An Inspector Calls, by J.B. Priestley, is a play about a family that all have connected to Eva Smith’s suicide in one way or another. It is shown in in the play how the characters are lacking moral values but you can also see other situations like this in everyday life. Morality is not only knowing the difference between right and wrong but also having a kind of code you follow despite the consequences. An example of a moral person would be Martin Luther King Jr. because of his moral based actions in his life. He was a civil rights activist and became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He acted based on his Christian beliefs and inspired by the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. He was also given a …show more content…
Sheila’s immoral actions got Eva Smith fired from her job because she was just jealous. This is shown when Sheila says “She was the right type for it, just as I was the wrong type. She was very pretty too – with big dark eyes – and that didn’t make it any better.” when talking about Eva being prettier in a dress. After this she got Eva fired just out of spite. As well as this Eric just used her and didn't think of the consequences. This is shown when Eric says "Yes I wasn't in love with her anything - but I liked her - she was pretty and a good sport -" when talking about how he used Eva for her body and his own benefits. Birling fired Eva because she asked to have decent wages, Mrs B. refused Eva help when she needed it most and Gerald cheated on Sheila. These are just some of the many examples of how the characters in the play are immoral. In the play An Inspector Calls good triumphs in the end and they realize that what they did was wrong. This is shown when while the others are acting like nothing happened after realizing the inspector was a fake Sheila says "No, because I remember what he said, how he looked, and what he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish. And it frightens me the way you talk, and I can't listen to any more of it." in response showing she knows she was wrong and Eric agrees when saying "And I agree with Sheila. It frightens me too.". Later it shown that everyone feels guilty after the story is revealed to be true and the narration
“An Inspector Calls” is a morality play by the socialist playwright J. B. Priestley written in 1945 but set in 1912. The play is based on the wealthy Birling family, who is questioned by a police inspector regarding a young woman’s death. Using characters of different ages to represent the contrast of political stances and attitudes, Priestley attempts to educate the audience. He believed that Capitalism was the sole reason for the start of world war one and therefor also the cause of the great economic depression and the second world war. Priestley uses the age in the play, to tell the audience that capitalists don’t have any social responsibility, as they do not accept any responsibility for Eva Smith’s death. The behavioural contrast between the Birling parents and their children demonstrate that if you are capitalist, you can still alter your beliefs and become socialist.
In this essay, I am going to discuss how the character Eva Smith in the play An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley is treated in the play and the relation of this to the socialist views of the playwright. I will look at the historical context of when the play was written and when it was set, describe what happens to Eva Smith throughout the play and then link this to a socialist viewpoint.
characters in the play, he is trying to use her as a way of making
Throughout Priestley’s play, ‘An inspector calls’, a main theme runs about responsibility and differentiation between classes. Each character is accountable of doing something that brought about the death of Eva smith. All the characters contribute to her death in one way or the other, and all of them are at fault for the death of
In An Inspector Calls, one of the main themes is responsibility. Priestley is interested in our personal responsibility for our own actions and our collective responsibility to society. The play explores the effect of class, age and sex on people's attitudes to responsibility, and shows how prejudice can prevent people from acting responsibly. In this essay I am going to explain how Priestley presents the theme of responsibility and how he uses structural and language devices to do so.
"We don't live alone. We are all members of one body. We are responsible for each other."
command at the end of Act I and the start of Act 2, and the end of Act
There are a number of suspects which in an inspector calls is the entire family on set. There are also red herrings and anticipations. The red herrings are created by the way the inspector conducts his interview. The inspector only focuses on one character at a time, starting with Mr. Birling. It appears early in the play that Mr. Birling is a major contributor to Eva smiths death, but then the inspector turns onto the next character Sheila. The interrogation of Sheila leads us to think that Sheila is now a major contributor towards the death of Eva Smith. Sheila's character turns out to be very different to that of her father who is very defensive and more worried about the bad reputation that this could cause the family, where as Sheila throughout the play starts to discover a moral and ethical side of herself. An example of this is in act two where Sheila says "It means that we've no excuse now for putting on airs and that if we've any sense we wont try. Father threw this girl out because she asked for decent wages. I went and pushed her further out, right into the street, just because I was angry and she was pretty. Gerald set her up as his mistress and then dropped her when it suited him. And now you're pretending you don’t recognize her from that photograph I admit I don’t know why you should, but I know jolly well you did in fact recognize her from the way you
A number of other issues that were around at the time the play was set
this is his role in the events of the play. This, and the fact that
Morality in its basic definition, is the knowledge between what is right and what is wrong. In Joan Didion’s essay, “On Morality,” she uses examples to show how morality is used to justify actions and decisions by people. She explains that morality can have a profound effect on the decisions that people chose to make. I think that morality is an idea that is different for every individual based on morals and background.
In melodrama the weak and the innocent often fall prey to the evil villain, who is rich and powerful. Birling is a caricature of the grasping capitalist. Eva Smith is a caricature of the poor, downtrodden victim who retains her dignity and nobility of spirit. She is too good to be true .Mr and Mrs Birling remain the archetypical villains to the end because they fail to learn the moral lesson of the play.
Morality is defined as a recognition or belief that explains why some behaviors are bad or good. In simple words, morality refers to values relating to the distinction between wrong and right or good and bad. Few morals are easily accepted and are only questioned by some fringes of society who might disagree with such morals. These individuals on the fringes can be bad or good. The ones who reject socially accepted moral does not necessarily mean that they are good persons. Thus, one can say that each individual has morals that are different from each other (Joseph).
Morality is a particular system of values and principles of conduct. My interpretation of this is the distinction of right and wrong. Everyone has a personal morals, whether it’s through a group, organization, or just the way their parents brought them up. Morals help create an organized society, they are like unwritten laws. There are so many morals out there the government could not make them all laws, so although morals help govern the world they are not actual laws. Without morals the world would be nothing but chaos. Being honest, fair and just, making the world a better place, respecting others, and being open minded are just a few examples.
Moral is a principle of right and wrong, and a standard to define a person’s behavior. People have different moral standards, it is moulded through nurturing and is changed as one gains more life experiences. Moral ethics also varies in different countries of different culture and religious beliefs. There are some common principles that people use in everyday life, for instance the Golden Rule (Versions of the Golden Rule in 21 World Religions) (you should treat others the way you want to be treated) and the Hippocratic Oath (Greek Medicine) (Primum non nocere/ First do no harm), which is widely used in medical ethics. (Bioethics) We would discuss more deeply on the moral standards and obstacles we face daily in the following.