hi could someone please tell me what mark this is out of 30 and how i can improve- i want an A* thanks in advance
‘What do you think is the importance of inspector Goole and how does Priestley present him?’
The character of the Inspector has been used by Priestley to present his own Socialist viewpoint in society and is a personification of righteous morality and a mouthpiece that focuses on the belief that ‘we are all responsible for each other’ and one who makes it his ‘duty to ask questions’.
On the arrival of the Inspector, the lighting changes from “pink and intimate” to “brighter and harder” this stage direction and dramatic device has been deliberately used by Priestley to startle the audience and change the mood, from a happy celebration to an interrogation. Also, even before the audience has even seen the Inspector, he has already taken control of the scene as he has unintentionally interrupted the tone of the play. The ‘pink’ lighting could have been used to show that the play will bring about a change in the way women are perceived. The change to ‘brighter’ lighting is effective because it reflects the fact that the Inspector represents hope or that he will be able to change the Birling family, the same way he changed the mood of the play.
When we first see the Inspector, he declines a drink offered by Mr Birling as he’s ‘on duty’ which shows that he is a very focused and virtuous character and this also gives him a dominance over the other characters as he has a clearer frame of mind. At this point in the play the audience would be intrigued by the inspectors focus and shows that he is a man of ‘massiveness’ and ‘solidity’. Priestley could have done this to show that the Socialists were more responsible and had more superior knowledge than Capitalists at the time because they spent less time enjoying the finer things in life and more time focussing.
Priestley uses the term ‘massively’ as a stage direction when Birling speaks to the Inspector to portray Birling as a bully and one who misuses his power, with this action the audience realises that the Capitalist Birling exemplifies everything for which Priestley has disdain – as a Socialist with a moralistic viewpoint. Priestley shows a power conflict between Birling and the Inspector throughout the play as this stage direction is also used numerously for the Inspector when describing how he should speak yet instead of portraying the character of the inspector as a bully it portrays him as an interrogator.
Priestley has systematically ordered using a ‘chain of events’, the Inspectors didactic and sermon-like speech to be at the end of the play. Priestley shows that if the Birling family (Eva Smith’s death) and if the audience fail to learn from their experiences (WW1 and WW2) and are ‘ready to go on in the same old way’ then there will be ‘fire, blood and anguish’. As the Inspector is wise and as his prediction of “fire, and blood and anguish” became reality for those living in the 1940’s after they had already experienced a second World War the audience would feel they have a right to judge Birling’s Capitalist views as he is socially unaware and refers to the Titanic as ‘absolutely unsinkable’. The audience would also be more engaged with the play because they would feel that it personally relates to their situations and what they have experienced first-hand. The word ‘absolutely’ puts emphasis on how certain Mr birling was that the Titanic would not sink which is dramatically ironic because the Titanic eventually sunk. Priestley also uses the Inspector to mock the Capitalist solution, by saying ‘you’re offering money at the wrong time’ which shows that money will not bring back Eva Smith or change the situation.
Overall, Priestley presents the character of the Inspector as a superior character that ‘makes you’ tell the truth. Priestley has used techniques such as, three short lined sentences when the inspector says when talking to Sheila about Eva: “yes, but you can’t. It’s too late. She’s dead.” This is effective because it creates a matter-of-fact tone and makes the character of Sheila feel guilty. Priestley through the inspector shows that the younger generation accept their responsibility and learn from their mistakes, in direct contrast to the older generation who are in denial and cannot accept blame and therefore they remain socially unaware. Capitalist ideas and views are ridiculed throughout this play which in turn mocks those in the audience who support these views. At the end of the play Priestly through the Inspector makes a bold polemic statement about every person’s responsibility in society-“if nothing else we have to share our guilt ’’ which send many messages to the audience about morals and how to treat others, which strongly reflect Priestley’s Socialist political views. The word ‘we’ is an inclusive pronoun and shows that we are all united as ‘members of one body’.