An Inspector Calls

“An Inspector Calls” is a play which was written by John Boynton Priestley in 1912, and it was set in the theatre on the 1st of October 1946. Priestley uses the play as an example of what can happen if we are ignorant to the feelings of others. Priestley believed a great deal in socialism and he used several of his plays to try and influence people to be Socialist. The audience does not find a great deal out about the Inspector and nothing is explicitly told to us; we are given hints and clues from the way he acts and what he says and are forced to piece these together to form our own ideas about his identity and his intentions.



“An Inspector Calls” is a play about a family called the Birling family. One day, when they were celebrating the engagement of their daughter, Sheila, and when they were having fun, an inspector comes, and turns the happy night into misery.



Every character gives a first impression, and Sheila is one of them. “Sheila is a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited” My first impressions when I heard Sheila’s quote was that she’s an immature, naïve girl, and she’s happy and enjoying life.



When Sheila heard about the girl’s death, she begins to be more caring, and her character starts to change. “Oh-how horrible. Was it an accident?” this quote is showing that she starts to be caring, and she starts asking more questions to know more about the girl maybe she could help. The dash means that she paused, and this shows how shocked she is.



Sheila’s reaction to questioning was quite strong, “but these girls aren’t cheap labour-they’re people” Sheila was standing up for these girls, she’s doing what she believes is right, and she doesn’t agree with what her dad said, he didn’t care about Eva Smith when she wanted to get paid more money so he fired her, he was talking like they weren’t people, she’s saying this like she knows how these people feel.
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