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An Inspector Calls Exemplars:
Two Grade 9 Essays for Grade 9 Students
- Designed for the AQA spec
Study Saviour
, How far does Priestley present society as unfair in An Inspector Calls?
[30 marks]
Throughout An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents society as largely unjust, while
exploring a multitude of traditionalist and conservative ideas; including classism,
capitalism, misogyny and patriarchy, that prioritise the needs of the perceived
‘superior’ over the minority groups that Priestly places at the very heart of the play;
Priestly is satirical of the prejudice they face, often as the result of society’s most
revered upper and privileged class.
Priestly draws attention to the unjust nature of society in Inspector Calls through the
impudent character of Mr Birling, at which Priestly directs the object of his satire, by
drawing attention to the way in which Birling’s social ideologies place him supercillious
at the detriment of others in society. For example, this is evident in the line ‘and now
you’ve brought us together, and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts
and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together - for lower costs and
higher prices’ in Act 1, in which business appears to take precedence over his daughter
Sheila’s engagement. Mr Birling makes evident that he favours ‘lower costs and higher
prices’ implying that he is content with supporting cheap and sweated labour in the
effort to generate further profits for himself. Mr Birling’s egocentric nature is depicted
as quintessential to that of steadfast capitalistic ideology of the early 1900s and
Birling is used in this scene as Priestly’s mouthpiece, reproaching capitalistic
callousness. Again, later in the act, in the line ‘perhaps I ought to warn you that he’s
[the Chief Constable] and old friend of mine, and that I see him fairly frequently’ in
which Birling warns the Inspector that he is closely affiliated with the police as if to
suggest that he is beyond the law. This line, exemplary of Capitalistic hubris, is satirical
of Mr Birling’s (and likeminded capitalists’) opinion that it is acceptable for those of
upper class to deny being held responsible just as other citizens do, simply due to
their authority, financial status and social connections.
Another way in which Priestley presents society as unfair in An Inspector Calls is by
presenting Eva Smith’s story as just one of many, and placing emphasis on although
she is deceased, many like her still live on only to be treated egregiously by the upper
classes and bourgeoisie. Priestly reminds us of this with the words of the Inspector
‘there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths left with us,
their fears, their suffering, their chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives and
what we think and say and do’ in which the last name ‘Smith’ alludes to the idea that
Eva may be used to represent the entirety of the working class in Britain and the
familiarity of her story to so many. In this line, Priestly also reestablishes the central
theme of our culpability in others’ circumstances which runs throughout the play, in
the line ‘all intertwined with our lives’. This line directly juxtaposes the foolish
assumption made by Birling in Act 1, in the simile we are not all ‘like bees in a hive’, and
establishes the fact that we indeed are. Furthermore, the repetition of ‘millions and
millions and millions’ reiterates that that bias and disrespect shown to Eva Smith is not
only a flaw of the Birling family but a national, deeply - rooted one. Additionally, an
Inspector Calls was published on July 6th 1945, just days away from the first Labour win
in 14 years, led by Clement Attlee who in just a few days would become Prime Minister,
who is still renowned for having introduced the Welfare State - providing the National
Insurance act of 1946 and the National Health Service in 1948 - just two of the greatest
achievement in government history; the fact that this occurred is a display of changing
attitudes post - war and the rise of socialism is something that Preiestly explores in an
Inspector Calls. Society began to recognize the value of the ordinary working man and
woman in 1945, furthermore by Priestly choosing to set the play in the year of 1912 -
shortly before world war one , Priestly recognised that in the latter decades the ideas
An Inspector Calls Exemplars:
Two Grade 9 Essays for Grade 9 Students
- Designed for the AQA spec
Study Saviour
, How far does Priestley present society as unfair in An Inspector Calls?
[30 marks]
Throughout An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents society as largely unjust, while
exploring a multitude of traditionalist and conservative ideas; including classism,
capitalism, misogyny and patriarchy, that prioritise the needs of the perceived
‘superior’ over the minority groups that Priestly places at the very heart of the play;
Priestly is satirical of the prejudice they face, often as the result of society’s most
revered upper and privileged class.
Priestly draws attention to the unjust nature of society in Inspector Calls through the
impudent character of Mr Birling, at which Priestly directs the object of his satire, by
drawing attention to the way in which Birling’s social ideologies place him supercillious
at the detriment of others in society. For example, this is evident in the line ‘and now
you’ve brought us together, and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts
and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together - for lower costs and
higher prices’ in Act 1, in which business appears to take precedence over his daughter
Sheila’s engagement. Mr Birling makes evident that he favours ‘lower costs and higher
prices’ implying that he is content with supporting cheap and sweated labour in the
effort to generate further profits for himself. Mr Birling’s egocentric nature is depicted
as quintessential to that of steadfast capitalistic ideology of the early 1900s and
Birling is used in this scene as Priestly’s mouthpiece, reproaching capitalistic
callousness. Again, later in the act, in the line ‘perhaps I ought to warn you that he’s
[the Chief Constable] and old friend of mine, and that I see him fairly frequently’ in
which Birling warns the Inspector that he is closely affiliated with the police as if to
suggest that he is beyond the law. This line, exemplary of Capitalistic hubris, is satirical
of Mr Birling’s (and likeminded capitalists’) opinion that it is acceptable for those of
upper class to deny being held responsible just as other citizens do, simply due to
their authority, financial status and social connections.
Another way in which Priestley presents society as unfair in An Inspector Calls is by
presenting Eva Smith’s story as just one of many, and placing emphasis on although
she is deceased, many like her still live on only to be treated egregiously by the upper
classes and bourgeoisie. Priestly reminds us of this with the words of the Inspector
‘there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths left with us,
their fears, their suffering, their chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives and
what we think and say and do’ in which the last name ‘Smith’ alludes to the idea that
Eva may be used to represent the entirety of the working class in Britain and the
familiarity of her story to so many. In this line, Priestly also reestablishes the central
theme of our culpability in others’ circumstances which runs throughout the play, in
the line ‘all intertwined with our lives’. This line directly juxtaposes the foolish
assumption made by Birling in Act 1, in the simile we are not all ‘like bees in a hive’, and
establishes the fact that we indeed are. Furthermore, the repetition of ‘millions and
millions and millions’ reiterates that that bias and disrespect shown to Eva Smith is not
only a flaw of the Birling family but a national, deeply - rooted one. Additionally, an
Inspector Calls was published on July 6th 1945, just days away from the first Labour win
in 14 years, led by Clement Attlee who in just a few days would become Prime Minister,
who is still renowned for having introduced the Welfare State - providing the National
Insurance act of 1946 and the National Health Service in 1948 - just two of the greatest
achievement in government history; the fact that this occurred is a display of changing
attitudes post - war and the rise of socialism is something that Preiestly explores in an
Inspector Calls. Society began to recognize the value of the ordinary working man and
woman in 1945, furthermore by Priestly choosing to set the play in the year of 1912 -
shortly before world war one , Priestly recognised that in the latter decades the ideas
