How does Priestley use the character of the Inspector to present ideas about
socialism?
Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a didactic play written in 1945, towards the end
of the Second World War, and set in 1912 Edwardian Britain, to remind a British
audience how far they have come in terms of implementing social equality and
to warn of the kind of mistakes that people should avoid if they are to continue
to build a better and more caring society. In his play, Priestley use the enigmatic
character of The Inspector as a mouthpiece for his socialist ideals as he
questions the upper class and capitalist Birling family and encourages them to
acknowledge that their selfish actions have brought about the death of an
innocent working class girl. From the moment of his entrance, to the powerful
speech that precedes his dramatic exit, Priestley adds weight and authority to
the actions and language of the Inspector through stage directions and powerful
rhetoric, making him someone the audience respect and trust.
The stage directions play an important role in establishing the Inspector as a
credible and authoritative moral voice, lending weight to Priestley’s socialist
messages. When the Inspector first arrives at the Birlings’, the lighting changes
becoming ‘harsher and brighter’ as if to represent how he will shine a light on
the Birlings’ past indiscretions and misdemeanors or perhaps to symbolize how
he will show them the light in the sense of helping them to reflect on their
actions and become better and more caring individuals. At this point we learn
also that he ‘need not be a big man, but he creates at once a sense of
massiveness, purposefulness and solidity’. The inspector’s presence is
emphatically not created by his size, suggesting that he carries some kind of
moral weight and authority which others are able to perceive instantly. Priestley
perhaps does this to suggest that the Inspector’s message is greater than what
we can perceive with the eye, linking to the wider theme of morality being more
important than appearances or reputation.
Lastly, Priestley uses the Inspector to address the audience almost directly at the
end of the play when he has finished his interrogation and is about to leave. The
younger generation have responded to his socialist message and emotive ideas
a young girl who’d ‘burnt her insides out’ because of their selfish actions, but the
older generation have not. His final speech is to solidify his message of the
importance of social responsibility and acknowledging that out actions have
consequences. His message is ostensibly to the older generation but also to the
1945 audience whom Priestley wants to remind of the dire consequences if we
act selfishly and as though we are not responsible for the welfare of others. His
tone is ominous and powerful as he delivers his warning through emotive and
apocalyptic language. At first reminding us of the humanity of those other people
with whom we are ‘intertwined’ in that we can have an impact on their ‘hopes
and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness’. Here he juxtaposes the two
extremes their lives could be as if to remind us that our actions could cause the
pendulum to swing in either direction for them and secure their happiness or the
destruction of their lives, in the same way that Eva’s life was again and again
destroyed by the unthinking heartlessness of the Birling family. He ends with a
socialism?
Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a didactic play written in 1945, towards the end
of the Second World War, and set in 1912 Edwardian Britain, to remind a British
audience how far they have come in terms of implementing social equality and
to warn of the kind of mistakes that people should avoid if they are to continue
to build a better and more caring society. In his play, Priestley use the enigmatic
character of The Inspector as a mouthpiece for his socialist ideals as he
questions the upper class and capitalist Birling family and encourages them to
acknowledge that their selfish actions have brought about the death of an
innocent working class girl. From the moment of his entrance, to the powerful
speech that precedes his dramatic exit, Priestley adds weight and authority to
the actions and language of the Inspector through stage directions and powerful
rhetoric, making him someone the audience respect and trust.
The stage directions play an important role in establishing the Inspector as a
credible and authoritative moral voice, lending weight to Priestley’s socialist
messages. When the Inspector first arrives at the Birlings’, the lighting changes
becoming ‘harsher and brighter’ as if to represent how he will shine a light on
the Birlings’ past indiscretions and misdemeanors or perhaps to symbolize how
he will show them the light in the sense of helping them to reflect on their
actions and become better and more caring individuals. At this point we learn
also that he ‘need not be a big man, but he creates at once a sense of
massiveness, purposefulness and solidity’. The inspector’s presence is
emphatically not created by his size, suggesting that he carries some kind of
moral weight and authority which others are able to perceive instantly. Priestley
perhaps does this to suggest that the Inspector’s message is greater than what
we can perceive with the eye, linking to the wider theme of morality being more
important than appearances or reputation.
Lastly, Priestley uses the Inspector to address the audience almost directly at the
end of the play when he has finished his interrogation and is about to leave. The
younger generation have responded to his socialist message and emotive ideas
a young girl who’d ‘burnt her insides out’ because of their selfish actions, but the
older generation have not. His final speech is to solidify his message of the
importance of social responsibility and acknowledging that out actions have
consequences. His message is ostensibly to the older generation but also to the
1945 audience whom Priestley wants to remind of the dire consequences if we
act selfishly and as though we are not responsible for the welfare of others. His
tone is ominous and powerful as he delivers his warning through emotive and
apocalyptic language. At first reminding us of the humanity of those other people
with whom we are ‘intertwined’ in that we can have an impact on their ‘hopes
and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness’. Here he juxtaposes the two
extremes their lives could be as if to remind us that our actions could cause the
pendulum to swing in either direction for them and secure their happiness or the
destruction of their lives, in the same way that Eva’s life was again and again
destroyed by the unthinking heartlessness of the Birling family. He ends with a
