Category: An Inspector Calls

Priestley presents an imbalance of responsibility within the Birling family between the two generations , with the older generation (Mr and Mrs Birling) showing a lack of responsibility and empathy towards Eva smith’s death whereas the younger generation (Sheila and Eric) hold a majority of the responsibility showing maturity and understanding which the older generation should hold ,however, they evidently do not.

In ‘An Inspector Calls’ Priestley presents the theme of responsibility as imbalanced between the older and younger generation as during act 3 of the play in the midst of the conversation between the Birlings and Gerald concerning this new idea that the inspector and his narrative could potentially be a ‘hoax’. In this scene we see that both Mr and Mrs Birling are completely won by Gerald’s theory and seem to completely forget the situation at hand. Sheila, representing the younger generation, takes complete personal responsibility by stating ‘ you’re acting as If nothing has changed’ she understands despite being a ‘hoax’ or not her actions could potentially lead another ‘Eva smith and John smith’ to their unfortunate demise.

Sheila embodies complete growth and character development contrary to the beginning where she is presented as a naïve irresponsible young girl , addressing her parents as ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’, to addressing her parents as ‘ mother’ and ‘father’ therefore showing mental growth and maturity in the space of one evening. Priestley also presents responsibility through Mrs. Birling a seemingly mature woman who is ‘her husband’s social superior’, Mrs. Birling quite swiftly and sternly makes it apparent from the beginning of her interrogation that she does not take any responsibility and feels as though she has only done her ‘duty’ by denying Eva Smiths cry for help. Mrs. Birling quite meticulously shifts her blame and responsibility to the father of Eva smiths child who we soon and abruptly learn is her own son Eric. However, it could be argued that Mrs. Birling once acknowledging this new and ghastly situation between her son and Eva smith she attempts to take some responsibility.

Despite appearing as an ignorant and elitist cold-hearted woman in the beginning she is yet still a mother and it is only a mothers natural instinct to protect and comfort their offspring. We can interpret she attempts to take some responsibility as she works for a womans charity organization and does not input the same cold-hearted opinion and stern tone yet she begins to stutter saying ‘ (agitated) I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it . . .’. We see a change in tone from dark and harrowing to slightly warm and concerned.

As an Inspector Calls was written after World War Two, most men went away to fight during the war, so many jobs that were traditionally performed by men, had to be filled in by women. This switch in roles enabled everyone to see that women were equally as capable as men. It helped to change the existing perceptions about what a woman can and can’t do. Consequently, many women experienced a new kind of independence that working and therefore earning money allowed them to entail. Yet, unfortunately, not all men were accepting of this new change in gender equality and continued to remain firmly in the beliefs about the capabilities that women have from the past. In an Inspector Calls Priestley develops ideas of gender roles through the freedom and individuality of Eva Smith and the sexist views of Mr Birling.

Before World War Two, Britain was not only divided by gender but also by class. The Upper and Middle classes were filled with capitalists, people who owned wealthy land and large successful businesses, whereas the lower/working class consisted of the poor workers that were treated with little or no respect by the upper classes. The war meant that these three classes had to unite together as all classes were eating the same food and were even having to dress the same due to rationing. Yet, the divide was still evident so Priestly wanted to emphasise the inequality and differences that still existed between the upper and lower classes.

Sybil begins to dig herself deeper when she speaks about how all the blame should be going to Eva and the man who got her pregnant. For example, in the quote “, I blame the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have. If, as she said, he did not belong to her class.” This shows how she has not joined the dots that it is her own son she is talking about. She lacks common sense and sympathy as she just cannot seem to accept that she might actually play a part in the death of an innocent girl that she could have helped. She doesn’t care even now that she could have saved her life, all due to the fact that the man that got her pregnant was from a higher class and she did not have a husband. She did not believe a single word that came out of Eva’s mouth, as she “didn’t like her manner,” she is assuming that everything Eva says is “a whole lot of silly nonsense,” before she even knows Eva as she has trained her mind to think that anything Eva will say is stupid and false.

The quote, “And he ought to be dealt with very severely- “shows that Mrs Birling has not yet worked out that it is Eric that needs to be dealt with very severely, she full on drops Eric under the bus. These words that she has said will brutally haunt her later when she finally realises that she is talking about Eric. In some ways this quote uses foreshadowing as we can know purely by the way the play is written and the reactions of the other family members that it was Eric that got Eva pregnant, so by her saying this it creates a tense atmosphere within the audience and readers.

From an audience’s point of view Mrs. Birling fully deserves the consequences and ridicules that will eventually come her way. Mrs. Birlings actions really help to engage the audience in what Priestley is trying to convey through ‘An Inspector Calls’ as we see that her actions are cruel and ignorant and this is something that we all -hopefully- don’t want to be. Priestley is trying to get to all be responsible for our own actions and how they can and will affect other people, whether is directly or not. Mrs. Birling almost adds a comedic value to this part of the play as it is so obvious to the audience and readers that she is talking about Eric, that it is almost painful and unbearable to watch/read. Mrs. Birling also really helps to add a dramatic tone and atmosphere to the play as the tension changes when she repetitively puts all of the blame on other people, its almost like she is happy that Eva is dead, she talks that she spoke nonsense and was silly so to her it might not be so bad that she is dead; which is horrible and extremely capitalist of her.

This quote shows that she is shocked after finding out that it was her own son that got Eva pregnant. It also shows naivety as she is so surprised to hear this news. ‘I won’t believe it’ demonstrates that she is so stubborn, no one could really change her capitalistic views, not even the death of a girl that her and her family help create. You can tell that she feels very disappointed in her son from the way she pauses in the middle of the sentence; confirmed by the ellipses. She is unwilling to believe her son’s involvement with the girl and this distress is expressed as denial.

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley deals with the theme of power which is conveyed as; an ability to influence the behaviour of others or events, this is demonstrated through the speech and actions of the characters. The play is deliberately set in 1912 (in Brumley, England), to show the distinct gender imbalances and class divisions which were apparent in the Edwardian times. However, it was written and performed in 1945 to show how these inequalities had changed after the Second World War. Throughout the play, Priestley encourages people to work together to produce a less divided society of equality. This didactic, morality play has a crime thriller form engaging the audience as they are left wondering who is to blame for Eva Smith’s death and if their individual actions are relatable.

The theme of power is introduced through the character of the Inspector by the use of staging and lighting, which is evident in the stage directions. The significance of the lighting being ‘pink and intimate’ portrays a prosperous, jovial mood during the family’s engagement celebration. Likewise, it implies the Birling family see the world through rose tinted glasses, suggesting an optimistic perception of the situation and the audience are overlooking a perfect family which is ironic as they are flawed in many ways. This is juxtapositioned with the lighting which is ‘brighter and harder’ foreshadowing a darker more forceful atmosphere, as the shift in mood signifies to the audience a character of importance and power is later to be introduced. The ‘brighter lighting’ resembles the lighting of an interrogation room, which could suggest the inspector has power over the Birling family. The adjective ‘harsh’ connotes a feeling towards the audience of danger at the sight of an Inspector, leaving a sense of uncertainty and heightened tension.

