mrs.Birling‚ Sybil and their son and daughter‚ Eric and Sheila. The play also presents Sheila’s fiance‚ Gerald‚ the Inspector and the mention of Eva Smith. In the play the Inspector has gone to the Birling’s house to enquire
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only used Eva for his own benefit and when he was bored of it he ended the affair. This is implied in the conversation between Gerald and the Inspector‚ the quote ‘and then you decided to keep her‚ as your mistress’ portrays him in a negative light as the inspector is stating the harsh truth of the situation. The possessive verb ‘your’ is used by the inspector to suggest that Eva was an object to Gerald‚ this sparks a reaction from Gerald who naturally tries to justify himself although this may be
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arrival of Inspector Goole undermines the natural pathways of authority within the household. As his name suggests‚ ‘Inspector Goole‚’ seems to have supernatural power and racks up the tension through his intimidating questioning of the characters. The pace and tension are controlled by his character and the audience is carried by the dramatic which suggests he is almost god. CONCLUSION: We see the power shift in Act I as the action progress through the super knowing power of the Inspector. His
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In ‘An Inspector Calls’ Gerald Crofts ‘easy manner’ is disrupted by the Inspectors interrogation‚ as he begins to feel ‘distressed’ by his realisation of his part in Eva Smith’s/Daisy Renton’s life and death. Mrs Birling however remains entirely untouched by the Inspector’s questioning and she refuses to see how Eva’s death can have followed as a consequence of her actions. There are many similarities and differences between Mrs Birling and Geralds reaction to interrogation. This is the first similarity
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An Inspector Calls Essay How does Priestley build the drama and tension in this extract? The extract is from page 47 starting ’MRS B: I’m sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for this at all’ In this extract‚ JB Priestley builds drama and tension through the use of dramatic irony. Mrs Birling does not realise until the very end of the scene that her own son is responsible for Eva Smith’s pregnancy. However‚ Sheila and the audience begin to realise this
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NOTES Priestley’s Life: John Boynton Priestley was born into a working class family in 1894. He knew early on that he wanted to become a writer‚ but decided against going to university as he thought he would get a better feel for the world around him by working. Instead‚ he became a junior clerk with a local wool firm at the age of 16. When the First World War broke out‚ Priestley joined the infantry and only just escaped death on a number of occasions. After the war‚ he gained a degree from
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