An Inspector Calls: Context and Political Views
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1/3: JB Priestley's Political Views
2/3: Comparing society and politics context, 1912 vs. 1945 3/3: J. B. Priestly - Important context behind the drama 1/3: JB Priestley's Political ViewsJB Priestley, the playwright of An Inspector Calls, was concerned about social inequality.
During 1942, he and others set up a new political party, the Common Wealth Party, which argued for public ownership of land, greater democracy, and a new 'morality' in politics. The party merged with the Labour Party in 1945, but Priestley was influential in developing the idea of the Welfare State which began to be put into place at the end of the war. He believed that further world wars could only be avoided through cooperation and mutual respect between countries, and so became active in the early movement for a United Nations. And as the nuclear arms race between West and East began in the 1950s, he helped to found the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, CND, hoping that the UK would set an example to the world by a moral act of nuclear disarmament and prevent bloodshed through another world war. John Priestley fought in World War 1 and the experience is used in his writing. He is famous for novels, plays and essays particularly for the political message. In An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses Inspector Goole to present his own views. Priestley is against selfish desires (presented particularly through Mr Birling and Mrs Birling, they use the pronoun 'I' compared to Inspector Goole using 'We') and social/economic inequality, and he pushes forward a message of social responsibility. |
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2/3: Comparing society and politics context, 1912 vs. 1945
J B Priestley wrote An Inspector Calls after the First World War and like much of his work contains controversial, politically charged messages. It was first performed in September 1945 in the Soviet Union, followed by the UK.
An Inspector Calls is set in 1912, it was written and performed in 1945 (he was known for writing quickly!). This table describes what society was like in 1912 and 1945.
1912
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1945
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Priestley deliberately set his play in 1912 because the date represented an era when all was very different from the time he was writing. In 1912, rigid class and gender boundaries seemed to ensure that nothing would change. Yet by 1945, most of those class and gender divisions had been breached. Priestley wanted to make the most of these changes. Through this play, he encourages people to seize the opportunity the end of the war had given them to build a better, more caring society.
3/3: J. B. Priestly - Important context behind the drama
John Boynton Priestley was born in Yorkshire, UK in 1894. He knew early on that he wanted to become a writer, but decided against going to university as he thought he would get a better feel for the world around him away from an academic community. Instead, he became a junior clerk at 16.
Fought in World War 1 when it broke out, he joined the army and escaped death many times. After the war, he gained a degree from Cambridge University, moving to London to become a writer. He wrote successful articles and published his first novel in 1929. He wrote his first play in 1932 and went on to write 50 more. Much of his writing was controversial. He included new ideas about possible parallel universes and strong political messages.
Post-war drama context: Political. Post-war dramas reflect the economic and political and social issues of the wartime period. Priestley wrote 'An Inspector Calls' after the First World War and like much of his work contains controversial, politically charged messages. For example, democracy versus dictatorships or socialism versus capitalism. He set 'An Inspector Calls' in 1912 because that era represented the opposite of what people were hoping for in 1945.
Post-war drama context: Historical (dramatic irony). Dramatic irony is very common in Inspector Calls! (Dramatic irony is when only the audience knows about the ironic situation taking place in the play, which creates humour or suspense). At the beginning of the play, the Titanic is described as "unsinkable". We as an audience know this is wrong, but we also know the characters are oblivious. The characters also consider the chances of a world war - as this play is set before WW1 - to a post-WW2 audience. Priestley uses this small-scale 'microcosm' (a situation which represents in miniature something much larger) of the death of Eva Smith to allure to the deaths and murders of hundreds of thousands of citizens which would occur in just a few years after the play's period.
During World War 2, he broadcast a popular weekly radio show which was attacked by the Conservatives for being too left-wing. The programme was eventually cancelled by the BBC for being too critical of the Government.
Fought in World War 1 when it broke out, he joined the army and escaped death many times. After the war, he gained a degree from Cambridge University, moving to London to become a writer. He wrote successful articles and published his first novel in 1929. He wrote his first play in 1932 and went on to write 50 more. Much of his writing was controversial. He included new ideas about possible parallel universes and strong political messages.
Post-war drama context: Political. Post-war dramas reflect the economic and political and social issues of the wartime period. Priestley wrote 'An Inspector Calls' after the First World War and like much of his work contains controversial, politically charged messages. For example, democracy versus dictatorships or socialism versus capitalism. He set 'An Inspector Calls' in 1912 because that era represented the opposite of what people were hoping for in 1945.
Post-war drama context: Historical (dramatic irony). Dramatic irony is very common in Inspector Calls! (Dramatic irony is when only the audience knows about the ironic situation taking place in the play, which creates humour or suspense). At the beginning of the play, the Titanic is described as "unsinkable". We as an audience know this is wrong, but we also know the characters are oblivious. The characters also consider the chances of a world war - as this play is set before WW1 - to a post-WW2 audience. Priestley uses this small-scale 'microcosm' (a situation which represents in miniature something much larger) of the death of Eva Smith to allure to the deaths and murders of hundreds of thousands of citizens which would occur in just a few years after the play's period.
During World War 2, he broadcast a popular weekly radio show which was attacked by the Conservatives for being too left-wing. The programme was eventually cancelled by the BBC for being too critical of the Government.
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GCSE/IGCSE Notes > English Literature Notes > An Inspector Calls - Context & Political Views