Priestley introduces the initial theme of power through the character of Mr Birling; who is presented as a ‘heavy looking’, ‘portentous man’ and a ‘hard-headed’ figure within the Birling family. This depiction of wealth highlights Arthur’s significance and high status which portrays his views in the capitalist society. The alliterate phrase ‘hard-headed’ suggests a negative feeling of reluctance and therefore foreshadowing his objection to change his views of which he strongly believes in. Mr Birling’s ‘heavy looks’ suggest his greed towards profits as he is a ‘prosperous manufacturer’ of a successful business. He deprives his workers of a reasonable salary, demanding for ‘ “lower costs and higher prices” ’. This use of dialogue suggests to the audience his arrogance towards the world he lives in and demonstrates his priorities in excelling within the social hierarchy in order to gain power – ‘ “honours list” ’. However, his overconfidence and inadequate judgments lead him to believe the ‘ “Titanic” ‘ is ‘ “unsinkable” ’, which uses dramatic irony as the audience understand his foolish beliefs, conveying an ignorant character who is dislikeable.

Mr Birling’s involvement during the questioning of the Inspector epitomises the way power can be abused and blind someone from their responsibilities. This is apparent in the hyperbole phrase; when Arthur states ‘ “these people” ’ of ‘ “asking for the world” ’ when in fact Eva Smith only wanted 3 more shillings. This demonstrates his power of authority over people lower in class and how he refuses to sympathise if it corrupts his status or wealth. Therefore, this shows how Birling refuses to take responsibility for abusing his power and aiding in Eva Smith’s actions leading up to her death. The blunt phrase ‘these people’ suggest his anger towards the Inspector’s continuous questioning and how he is reluctant to ‘ “accept any responsibility” ’ towards his actions when becoming extremely defensive.

Inspector Goole is a significant character who contributes to the play’s structure and form within the three acts. The play is brief and deals with a short passage of time to convey the morality effect and change in view some characters undergo. The questioning is structured so that each character is interviewed in chronological order. In addition, the Inspector adds drama to the play as he introduces each question in a systematic structure and deals with each enquiry one at a time. Therefore, this allows each character to express his/her involvement unknowingly by building pressure and tension – on characters such as Sheila and Eric – which resulted in their individual views changing. This is due to them understanding the consequence which subsequently unfolded due to their actions. The manipulative ways the Inspector uses his knowledge in order to discover the truth, affect Sheila the most as she willingly admits her share of the blame as ‘ “she feels responsible” ’.

Our initial impression of the Inspector’s role within the play is shown through his omniscient presence, as he knows the imminent truth through all the lies told. The Inspector creates a sense of purposefulness and authority when he introduces himself as ‘ “Goole” ’ spelt ‘ “G double O – L – E” ’. This noun could be pronounced as ‘ghoul’, implying a morbid or unpleasant feeling when the Birling family receive the unpleasant truth from the Inspector. Similarly, his ghoulish ways are portrayed through the way in which he presents the news of her death in an apathetic, aloof manner – ‘ “a young woman died” ’. The Inspector is presented as a controlling character that overlooks all the arguments with his power of authority. This is evident in the stage direct; ‘massively taking charge’. The adverb ‘massively’ implies to the audience how much power he has over the Birling family, despite his lower status and likewise, how he breaks down the power structure of the family. The verb ‘charge’ reflects the Inspector’s methodical thinking and emphasised his ‘authority’ to the audience.

The Inspector’s final speech is a significant part of the play as Priestley indicates morals which are fundamental in order for the Birling family to allow change. This is highlighted in the simple sentence: ‘ “we are members of one body” ’. This suggests the Birlings are too self-obsessed and that they have lost connection with others around them. The plural pronoun ‘we’ (positive language) could suggest the power of unity, over the ‘members’ of society, if people looked out for one another. Also, it could imply how the capitalists should seek to co-operate with the working class rather than exclude them. The dramatic pause from the full stop represents the time which the Birlings did not take, to reflect on their individual actions and therefore consequences. From this didactic powerful speech, it is clear to the audience that Priestley is portraying his socialist views through the character of the Inspector.

Sheila Birling influences the ending of the play as she represents the way in which the younger generation is able to embrace change despite society’s current expectation. She as with Eric, learn from her mistakes and takes responsibility for what ‘ “had happened” ’, therefore understanding the consequences of her own actions. This contrasts with the older generation who refuse to accept their faults and pretend as if ‘ “everything was just as it was before” ’, demonstrating how they misuse their power even after a (tragic) unknown event. Furthermore, this important ending creates an unforeseen climax which causes more problems than had initially been corrected. The previous fake event, foreshadow what is to come when the Birlings receive the telephone call leading to the cliff hanger moment. The dramatic pauses from the dashes create tension and uncertainty, as the dramatic irony leave the audience with an open ending unsure of the fate of the characters and where it lies.

Within An Inspector Calls, Priestley is insistent that everyone, including those who possess power, should take responsibility for the way they have shaped society. From this, he portrays his views against the capitalist society with the intent of shifting the views of the younger generation. This play symbolises the wrongs many of us commit, but the ease of which they can be corrected if people of society are open to change. Therefore, implying that many of us need an Inspector to call in order to understand how we are responsible for those surrounding us. I believe the strong political moral Priestley is trying to illustrate, is that if people become less self-obsessed (Mr Birling) and instead seek to work together; a society of equality can be built beyond limits ever imagined.

In the twentieth century, the topic of class conflict and revolutionary ideas was an important issue. The conflict between different classes in a community resulting from different social or economic positions and reflecting opposed interests is known as class conflict. This essay will discuss how these ideas are explored in Animal Farm by George Orwell and An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley. George Orwell’s Animal Farm was published in 1945. Animal Farm is a political fable, which is set on a farm but is based on Stalin’s betrayal of the Russian Revolution. An Inspector Calls is J. B. Priestley’s most famous play, first performed in September 1945, it was written at the end of WWII, but the play itself is set in 1912. One of the most important messages that Priestley conveys is the collective benefits of socialism to society Soc. At that time there was no assistance for people who could not afford to look after themselves. Priestley wanted to address this issue. There are various points addressed throughout both the texts, upper-class thoughts on the lower class, greedy capitalist and abuse of power by the bourgeoisie. Orwell addresses these issues through his characterisation of Napoleon, demonstrating his superiority from the rest of the animals, his greed, manipulation and exploitation of the working class. J. B. Priestley issued this problem in society through Inspector Ghoul. Inspector Ghoul is shown as a very mysterious person, who somehow knows about everything. Through the play, inspector Ghoul tries to make the Birlings accept their involvement in the suicide of Eva Smith. This essay will analyse and discuss how the creators of texts explore class conflict.

In both texts, the author has portrayed the ways in which the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat for their own selfish benefit. In both texts, it is seen that bourgeois considers themselves superior to the proletariat. For example Animal Farm the narrator states that “It had come to be accepted that the pigs, who were manifestly cleverer than the other animals, should decide all question of farm policy, though their decisions had to be ratified by majority vote.” The effect this has on the reader is that it causes them to think the pigs are part of bourgeois, who believe due to their status, they’re born smart and superior to the animals. Furthermore, another example of proletariat exploitation in Animal Farm is evidence when the narrator remarks “The pigs did not actually work but directed and supervised the others.” The pigs thought they were above such work as manual labour so they let the other animals such as boxer do the hard work. Napoleon and the other pigs were there to just direct them and the other animals listened. The natural division between intellectual and physical labour quickly comes to express itself as a new set of class divisions, with the brain workers as the pigs using their superior intelligence to their own benefit. They made the animals accept that they are superior, who know the best for everyone and used this against them, causing the other animals to believe in them and making them do all the work. the exploitation of the working class is evident through the characterisation of a selfish and greedy capitalist, Mr Birling. The audience witnesses this when he states ‘If you don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth.’ Mr Birling feels that it is his responsibility to come down harshly on these people. Mr Birling comes down hard on them and called his workers ‘these people’ referring them as something not equal to their standard. He has set another standard for people who work, someone lower than them. He shows a clear distinction of how he thinks of them, to him they are simply peasants who are working under him for money to survive. He refers to the proletariat as ‘these people’, showing how he disparages them. Both texts stated above are set up in a similar timeline, hence possessing an akin concept, ‘The distinction of the upper class and the lower class’ or ‘Capitalism’. Orwell used real charters dressed up as animals to show the current situation, where Pressly used frictional charters to do the same. Both the authors use various texts to show the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class, proving in the end the one with power can do anything, to them it doesn’t matter if it’s unfair, they have the power and will do anything to profit themselves, even if it means to break or change the rules, just like how the pigs in Animal Farm did or how Mr.Birling considers the working class only as his peasants.

