An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...black and spooky , with an image of what appears to be a of a young girl who looks afraid. There are hands by her face although it is unclear whether they are her hands or someone else's hands. The cover has a spooky feel to it. I noticed that this book was written by a man I had never heard of before. His name , J.B Priestley. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Before moving on I will tell you a bit about J.B.Priestley. Priestley was born on 13th ...
...aged 89 in Warwickshire. An Inspector Calls is a play written between 1944 and 1945. Subjects included in the play include relationships , wealth , class and morality. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our teacher told us , that we would begin work on this book straight away. I opened the book and was greeted by a list of stage settings. Usually , I would have skipped this part automatically , however our teacher read it out aloud to us. Once she'd ...

xdonzx 29.07.2008 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

An Inspector Calls is a play written by J.B. Priestley in 1945, based before World War I, in 1912. The play is about a family, the majority of whom are aristocrats who live in a capitalist atmosphere; full of lies, pride and pure selfishness. Throughout the play a mystery inspector gradually reveals the characters' true identity, looking at how they all contributed to the suicide of Eva Smith. As the play progresses you begin to see that the characters ...
...at the time of writing An Inspector Calls was the state of society and social inequality; there was a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Priestley was a socialist, whilst the characters that he was trying to convey to the audience were, in general, capitalist. Furthermore, Priestley's play is heavily influenced by his own experiences and emotions; he is attempting to convey the idea of social discrimination to his audience - a familiarity that ...

TomMounsey 13.10.2008 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...CONVEY HIS POLITICAL VIEWS IN AN INSPECTOR CALLS? The play An Inspector Calls conveys a strong political message. It promotes the idea of socialism, as a society in which community and responsibility are central. This is strongly contrasted with the idea of capitalism, in which 'every man is an island' and has to work for himself, with no second thought for other people. The playwright, J.B.Priestley, uses many dramatic devices, such as dramatic ...
...the play, Priestley sets out an extensive series of stage directions. He applies them effectively as a dramatic device, in that he uses them to show how the Birling family are cold, distant people and how capitalism has corrupted them as a family. He illustrates how the family are very well off, alluding to "dessert plates" and "champagne glasses" as well as other expensive items. However, there is also a sense of formality and distance between the ...

djwill 12.02.2006 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...all excitement is disrupted when an Inspector has a long line of questions to ask them, about the death of Eva Smith… In troduction: After re-reading the play I found that there were a number of remarks referring to the First World War. Even though the play was written in 1945 after the Second World War. Priestley’s main intentions were to show the audience that Social status says nothing about some ones quality of life. Priestley also creates ...
...to include an element of what was going on in the world and included that in his play. He even uses the Inspector to symbolise his feelings towards society. "We don't live alone, we are members of one body...responsible for each other" This equality is a dominant principle of socialism. CONTEXT: Both Priestley’s grandparents worked in cotton mills; this could be why he knew about the bad pay received by workers and the demand for higher wages. ...

stargazer14 11.09.2004 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...Did it strike him as an important issue? As the inspector leaves his feelings of responsibility show through, offering the inspector ‘thousands-yes, thousands.’ However, the answer to the question is obviously no. The moment it is discovered that it was probably a hoax he returns to his usual selfish ways, making jokes on how they had ‘been had’ and quickly interrupting Sheila and Eric when they contradict his words. Whether he thinks twice after ...

beckymilar_4 01.12.2004 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...receive a surprise visit from an Inspector Goole who is investigating the suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith. The inspector links each member of the family to her and how possible each of them caused her to commit suicide. J.B Priestly He was born in 1894 and wrote many plays this being his most famous The older generation may remember this man as the broadcaster during World War 2 in a massively popular weekly radio programme, which was ...
...believe. He is not actually an inspector of the police but he does seem to know all about the family. He is like a guardian angel in which he watches over the family warning them. However the family don't know this. Sheila - Shortly will be getting married but now she is unsure because of this event. She got Eva Smith sacked from her job because she was jealous of her looks and was angry for no reason. She is the only member of the family to understand ...

geodev4 15.01.2005 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

An Inspector Calls is set several years before the start of World War 1, in 1912. It is set in the fictional North Midlands industrial city of Brumley. It is thought that this is a parody of Brumagem, an older name for Birmingham. The Birling family is holding a small intimate dinner party to celebrate the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft. The party was going well until a police inspector calls. Inspector Goole tells them that a girl ...
...to ask them some questions. An Inspector Goole. Who is new to the force… The play is an experimental play by J. B. Priestley with the very concept and order of time and how time flows, altered for dramatic effect. It deliberately distorts and twists the ordinary flow of time so that the author can take the cast and audience outside the arena of everyday life and experiment with how they and the audience perceive reality. The play is exceptionally ...

