An Inspector Calls :: English Literature

An examiner calls is set in 1912 and was write for a 1946 audience. What can it have to offer an audience in 2002? An Inspector calls.An Inspector calls was written by J.B. Priestly in 1945, and wasfirst shown to an audience in 1946. It was set in 1912, before the encourage World War had started, and was to be shown, after the SecondWorld War had ended. An quizzer calls is a dramatic, moralisticthriller. It is set around the death of a young woman Eva Smith. Theplay begins with the Birling family celebrating the engagement oftheir young woman Sheila, to the wealthy Gerald Croft. In this part ofthe play you learn a lot about the social arrangement of that era, the meanspeople acted, and the way they thought.The doorbell, and the arrival of an Inspector interrupt theircelebration. From now on the mood changes, contrasting thelight-hearted and happy mood it now becomes tense and serious. TheInspector reveals each characters involvement in the death of EvaSmith, military position b y side with the flaws and evils in each characterspersonality. This slowly reveals to the audience that the Inspector isa lot more then he seems, and that the play is not totally a murdermystery, but also resembles a moralistic play of the middle ages, butin its own socialistic manner. It also shows the flaws in the socialsystem at the times, which are displayed in each character, and in the ends of their acts. The audience are shown how some peopleignore the reality of their actions, and even after seeing theconsequence of their actions, refuse to change. Mr and Mrs Birling areportrayed as selfish and ignorant of their actions, while Sheila andEric, as a contrast, have fully realised their mistakes and havechanged the way they think. The inspector is successful in changingtwo of the characters, but is not successful in the rest. Priestly isin a way playing the Inspector, to his audience, demonstrate them theconsequences of their actions, and what will happen if they do notchange. An Inspector calls has many underlying messages, most ofwhich are still relevant to us today.The question as to whether An inspector calls is out of date, is along argued and debated question. Both sides of the argument havevalid points, and in order to come to a fair decision, you mustconsider two these sides of the argument. I am going to considerthree statements about An Inspector calls and after studying eachone, am gong to come up with a decision.