In Animal Farm and An Inspector calls bourgeois characters are presented as a greedy capitalist, who only cares about their profit and well being. An example from Animal farm “he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in. It was also more suited to the dignity of the Leader to live in a house than in a mere sty.” After the Rebellion, the animals are not supposed to adopt human voices and become as selfish and greedy as them. This idea, however, was soon shattered, for the pigs adopt a supercilious attitude and manipulate the animals so they alone may benefit. Whatever the pigs do is exclusively for their own pleasure and privilege. None of the other animals benefit as much as they from the hard work put in by the general animal force Likewise, in An Inspector Calls, capitalist greed and selfishness is expressed when Birling states that “They were averaging about twenty-two and six, which was neither more nor less than is paid generally in our industry. They wanted the rates raised so that they could average about twenty-five shillings a week. I refused, of course.” In this quote is is seen that even though the pay is not enough for the workers to survive, and they had protested to increase it, Mr.Birling refused, because it would possibly lessen his profits and without a second thought he refused, without realizing the hardships his worker might be going through to take such a brave step. This concept of a greedy capitalist is issued throughout both texts. Orwell used frictional charters where Priestly issued the situation in a more realistic way. They conveyed differences between both classes since the ruling has more education compared to the working class, they have their ways of breaking rules without getting caught. In both texts, it is shown, that the ruling class are greedy and will do anything that will profit them only, without having any concern about the working class. Consequently, in Animal Farm, George Orwell displayed this throughout the charter of Napoleon. J. B. Priestley displayed it through the Birlings.

In Animal Farm, the pigs gradually twist and distort a rhetoric of socialist revolution to justify their behaviour and keep the other animals in the dark. For example in Animal Farm “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” By the end of the novel after Squealer’s repeated reconfiguration of the seven commandments in order to decriminalize the pig’s teachings, the main principle of the farm can be openly stated as “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This outrageous abuse of the word equal and the idea of equality, in general, typifies the pigs’ method, which becomes increasingly audacious as the novel progresses. Similarly “The pigs begin living in the farmhouse, and rumour has it that they even sleep in beds, a violation of one of the Seven Commandments. But when Clover asks Muriel to read her the commandment, the two find that it now reads No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.” Throughout the novel, the pigs are seen to be bending the seven commandments to satisfy their own need and to justify their behaviour. Indirectly Orwell tried to display the readers the strategies, the Soviet Union and Russia used on the general public. Orwell connects it to the Russian Revolution by commenting on Soviet Russia and the global circumstances in which it arose. But the tactics that have been utilised by the pigs are the overworking of the proletariat, the justification of luxuries indulged in by bourgeois, the spreading of propaganda to cover up government failure. Similarly in An inspector calls “Sheila: (distressed) I went to the manager at Milwards and I told him that if they didn’t get rid of that girl, I’d never go near the place again and I’d persuade the mother to close our account with them.”. Sheila Birling who is the daughter of Arthur Birling, in this quote she is using her power and blackmailing the manager of the clothing store to fire one of their employees because she felt so. She didn’t consider the hardships Eva could face by this unnecessary action simply because her pride was hurt. Shelia used her superior power and without a second thought fired Eva. This shows the corrupting of bourgeois, which is also observed in Animal Farm. The difference of classes is commonly observed in the community, the unfairness and corruption Priestly, portrayed this in his play, he shows how unfair one life is without power. The bourgeois only does what suits their needs; use their superior power and money to execute that. It is widely known that power, in the wrong hands, can be an open door to corruption and unfairness. Orwell and Priestly have depicted this sad fact in their writing.

In summary, both texts use a variety of examples to exhibit class conflict throughout the story. The texts do this by demonstrating the behaviours of a capitalist. George Orwell showed it through the charter of Napoleon; J. B. Priestley projected it through the member of the Birling family. George Orwell portrays Napoleon’s charter to be self-centred, and only care about his profit and benefits and uses other animals on the farm to accomplish it. Napoleon displayed himself as an animal with superior knowledge and does not contribute to any labour work at the farm. J. B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls the characters of The Birling family are protected as a greedy capitalist, they abuse their superior power for their selfish needs. Mr.Birling fires his workers instead of increasing their hourly rates because that would mean less profit for him. Regardless of the ways each author showed the truth of this world, they managed to flawlessly portray their morals behind their story, “For every action, there is a consequence” and ‘Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.’

An Inspector Calls had written by J.B.Priestley In 1912, the story happened on the eve of the first World War (1914). All the characters in the story have responsibility for Eva’s death. In 1907, Britain, France and Russia formally established a military alliance, corresponding to the German, Austrian and Italian lines, which further deepened the tension in Europe. Countries began an unprecedented arms race. Because of strong military demand and economic growth, Arthur Birling(capitalist) said in the film daughter’s marriage is perfect time, because it is in the stage of economic growth, and the strike led by Eva is just after Arthur’s company received an unprecedented large order, which is estimated to be related to military supplies.

From Mr Birling and his wife, you can probably see everything you want to see from the capitalist family, the greedy and selfish entrepreneur who reaches for power and money. After the whole event, the most worrying thing is that his title has disappeared, pretending to be a charity but with no sympathy in her heart. When the inspector asked Mr Birling if he remember Eva,He said “Yes, I do. She was one of my employees and then I discharged her.” Since he remembered that he fired Eva, and didn’t think it was important, he didn’t care, just thought it was a small thing. And he did nothing wrong. “And they suddenly decided to ask for more money. They were averaging about twenty-two and six, which was neither more nor less than is paid generally in our industry. They wanted the rates raised so that they could average about twenty-five shillings a week. I refused, of course.” He said this to show that he remembers Eva clearly. He fired her because of money. The rise and suppression of women’s rights have been mentioned many times in the film. Facing Arthur’s insulting language, Eva said, “You won’t talk to me like this if I am a man, you won’t pay me so little if I am a man.’ But women’s strikes also show the rise of women’s rights. This was the greed and exploitation of the capitalists. At that time, the environment was the result of the industrial revolution, which was completely enjoyed by the capitalists. There was no universal welfare in the society. In order to oppress the rural population to work in factories, the capitalists used various ways to deprive the farmers of their land. Therefore, tens of millions of rural girls like EVA had to leave their hometown and suffer from the capitalists in factories in big cities exploitation.

