An Inspector Calls is Full of Lies and Deceit. Write fully about the Way Priestly Exposes Wickedness and Weakness, not only in the Characters on Stage, but Also in Society.
An Inspector Calls is an intriguing play, full of lies, deceit, guilt and twists. In this essay I will be analysing how Priestley writes and exposes wickedness and weakness within the characters on stage and in society, through the plot, setting, characterization and theme of the play.
The plot of a play is what drives the story, whilst the key events in a plot are what makes the story interesting. For example, An Inspector Calls is an interesting play and the moment that the Inspector arrives is certainly a key part of the exposition. When he first enters the room, Priestley uses stage directions to assure us that there is a slight edge to the Inspector right from the start, as he “has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking”.(Pg 11) This is Priestly’s way of presenting to the audience that the Inspector has quite a strong, menacing presence. However, no conflict is revealed at first, as Mr Birling seems unaffected by this and continues to happily offer him a seat and a glass of whisky. Furthermore, the tension of the scene soon begins to build as Mr Birling becomes nervous and impatient, stating that his case “obviously(...)has nothing whatsoever to do with the wretched girl’s suicide”.(Pg 13) From the tone in which Mr Birling says “obviously”(Pg 13), we can infer that this is an exclamatory remark, as he is implying to the Inspector that it is clear and easy to see that he has a lack of involvement with Eva Smith’s suicide. This scene is important, as it is the start of the conflictual relationship between the Birlings and the Inspector. From the exposition to the denouement of the play, the power from the Birling family slowly shifts to the Inspector, where towards the end of the play, Priestley again uses tone of language as the Inspector raises his voice to simply tell the Birling family to “Stop”(Pg 55) their argument, which works. As well as tone of language, Priestly also uses a short sentence length style to exaggerate the Inspector’s strength and control of the situation, as if the Inspector had completely lost his temper, it would have demonstrated a sense of weakness and impatience within the Inspector. The fact that the Birling’s got to the point of being mastered and controlled like puppets by the Inspector not only shows weakness from the Birling family, as they have such high power in the social ladder, but it also shows a sense of wickedness and possibly deceit from the Inspector, as you could argue that he had omniscience right from when he first entered the Birling household and he was simply toying with them, trying and succeeding to develop conflict within the family unit. The Inspector being able to pull this off against such a powerful family is a great example of his strong presence, whic...
