J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls :: English Literature

AN INSPECTOR CALLS COMPARE THE LIVES OF EVA SIMTH AND SHEILA BIRLING â€Å"Property is that old fashioned way of thinking of a country as a thing and a collection of things on that thing.† This quote is taken directly from J.B.Priestleys late night post scripts on BBC radio in 1940, which were banned for being to critical of the governments actions, and can be used to sum up the capitalist view perfectly. I think this quote is made from the point of view of a capitalist who believes that the old-fashioned belief is to think of property as belonging the country and its people however the new belief, his belief, is that property can belong to individual people and not to the state or its people at all, and when a person owns his own property he can run it any way he sees fit. This is a belief which Priestly continually criticizes throughout his play. An Inspector Calls was written in 1945, the year the Second World War ended, but was set in 1911. The social climate of both years was of great unrest as was many areas of industry in Britain and many strikes took place all over the country much like the strike which took place in Mr. Birling’s factory. Priestley set the play in 1911 because of the onset of the First World War and he would be able to write the play with the advantage of hindsight, he could also make Mr. Birling look bad with his portentous beliefs and his promises of no war. He may have also set the play in 1911 because at this time he was 18 years old, working as a junior clerk in a wool firm and was about to gain his first insight into the differences between the social classes. The people he met at this age encouraged him to take part in their political arguments and discussions which were soon to influence his opinions and frame the values he was to later write about. These also led to him eventually attending university already politically aware at the age of 25. By writing the play 35 years after it was set, Priestley gave his audiences the advantage of hindsight. He wanted to do something about the injustices of society, and because only the middle and upper classes could afford to go to the theatre, his audiences were exactly the kind of people he was attacking. They were witnessing their own lives on stage and for them it may not have been a very pleasant thing to see. I believe that at the time only the middle and upper classes