Gerald and Eric should be compared. They are the same sons of rich families, and they will inherit the family business in the future. In the story, they are quite different. Gerald knows what he wants. He doesn’t love Sheila at all, but he ‘chooses’ to marry Sheila for the family’s business interests and knows to do the right thing at the right time. He is very flattering, business minded and tough. He speaks and defends for his future father-in-law in many places in the film. He should be several years older than Eric, but at this time, he totally mingles with the secular world and becomes a smart capitalist. His little son is almost in opposition to his father in the film. He is cowardly and timid, impulsive and wants to fight against his family authority, but he is helpless like Sheila, family education is closely related to personal growth. “All right-I did for a time. Nearly any man would have done.”The biggest difference between them is reflected when everyone realizes that Eva is not dead. Gerald is completely integrated with his father-in-law and mother-in-law. He is immersed in joy. He has completely forgotten Eva. First out of love, then because of practical reasons such as class differences, they can’t achieve the right results, so they have to break up. He doesn’t care about Eva’s comfort at all. He only cares about his own gain and loss. He told Sheila immediately that he wants to win her back, which is a typical reaction of a smart businessman. Eric, the youngest son, is still in a state of resentment and can’t extricate himself from the huge pressure. He is an emotional person, but has no business brain and decisive personality inherited from his father. Even if Eva is a very beautiful and considerate girl, the two men (Arthur’s son-in-law and son) who have been in love with her think that this relationship can not be sustained because of class reasons. People’s feelings should give way to the class system, and people’s kindness should also be subject to social conditions In this movie, the system and stereotypes that are so contrary to human nature are satirized.

In the scene of Sheila and her mother trying on clothes, it can be seen that Sheila should be severely disciplined by her mother when she was young, and she even has no right to choose clothes by herself. She is in a period of rebellion and totally opposes her mother’s instructions. As long as her mother says it, she never stops. She should not particularly like the yellow dress, because her mother says it, so she tried on this dress. She just wants to try it. At this time, she is extremely sensitive and lacks self-confidence. Any signal will be interpreted as malicious behavior. This girl is kind-hearted in nature. From the expression and action of greeting her fiance at the beginning of the film, we can see that she should really love others. Although there was a mistake in the middle, that is, she said to her mother, ‘there was a time when I thought this (engagement) would never happen.’ this time refers to the time when her fiance cheated and was with Eva. There is a point that Eva doesn’t understand why she smiles when she looks at Sheila’s fitting, and this smile is just seen by Eva through the mirror.

In conclusion, for these people who made Eva suicide,Mr Birling fired Eva, because women’s right, Eva was adopted by Gerald and became his mistress, and Shelia was in a kind of depression and anger and called for experience fired her,etc. Five people, five stories, they are guilty, but when they hear the heroine’s ‘suicide’ experience, they are very sad, very remorse. They also called to confirm that they were relieved when they learned that no girl had died. They all have enough conscience, so they did not lie or conceal when communicating with the inspector. In front of their own conscience, they feel they are responsible for the death of the girl .

Priestley explores in guilt and responsibility “An Inspector Calls.” Set in 1912 but written in 1945, “An Inspector Calls” uses binary opposition to contrast and highlight the large and growing gap between the lavish lives of the upper class to the struggle of receiving basic needs of the lower class. Priestley joined the army at the start of the First World War in France where he was wounded and gassed; participating in war could have possibly broadened his perspective and made him acknowledge the harshness of war, especially for the lower class, ultimately turning him into a socialist and the author of this morality play. After Britain had struggled through two tragic wars, he felt as though change needed to be made to the upper class to ensure a war like this didn’t happen again, as their ignorance led to these wars in the first place.

One way that Priestley presents the theme of guilt and responsibility in an Inspector Calls is through his specific use of stage directions. The Inspector is specifically instructed to show each character the picture of ‘Eva Smith’ individually, “interposing himself between” people if needed. He could potentially be showing everyone different pictures of different girls that each character has mistreated in different ways, and associated them with a single being to symbolize all lower/working class individuals who have been abused, mainly to see who accepts responsibility, and to expose the sins of The Birling’s and Gerald. In fact, it is almost as if each character reflects different counterparts of the seven deadly sins- a Christian belief on the worst things that can be done.

Mr. Birling clearly is an embodiment of greed and pride, this is evident when he says “ lower costs and higher prices”- the antithesis shows that his only purpose is to earn money, be it at the cost of others’ livelihoods, further reinforcing his very evident, conceited, ignorant and self-absorbed personality. His ignorance is shown in particular when he says “The worlds developing so fast that it’ll make war impossible” and “Titanic unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”- these are both examples of dramatic irony, and emphasizes Birling’s (who along with Mrs. Birling are symbols for the whole older generation, upper class) ignorance, and oblivion to the rest of the world, as only a few years later from when this play which was set in 1912, a war broke out, and the Titanic did ultimately sink. The repetition of “unsinkable” is purposeful to further highlight his absurdity and stupidity. In fact, there is a recurring motif of juxtaposition to do with the things that Birling says and does; like when he fires Eva Smith out of GREED (“its my duty to keep labour costs down), leading to the foiling of desired knighthood, (which he repeats several times to Gerald emphasizing his wealth, self-absorption and PRIDE.) It’s almost as if the world is against him and will do anything in it’s power to contradict his actions and sayings as he is a “portentous”, unrepentant, and selfish man, who is unaccepting of his responsibilities. This could be seen as his “punishment”, courtesy of The omniscient Inspector who is not intimidated by Birling’s stressed status and wealth. Also, “the inspector need not be a big man” suggests that rather than inspiring fear and respect through his size, he has an immediate, and lasting atmosphere of formidableness solely through his presence, attire, and speech that creates an immediate impression of “massiveness, solidity and purposefulness” (suggesting authority), which definitely neutralizes Mr and Mrs. Birlings overall hostility and intimidates them. Priestley may have been trying to say that individuals like Birling who are unaccepting of their responsibilities, and those who do not understand that the easy life that the upper class lead rest upon hard work of the lower classes shouldn’t be supported.

After the Inspectors departure, everyone has clearly been shaken by the Inspectors profound, foreshadowing, and emotive didactic speech. Mrs. Birling “collapses into a chair”, the verb “collapses” suggests that she has given up on defending herself, and has possibly started to acknowledge her wrongdoings. Mr. Birling “pours himself out a drink which he hastily swallows”- suggests that he has been severely impacted by Mr Goole’s speech and the adverb “hastily” solidifies the idea that Birling is indeed afraid of The Inspector, and he swallows his fears along with the alcohol to hide this. The champagne (which would be seen as a luxury at this time) that they have been consuming throughout the whole day is a macabre contrast to the bleach that Eva drank to commit suicide, showing how upper classers are oblivious to the world surrounding them. However, things return back to their normal state once its revealed that The Inspector wasn’t real, and there have been no suicides at the infirmary recently; making the audience realize that the older generation were only fearful of the consequences for themselves, not accepting guilt. However, the play ends with a phone call informing the main characters of an actual Inspector who is about to arrive following the death of a girl. This cyclical narrative could potentially show how the first inspector was simply a warning to the Birling’s that they should accept responsibility the second time around with the actual inspector to avoid repercussions. Mr. Goole, is a homophone for “Ghoul”- a mythological creature, associated with the dead and robbing graves according to Arabian Folklore. Perhaps Goole was a symbol of God, making Priestley’s message of accepting responsibility resonate with the audience more as Edwardian’s were strictly religious. Alternatively, it could show how they will be faced with everlasting visits from Inspectors, and will constantly have to drown in their wrongdoings and feelings of guilt until they all accept full responsibility. Priestley may have been trying to say that instead of running away from responsibilities, you should learn to accept them, or you may have to face the wrath of God, a figure that Edwardians feared.