Martinscholes 27.08.2004 (31.08.2004) · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...uses the Birling family as an example of the Capitalistic family that was common amongst the higher classes in1912 who had no cares for other people and he shows that with the power of Socialism, represented by the inspector, the uneasy façade put on by the Birling family to cover up their real flaws and how they have treated those whom they consider to be lower class cannot stand up to any scrutiny without shame for what has happened, showing that ...
...was predicting. Priestley has constructed an almost complete contrast between Mr Birling and the Inspector, one representing Priestley's own opinions, the other representing pre WW1 social opinions. Mr Birling however is ridiculed in the play with his speeches about the future. Mr Birling also is very volatile in his speech, which shows the uneasy nature of Capitalism and how it can be upset by the slightest thing. The Inspector, however, is given ...

richbitch91 16.02.2006 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...family having dinner, when suddenly an Inspector appears at the door wanting to quiz each member of the family in relation to the suicide of a young woman. The play is a great read for students of English as it looks at many aspects of playful language such as irony (e.g at the dinner table when Arthur is commenting on the fact that the Titanic will never sink) and puns (Inspector Goole - Goole being a pun on Ghoul - Did he or didn't he really exist? ...
...a girl has died, and an Inspector will be calling. Were they all just getting their stories straight? Could they have known what was going to transpire? The family are addressed as a group but at various points they are closely examined individually. The twists and turns begin to unfold with with the showing of Eva Smith's (dead girl's) photograph. Notice how the two characters who see the photo, do so alone. Is it the same picture? Notice how we ...

js2ht2andl 11.04.2006 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...fascinating pieces of theatre. An Inspector Calls with its seemingly innocuous dinner-party setting is perhaps the best example of a plot which promises the audience a fairly normal mystery story which then, quite unexpectedly, spirals out of control. The Birling family all have secrets which bubble to the surface as the play progresses. This ordinary middle class group of people are soon revealed as a disparate group of individuals all of whom have ...
...lowly factory worker. The arrival of a Police Inspector investigating the death of the young woman at first seems little more than routine. This almost gentle, but increasingly sinister, figure soon teases out the fact that every member has influenced the life of the woman in question. The tone of the play becomes darker as the Inspector uncovers facts that demonstrate that every member of the family has reason to feel responsible for the death. ...

timetostand 12.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...dinner party is disrupted by an Inspector who grills them all about the death of a young girl to whom they are all in some way connected to. As the story progresses the connections are revealed and the Inspector's persona is also looked at. It's ambiguity allows you to make judgement about the characters yourself which adds to the reading experience. It's length is another bonus. It's not too long but is long enough to keep you thinking and keeps ...

chiggy321 02.04.2009 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...interrogates all the members of an upper middle-class family, revealing each of their sins and double-standards along the way. He sends a very powerful message of the importance of peace and of the evil of an 'every man for himself' ideology in society, and the audience is hit hard by the poignant language of the Inspector: 'if man will not learn this lesson...then he will be taught it, in fire, blood and anguish.' The play conforms to the Aristotlean ...
...also relatively short (compared to an average Shakespeare play, for example), and much more accessible for a modern audience. To give a plot synopsis would be to ruin it, so I can only urge you to buy this play; to read it and read into it; enjoy the complexities of its drama and language, and learn from its teaching; and if possible, put on the performance yourself! It remains a hugely popular drama and there are brilliant opportunites for individual ...

harryrulestheworld 05.01.2008 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

Excellent play,studied for gcse's along with Lord Of The flies. Priestly starts the play off as peaceful and calm,but as it goes on we learn about each character to detroy this mood. the play has an excellent finish,if you watch LOST you will understand, it keeps readers in suspense, you never find out who the inspector actually was. the play is about a family supposedly the culprits of a young girl,Eva Smith/Daisy Renton's suicide,as it turns out,when the inspector turns up to question them,the girl has not died yet. I recommend this book to anyone over the age of 20.EXCELLENT READ. ...

ashley111 19.06.2007
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

...I'm not too sure because times have changed with regard to the class system in England but as a look back at social history and those authors who tried to change things by writing about them, this play is certainly an interesting one and human nature does n't change. ...

janinbow 17.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

An Inspector Calls opens at the home of the Birling family where we find them celebrating the engagement of Shiela Birling to the eligable bachelor Gerald Croft. The family, Mr and Mrs Birling, their son Eric and daughter along with her fiance are all in high spirits and just finishing their meal. Mr Birling is very pleased with himself as he feels that Gerald Croft with his high family connections is an admirable addition to is family. The merryments ...
...not immpressed by Mr Birlings connections and presses on with his investigation regardless of his delusions of granduer The inspector is there to investigate the death of a young woman, who has commited suicide. The family fail to see what that has to do with them, but the Inspetor shows each one in turn how they have contributed to her death. I feel if I say much more it will give the plot away but needless to say there are many twists and turns ...

pumpernickle 19.08.2005 (22.08.2005) · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley