An Inspector Calls is essentially a vehicle for Priestley to criticise capitalism. Discuss. -- A* - page 8
Keywords: An Inspector Call Priestley capitalism
By georgie1 on 31/12/2009
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 8 of 10 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
She and Sheila have almost had a reversal in roles as Sheila takes more responsibility for what she has done, and dismissing her mother’s views once she realises that her mother is in the wrong. As her interrogation develops, Sheila takes a more socialist perspective to the situation and asks her parents “can’t you see?”, representing their ignorance. She claims that it would be a good idea if one as to put themselves in “the place of these young women”, to see exactly the awful standards of life that some women are put through. This is clearly a socialist comment as she is trying to encourage the characters to help others. Also representing her change, she returns the engagement ring that she had received from Gerald earlier in the evening, showing that she is returning his wealth and is not interested in his capital or her social status, ad therefore acting in an anti-capitalist manner.
Gerald Croft is also portrayed to have had a similar upbringing to the Birlings in the sense of wealth and status, yet seems more mature and realises the value of money, unlike Eric who stole money from his parents and when discovered, told them that the money is not the “important thing”. As a result, Gerald seems less insecure and more confident than the Birling children. Ironically, he describes his own family and the Birling family to be "respectable citizens”, when it is clear that they are being interrogated by an Inspector and are therefore likely to have done something wrong. When Gerald is talking to the Inspector, he openly states that he “became at once the most important person in her life”, which shows that he is self-assured and knows the importance and impact that he had on Eva Smith. Another character trait which has already been indentified as capitalist is to keep oneself out of trouble and Gerald says that he “can keep it from him”, showing that he is willing to be deceitful to ensure he still has a good public image. Contrasting to this, Inspector Goole says that “Mr Croft told us – quite truthfully-”, which shows that Gerald might be telling a twisted truth, in order to make himself look innocent.
An aspect of the play that is also witnessed by the audience when watching An Inspector Calls involves religion and spirituality. The most obvious indication presented to the audience is the
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