Furthermore, another way that Priestley presents the theme of guilt is with Mrs. Birling who is clearly the ‘wrath’ counterpart of the seven deadly sins. She is extremely hostile to Eva, and shows that even though men were seen as superior to women during 1912, women could be just as hostile and show no mercy to people. Her wrath is mainly shown when she says “Girls of that class”- this suggests that that she has a hatred of the lower class, to the point where she feels they are not deemed worthy enough to be addressed properly; and the pronoun “that” emphasizes the idea that she would rather distance herself from working class people. In addition, she repeats the adverb “naturally” when trying to justify her role in the death of Eva Smith, suggesting how she has been brought up in a way that taught her these standards, and it is normal for her to think like this, as she is ‘old money’. This is reinforced with the line “I was quite justified” and “I was perfectly justified” said by Mr. and Mrs. Birling respectively, which suggests with the adjective “justified” that they feel that they are morally superior, and that they did what they did for a legitimate reason. Also the repetition of the adjective highlights how upper classers at this time thought in similar ways, and thought that they were right in a bigoted manner. Priestley definitely feels that the upper generation needed to change their ways, and treat everyone like human beings, as we are all worthy of respect

Sheila represents Envy. Out of a misconception, she was blinded by envy and used the power she had as the daughter of a customer with a high social status to get a girl fired or else she’d “never go near the place again and persuade her mother to close her account with them”. However, unlike most of the others, she says “(miserably) so I’m really responsible?”- the fact that she immediately responds with this after being questioned shows the fact that she genuinely feels remorse for Eva. The tone is intentionally “miserable”, as this adjective suggests how she’s extremely sorrowful after hearing of the news. The audience can compare the characters before and after the Inspector arrives. For example, at the start, Sheila says (taking out the ring) “Look Mummy isn’t it beautiful?” this sounds rather ‘stereotypical’ and ‘overly feminine’, but she is only living up to the expectations of women at this time and at the beginning she is seen as ‘insignificant’ and fragile. Also the noun “mummy’ is colloquial and childish, which suggests that she has been pampered her whole life and was completely dependent on her parents- which is reinforced by her name ‘Sheila’ which is a homophone for ‘Sheild Her’. However, as the play progresses, her character develops and becomes more independent, mature, and accepting, feeling remorse and guilt unlike her parents.

Both Gerald and Eric represent lust, another component of the seven deadly sins. Gerald says “Alright. I knew her. Lets leave it at that” which is abrupt, and shows how he is dismissing the situation and being unaccepting of his responsibilities just to preserve his status. In addition, he is described as an “attractive chap” who is “well bred”, and Priestley may have been trying to show how outward appearances mean nothing, as anyone- including those of the upper class- could have questionable behavior and immoral secrets. However, he does admit he didn’t want to “make love to her”, but its revealed Gerald did have an affair with Eva, possibly as he was consumed by lust, even though he knew he was in a relationship already. This would make him feel guilty as it ultimately led to his engagement to Sheila ending, and an unnecessary death. Eric could represent both lust and gluttony. Due to his excessive alcohol consumption, it brings into question whether he raped Eva Smith when he says “I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty”. However, his excessive alcohol consumption could be due to his bad relationship with his family. This is evident from the start of the play with the proxemics- he is “downstage”, away from everybody else, which reflects his feelings of isolation from his family, and the audience can further deduce this when later in the play, he says “you’re not the kind of father a chap can go to when he’s in trouble”- because unlike his father he is not a “hard headed businessman” (the alliteration highlighting his arrogance) and did not get true motherly and fatherly love from his parents, which could explain his excessive alcohol consumption as he feels that it’s the only thing that can help him with a lifetime of neglect. This makes Birling feel guilty, as his greed and egotism has caused his own children to go against him. Obviously, Eric along with Sheila feel genuine remorse for the loss of Eva smith, they feel that “everything they said had happened really had happened”- and that it is irrelevant whether the Inspector was real or not, or whether Eva really died. They feel as if they should learn from their mistakes and make sure they never do them again. Priestley intentionally switches the age roles here, and makes the younger generation seem rational while making the older generation seem idiotic, to convey his message that it’s in the hands of the younger generation to create a more compassionate and open minded future by fixing the present which the older generation had ruined by being closed minded and irresponsible.

In addition, specific lighting is used to portray the theme of guilt. At the start, the lighting is described as “pink and intimate”, having connotations of love and serenity, making the audience feel like they are watching a ‘perfect and ideal Edwardian family’. It’s almost as if the audience are looking at the Birlings and Gerald through ‘rose tinted glasses’- however, as soon as the inspector arrives, the guise of a loving, serene, perfect and ideal family is dropped as the lighting becomes “brighter and harder”, perhaps suggesting the family’s true colours, and their immoral, underlying truths. It could also be done to purposely make the characters feel intruded, as if a thorough investigation is taking place and a spotlight is shining directly on them in hopes of them feeling guilty and taking responsibility. This creates a sense of smug satisfaction so that The Inspector can suddenly and dramatically shatter the harmony, and Priestley purposefully makes the beginning overly-happy as if it’s inevitable something bad will happen, for these ‘murderers’, so when The Inspector arrives, the audience are struck that something as bad as this would happen to such a calm family, possibly making the audience feel remorse if they’ve done anything similar in their lifetime, as the majority would be middle or upper class people. In addition, the whole play takes place in one room; this has purposely been done to create a sense of claustrophia, which makes the characters feel like they’re ‘trapped’ until they confess. Priestley’s message could be that you shouldn’t be fooled by what you see, because what you see could only be part of a devastating truth, and you shouldn’t be deceived by the upper class as they could be ignorant and foolish like Birling.

In conclusion, Priestley’s message is that everyone should be responsible for what they do, and nobody is good or better than anybody else, no matter what class they are. He felt as if Edwardians needed to work against the sins that consumed their society, and thought that it was in the hands of the younger generation to build a more compassionate future. An Inspector Calls is almost a warning to the upper class to stop taking people of lower classes for granted, or as The Inspector correctly foreshadows with emotive language and hell imagery about World War 1 and 2, they will be taught their lesson in (more) “fire and blood and anguish.”

Intro

The play, The Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley is a play about the death of a young girl being exploited by people of power such as Arthur Birling and Sybil Birling primarily but the rest of the family such as Gerald Croft, Eric Birling and Sheila Birling are also portrayed as important figures of the town who use power to their advantage. They use their power as a way to command and force people to do things they otherwise wouldn’t. All of their acts of power towards Eva Smith or Daisy Renton lead to her death by the swallowing of disinfectant which burned her internal organs. Mr and Mrs Birling portray their power through their speeches, their attitude towards everyone and the way they act towards different people; for example, Mr Birling during dinner with his family, he gives speeches and expects the entire family to listen; this is a form of power since he expects everyone to listen to him due to his power over everyone. During this essay, I will explore and examine the ways and types of power explored during the play An Inspector Calls by J.B Priestly. Throughout the play, I will explore the many different types and forms of power being displayed such as physical to persuasive and also the link of power to social class and gender. Each character from Birling to The Inspector show a different form of power which helps define their personality. In my opinion, Mr Birling has no other form of power other than his reputation which originates from his business; he uses his status as a business owner to hide from reality.

