An Inspector Calls is essentially a vehicle for Priestley to criticise capitalism. Discuss. -- A* - page 3
Keywords: An Inspector Call Priestley capitalism
By georgie1 on 31/12/2009
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 3 of 10 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
audience that the Birling household is a productive, upper-class family, focussed on authority, status and capital. Adding to their nobility, the Birlings use Received Pronunciation during casual conversation, making it clear to the audience that they are self assured about their place in society. Words such as “squiffy”, “awfully”, “jolly”, “sir” and “lady” show that the family tend not to use slang vocabulary and have probably been well educated. Mrs Birling repeats the word “impertinence” several times throughout the play, as though trying to show of her language skills and as though to impress whoever is listening to her. Eric calls his mother “mummy”, despite it being obvious that he is an adult, highlighting that the Birling children have been pampered as youngsters and are still very much dependant on their parents.
The audience are aware of the fact that the characters are much more privileged than the rest of their community when Mr Birling refers to his workers as “these people”. Mrs Birling also refers to Eva Smith as a girl of “that class”, a girl of “that sort” and a girl in “her position”, isolating herself from the situation that is insinuated to be below her standards. The director of An Inspector Calls may have Mrs Birling performing the word ‘that’ in a tone that represents her looking down on people of lower social class, and with emphasis to show her arrogance. Mrs Birling describes how she immediately felt “prejudiced” against Eva Smith when she used “our name”. With the emphasis on the word ‘our’, it is clear to the audience that Mrs Birling knows her family are envied for their wealth and class. The director of the play may have Mrs Birling point to herself to exaggerate that the Birling name is ‘her’ name, and show that she is possessive. The Inspector even shows that the Birlings treated Eva like “an animal, a thing”. Mr Birling says that there are people in his town that “dislike” him, showing that others may be envious of his wealth or dislike his arrogant personality. This is a clear example of JB Priestley highlighting a negative trait of capitalism. Gerald is a character that is presented to be a young capitalist, likely to emerge similarly to Mr Birling. He is looking to take over his father’s business, showing to the audience that he likes to be in control. The ring he
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