Mr Birling – The idea of power is underlined through the dialogue of the characters throughout the play. Mr Birling and his family are characterised as posh and well-known people of the town with power. For instance, Mr Birling is portrayed and described as a “heavy-looking man” which demonstrates and shows his power due to his size. During act 1, while Mr Birling is talking to Gerlad, just before mentioning his knighthood, he tells Gerald that he worries that Lady Croft might not accept his daughter. “Lady Croft – while she does not object to my girl – feels you might have done better for yourself socially”, this is based on the social status as Gerald Croft and his mother are both higher up in the social ladder and financially higher than Birling. He then proceeds to mention his knighthood to try and assure Gerald that they will soon move up the social ladder and he’s trying to ease Gerald into telling his mother that if she were to mention that Mr Birling is of a lower class, Gerald would be able to mention to his mother that Mr Birling would be receiving a knighthood and that she has nothing to worry about. There is also a small hidden message in the quote saying that during the marriage of Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft that the love in the marriage and relationship isn’t as important as the social standing that Birling would be when his daughter marries the son of a lady. Mr Birling also has power over the majority of people in the town since he is a man of business. During the 1900s, being a man meant that you would be the person in the family to bring back the money and to help support the family which meant that you would have the most power and control of the entire family. This is why Mr Birling expected everyone to listen and abide by everything he says. During act 1, the audience also finds out that Mr Birling fired a young girl, Eva Smith because she asked for a small raise from 22.5 shillings to 25 shillings. This shows that even such a small issue such as a small pay raise would lead to the firing of Eva Smith. This could show the audience that Mr Birling abuses his power. He also shows fear at the first sight of disruption such as when Eva Smith asked for a small raise, it disrupted the workflow and he was afraid that his other workers would ask for a raise as well. He instinctively fired her without asking for an explanation or consulting with others about what to do about the situation, he made no shown effort to compromise with Eva Smith. Also, when The Inspector was involving his entire family with the implications of Eva Smith, he wanted to handle the problem immediately with bribery and use of social status by asking The Inspector to come to a corner and have a chat.

Mrs Birling – During the end of the play, Mr Birling’s wife, Mrs Birling starts to get interrogated or questioned by The Inspector about if she had any involvement with the death of Eva Smith or Daisy Renton. We then find out that Mrs Birling had the power to help Eva or Daisy but she denied her help. She then proceeded to mention “Girls of that class” which suggests that she feels that she has a lot of power over girls like Eva Smith. The reason why Mrs Birling denied Eva Smith from getting the help and care from her charity was due to the fact that during the application process for the charity, she put down her name as Mrs Birling. The actual Mrs Birling felt that Eva Smith was trying to be rude and infringe their name since the name Birling was very prestigious. Due to that, she was prejudiced against her case.

Gerald Croft – Geralf Croft, the son of Lady Croft, a high standing businesswoman of the town, was having dinner with the Birling’s when The Inspector came to interrogate the family.

Inspector Goole uncovers the truth that Gerald had an affair last year with a working-class girl whilst he was in a relationship with Sheila Birling. Gerald Croft had a kind heart but his weak principles overruled his good intentions so he didn’t help Daisy Renton in the best way.

He was suddenly ashamed that he used somebody like that and that perhaps this had contributed to her death. I think that Gerald is genuine because of his startled reaction when he realised that it was Daisy who was dead. Gerald says ‘(Distressed) Sorry -I – well, I’ve suddenly realised- taken it in properly – that she’s dead’. Also when he had finished his story and he explained that he wanted to go for a walk, he gets all his words mixed up and can’t speak properly. His regret for the way he used her is genuine, but he is not as deeply touched as Sheila as shown in act 3. He felt responsible enough to find Daisy somewhere else to live and provided for her when he broke off the affair. However, it didn’t seem like he thought of the long term consequences for when he started his affair with her.

Sheila says to Gerald “At least I am trying to tell the truth. I expect you have done things you’re ashamed of too.” Gerald”'(surprised) Well, I never said I hadn’t. I don’t see why -” The state of Sheila and Gerald’s relationship is now finished, as they knew it. They didn’t know each other well enough to see the real person behind the mask. This disloyalty to both women indicates that despite his kind and chivalrous nature his own needs came first. Gerald was unkind to Daisy Renton because he used her for his benefits. He had a kind heart on a superficial level but his weaknesses reduced the effects of his good intentions both in the beginning and later in their relationship. His weak morals also diluted any kindness towards his fiance. My opinion of whether Gerald Croft was kind towards Daisy Renton is that he had a generous heart and intended no harm and good intentions with Daisy Renton, but his weaknesses didn’t allow him to consider the consequences of their affair. Gerald Croft had good intentions but they ended up ruining his relationship with Sheila. The power corrupted his mind and made him commit such acts when he initially had good intentions with Daisy Renton.

Sheila Birling – The way which sheila demonstrates and shows her different type of power is she can avoid responsibility due to her social class. She makes herself seem vulnerable and tries to inflict the guilt and responsibility on others. During Act 2, The Inspector starts to question Sheila about her link and if she had anything to do with Eva Smith. Since Sheila is the daughter of Mr Birling, even though she is young, she is still of a high class so therefore she has some power over people. Later, The Inspector Discovers that sheila abused her power and ordered the boss of Eva Smith to have her fired from her job. This was all because Sheila Birling felt jealous and saw Eva Laughing at her. She then tells the inspector, “If she was a pathetic looking thing I don’t think I would have bothered” which shows that she was jealous of Eva Smith and if she wasn’t as pretty as she was, she wouldn’t have gotten her fired. This shows how easy it is for people with power to take advantage of people for the wrong reasons.

The Inspector – The Inspector can make the Birlings and anyone in the room to say things they other else wouldn’t; he uses this to his advantage. For example when Mrs Birling was blaming the father of Eva Smith’s unborn child, The Inspector did not, in fact, tell her that the father of the unborn child which she was blaming was, in fact, her son Eric Birling, instead, he allowed her to “deep a deeper hole” and increased the blame on which she placed on Eric once finding out he, in fact, was the son of Eva Smith’s unborn child. The Inspector has the most power in the room even though the Birlings dislike him they still answer all of his questions since they all know that the Inspector has the power to expose everything which they have done and destroyed their reputation which would lead to loss of power on the Birlings side. Another time we see power presented and portrayed through the characters in The Inspector Calls is when the Inspector enters the scene. It seems that The Inspector has control over the setting as when he enters the room, the lighting goes from an intimate pink atmosphere to a harsh, white light which is somewhat similar to the lighting which you would find inside an interrogation room which could signify the inspector having a lot of power over everyone inside the room. The word harsh, used in the stage directions may have a negative connotation making the readers feel that The Inspector could be somewhat dangerous and intimidating. The change of light due to the coming of the inspector might also show that the Inspector has more power than he shows.

Eva Smith – Eva Smith herself had a large amount of power, not like the others but in the form of influence. Eva Smith managed to change the relationship of the Birling family. She had an impact on each and every single Birling individually. She managed to expose an entirely new side of each innocent-looking Birling.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the theme of power is portrayed and shown in many different ways throughout the play The Inspector Calls such as the link of power to social class and the link of power to gender there are also many different types of power. Hidden within each family member and other characters. This play demonstrates that first impressions are not always accurate and some people are more powerful than we first think and witnessed.

Inspector calls has a very unique and interesting context. The first of which is that it’s a post-war drama, which contribute to many of its themes and intricacies: socioeconomic and political issues that prompted conflict, including socialism and capitalism, democracy and totalitarian fascism and communal versus individual rights. Not only is it pre-war it is classed as a historical drama as the play is set before WW1 in 1912; as a result of this, throughout the play there are numerous occasions where dramatic irony has run rife causing any capitalist statements to appear wrong and moronic. And in the inspectors final speech when he states if they don’t learn there lesson ‘they will be taught in fire, blood and anguish’ which is what happens in the small scale violence in the play but also it is making reference to the impending doom held by WW1, and it happened yet again in WW2, so those watching the play after the Second World War may think that if we don’t listen to the play a third war could occur.

However during the war, when Priestley became a broadcaster, Britain was almost given a ‘free trial’ of socialism: the classes of the younger generation were mixed during evacuation, the ranks of the army were also mixed and not classified by any social standing and the food and clothes rations made everyone look similar and eat the same food which virtually demolished social classes.

It’s also worth noting that by this time in 1945 socialist movements were popularising, and in July 1945 Clement Attlee, a member of the Labour Party, became Prime Minister and aided in creating the National Health Service and nationalising major industries and public utilities. Attlee’s government also presided over the decolonisation of India, Pakistan, Burma, Ceylon and Jordan, and saw the creation of the state of Israel upon Britain’s withdrawal from Palestine — this list of achievements somewhat corresponded with the inspectors in the play and also Priestley himself.

The release of the play couldn’t have had more perfect timing for it to have been popularised. Due to the nature of its release it astronomically increases dramatic irony and necessity for change to this benevolent socialist society. These people who have witnessed the most destructive event in human history can no longer partake in the society that birthed two of those events, the people wanted change and this play humoured them to such an extent the favourite hero Prime Minister Churchill was beaten in a landslide victory from labour.

In the play ‘An Inspector Calls’, Priestley presents the theme of power through many characters, such as Mr. Birling, Sheila and the Inspector, and portrays them in different ways based on their use or lack of power.

To begin with, Priestley presents the theme of power through the character of Mr. Birling by immediately illustrating his social power with his appearance as a “heavy-looking, rather portentous man”, demonstrating his desperation to prove his social dominance. The word ‘heavy’ shows how he’s an embodiment of capitalist greed. Birling’s use of parental power is shown through the way he speaks to his adult kids with superiority and lack of respect. “Are you listening, Sheila? This concerns you too. And after all I don’t often make speeches at you” and “Just let me finish Eric” are both examples of this; as he treats Sheila like a child, causing her to act like one until the Inspector arrives, the use of a rhetorical question shows how he’s not actually interested in what she has to say “I don’t normally make speeches at you” because of her age and gender. Birling’s demand for Eric to let him finish is hypocritical, since he interrupted Eric when he was about to object to his thoughts about war. These quotes also show that, at the start of the play, Birling is the character with the most conversational power, he interrupts others, has a frequency of utterances making him in charge of the conversations at the moment, “Birling beams at them and clearly relaxes”, making him easygoing. But, when the Inspector arrives, he takes control of the situation making Mr. Birling irritated because of his lack of power (somewhat impatiently). To intimidate the Inspector, he tells him: “Perhaps I ought to warn you that he’s an old friend of mine”. In this quote, Mr. Birling is implying that he could inform Colonel Roberts, the Inspector’s boss, about his conduct just because he wants to regain his power, respect and superiority over others. By doing this, the Inspector may face a punishment that could extend to him being fired. This relates to the theme of power as Mr. Birling is using his influence as an upper-class and well-connected member of society to intimidate somebody else. The fact that Mr. Birling is appealing to Colonel Roberts’ power shows that Mr. Birlings authority has not influenced the Inspector and relies on other people’s power for his own benefit. By presenting Birling negatively throughout the entire play, Priestley, also presented negatively the capitalist society as it was them who used their power selfishly and only cared about it even more than they care about people, including their own family.

Sheila Birling is another character Priestley uses to present the theme of power, showing the influence young women from an upper class had. It was revealed that Sheila misused her social power in the past to get anything she wanted: “I went to the manager at Milwards and I told him that if they didn’t get rid of that girl, I’d never go near the place again”. The repetition of personal pronouns shows the importance and the power Sheila had over others; this threat reveals the consequences people with less power got because of the selfish attitudes people with power got. But Sheila also lacks power as a woman as she can’t even have an opinion on her own engagement ring and depends on her fiance’s opinions and choices: “Is it the one you wanted me to have?”. In this quote, Sheila, has never made a reference to herself or her thoughts on the ring by using personal pronouns, but she does when it comes to her fiance’s preferences on the ring. Not only does she have a lack power as a woman, but also because of her age as well. “You look tired, dear. I think you ought to go to bed”. When Mrs. Birling tells Sheila she ‘thinks’ she needs to go to bed, she isn’t taking into consideration her thoughts and believes she can’t make choices for her and by telling her to go to bed, she is treating her like a kid. The quote also shows how her parents believe she isn’t mature enough to handle conversations in which her own future husband is interrogated about another young woman, Daisy Renton, with whom Sheila thinks he had an affair with. Everyone else except the Inspector thinks they’re protecting her, when in reality this is the main reason why Sheila was naive; the truth is constantly hidden from her. The stage directions demonstrate how desperate she is to be heard for once and be taken seriously. Sheila is the character that changes the most in the play in many aspects, especially in the theme of power. As mentioned before, Sheila overused her power for her own interests and at the end of the play uses her power for good and realizes she “behaved badly too”. Through presenting Sheila in such a positive way as mature and “The point is, you don’t seem to have learnt anything” by the end of the play, Priestley is praising her generation, if Sheila was in her early twenties in 1912, she would’ve been in her mid to late fifties in 1945, the year of the play’s premiere, and also many of the play’s audience members. By praising a character who could be seen to represent them, Priestley may be encouraging his audience to learn the same lessons as Sheila and to not misuse their power and help those who are unfortunate, since his audience would’ve had a certain degree of expendable income if they were going to the theatre.

Priestley uses the Inspector as the main character to focus the theme of power on, despite being from a lower class than the Birlings and Gerald. His first appearance immediately implies physical power by being introduced as “need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness” and “He speaks carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking”. These quotes show how the inspector is imposing and intimidating to other characters and so is able to take over Birling’s conversational power and dominates conversations using imperative language, interruptions and short sentences throughout the play. This influences everyone, especially the younger generation like Sheila and Eric. He also has the power of knowledge and could be considered omniscient “Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t know yet. The repetition of the words ‘he knows’ shows, once again, how he has created a significant impact on Sheila as she seems to be the only one to realize his power. Priestley uses a cyclical structure for this character as in his first impression “he creates an impression of massiveness” and also ends with it in his last speech “And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night. He walks straight out, leaving them staring, subdued and wondering”. The Inspector anticipates a hell-like future to teach the characters a lesson with ‘fire’ and ‘blood’, showing once again his omniscience and his impact on the characters because he is Priestley’s voice – Priestley’s strong moral views are represented by him, and his job is to change each of the characters’ attitudes, help them see what they have done, and make them start realizing the consequences misuse of power.

To conclude, Priestley displays the theme of power throughout his play ‘An Inspector Calls’ by exploring different aspects of it using fictional characters who represent the society of 1912.

Social privilege and battles for equality are commonly discussed topics by twentieth century writers, who tried to denounce the popular uneasiness through their books. Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. The fable reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. An Inspector Calls is a morality play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley published in 1945. Priestley’s play revolves around a central mystery, the death of a young woman, but whereas a traditional detective story involves the narrowing down of suspects from several to one, An Inspector Calls inverts this process as, one by one, nearly all the characters in the play are found to be guilty. In this way, Priestley makes his larger point that society is guilty of neglecting and abusing its most vulnerable members. A just society, he states through his mysterious Inspector, is one that respects and exercises social responsibility. In the book Animal Farm, George Orwell uses Napoleon to explore the ways in which those in power often abuse of their social and political positions to gain and maintain social and political control and the privileges derived from his power. On the other hand, in the play An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley, the theme of power abuse and its privileges are developed during the story with the different members of the Birling family. Revolution is portrayed in the first story using the character of the Old Major and all the animals of the farm against Mr. Jones. Eva Smith is the icon of the insurrection in Priestley’s play, fighting against the capitalist system to obtain better working conditions and wages.

One of the main topics explored in both the stories is the abuse of power. Abuse of power is the misuse of power by someone in a position of authority who can use the leverage they have to oppress persons in an inferior position or to induce them to commit a wrongful act. For example, Orwell presents this theme for his audience through narration when it says, “Four young porkers in the front row uttered shrill squeals of disapproval, and all four of them sprang to their feet and began speaking at once. But suddenly the dogs sitting round Napoleon let out deep, menacing growls and then the pigs fell silent and sat down again.” Napoleon uses his nine loyal attack dogs, that he personally took away from their mom when they were just puppets and raised as his personal police, to intimidate and subdue the other animals to his intentions. Similarly, in An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses dialogue between the Inspector and Mrs Birling to demonstrate her abuse of power and in turn, that of the ruling class, when the audience hears them state: Inspector: was it owing to your influence, as the most prominent member of the committee, that help was refused to the girl? Mrs Birling: (stung) Yes, it was. I didn’t like her manner. The dialogue between the Inspector and Mrs Birling displays how easy it is to get what wishes with power and wealth. Eva was on the edge and had nowhere to go, no one to stick by her side and help her out. This is when she chose to go to Mrs Birling and her charity. Eva used the name of Mrs Birling because of Eric Birling getting her pregnant, but the real Mrs Birling had no idea of the son’s action and refused from then on to help her. Eva tried to explain how her husband had gone but Mrs Birling was not sympathetic and thought that using her family name was disrespectful. Mrs Birling used her power to influence the coordinators of the charity, convincing them to not give any economical support to Eva. In the first example, the use of the dogs alludes to the Secret Police instituted and by Joseph Stalin during his dictatorship. An Inspector Call is the metaphor of Capitalism: the Birling family is the emblem of the bourgeoisie during the years previous WW1, willing and capable of doing anything to maintain and clean their way up to the top of the society.

Power and wealth drag with them infinite privilege for those who own them. A privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.Napoleon, after the affirmation of his political role in Animal Farm’s society, is the privileged individual. Or instance, in Animal Farm is said : “In these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public but spent all his time in the farmhouse, which was guarded at each door by fierce-looking dogs. When he did emerge, it was in a ceremonial manner, with an escort of six dogs who closely surrounded him and growled if anyone came too near. Frequently he did not even appear on Sunday mornings but issued his orders through one of the other pigs, usually Squealer.” The quote aboves shows how, once obtained the absolute power, Napoleon grants himself the right not to participate in the activities and works that he created and organised by locking himself in Mr. Jones protected by his dogs while the rest of the animals are forced to labour building the windmill. On the other hand, in An Inspector Calls the ruling class’ privilege is explored in a slightly different way. An example is Br. Birling saying: “You’ll hear some people say that war is inevitable. And to that I say – fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war.’” With these lines, Mr Birling assures his family that war is not going to happen, trying to preserve the nice and cheerful atmosphere of the night. Priestley uses Mr Birling to discredit the capitalists, by linking their stupidity to the cause of The Depression in the 1930s, and to the two world wars of 1914 – 1918, and 1939 – 1945. Consequently, he speaks “as a hard-headed business man” to portray they selfishness of businessmen, but also to echo their greed in profiting from the war. He discredits Birling, and therefore the ruling class, through his confidence that certain events won’t happen. Mr Birling knows that war will make him even more rich and moreover he’s conscious of the fact that he and all his family and friends (metaphor of the rich ruling class), because of their economic status, will never hold a bayonet in their hands .As such, Orwell and Priestley demonstrate that the upper class holds with power,many privileges such as protection from war and from responsibilities.

As the power and advantages of the Aristocracy grow, the working class will feel more and more oppressed until all the discontent explodes with violent revolts. The theme of revolution in one of the keys that joins the two literary works. In Animal Farm the theme of revolution is explored first through the old major saying; “Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.” Before his peaceful dead, the Old Major Pig remind his comrades about how human is the only real enemy, encouraging them to start a revolution even if he won’t be able to help, guide and support them. As example of revolution, in An Inspector Calls the audience can read : “Birling: Yes. The girl had been causing trouble in the works. I was quite justified.” When asked to explain why he fired Eva Smith from her job in his factory, Mr. Birling defends himself telling the inspector that his action are justified because the young woman caused trouble. Later will be known that Eva was the organizer of a revolt of employers in the manufactory, with the aim of asking a higher salary. In the novel Animal Farm, Mr. Jones (humans) is modeled on Tsar Nicholas II, the last Russian emperor. During his reign, the Russian people experienced terrible poverty. As the animals under Jones lead lives of hunger and want, the lives of millions of Russians worsened during Nicholas’ reign. When his own generals withdrew their support of him, Nicholas abdicated his throne in the hopes of avoiding an all-out civil war — but the civil war arrived in the form of the Bolshevik Revolution, when Nicholas, like Jones, was removed from his place of rule and then died shortly thereafter. Old Major is the animal version of Lenin , the leader of the Bolshevik Party that seized control in the 1917 Revolution. As old Major outlines the principles of Animalism, a theory holding that all animals are equal and must revolt against their oppressors, Lenin was inspired by Karl Marx’s theory of Communism, which urges the ‘workers of the world’ to unite against their economic oppressors. As Animalism imagines a world where all animals share in the prosperity of the farm, Communism argues that a ‘communal’ way of life will allow all people to live lives of economic equality. In terms of An Inspector Calls, the rebellion of Eva symbolises the revolt of million people against their bosses, asking for better work conditions and higher pays. This event actually happened in the England pre-war and sadly still happens nowadays. Everything is caused by the capitalist’s power, people that own industries and companies that aim to earn as much as possible, completely forgetting about their workers prerogatives. Both the texts provide examples of revolution that, even if allocated in two different period of time, reconjunct to the idea of moving from oppression of the upper class.

The novels demonstrated that if one is ignorant and/ or struggling economically it can undeniably be taken advantage of and be used against. George Orwell showed that the idea of equality is most definitely harder to achieve than it is to dream of and that it was certainly unsuccessful throughout Animal Farm as the leaders were not clear-minded from the result of power. Priestly is ashamed of society and is intent on changing the minds and views of a new generation using dramatic devices. He exposes the capitalist system, guardian of the idea that poverty is only a great issue if everyone is poor. Priestley hoped that people in his society would become less self-centered, and become more involved in helping others. As a result of the analysis above is safe to state that both the works are warning written for people to remind them that human is the one supposed to control power and money, not the opposite.