An Inspector Calls Methods

Question 1

Staging

-What conscious choices did Priestley make?
-Do these choices change or remain the same?
-What are these choices intended to reveal or show us?

Answer 1

-Single setting (dining room), Pink vs bright lighting, Doorbell.
-Only lighting.
-Setting to show their wealth to exaggerate the divide between them and Eva, Lighting to show how everything will come out, Doorbell to emphasise the Inspector’s power.

Question 2

Structure

-What conscious choices did Preistley make regarding the overall structure? Could this structure symbolise anything?
-Are there any times when a character isn’t on stage for a significant period? What might this symbolise?
-What about any moments where a character’s entrance interrupts a significant moment? What might this interruption be intended to represent?
-Are there any turning points in the play?

Answer 2

-Cyclical structure (also suggesting the loop of World Wars and how another would come if man does not learn their lesson).
-Sheila + Sybil, Eric, Gerald, Inspector.
-Inspector’s initial arrival (shows power over Arthur), Eric’s arrival (for tension).
-Inspector’s initial arrival (family is no longer what it once was), Eric’s role (from looking shy to making brash decisions), Final call (to show the cyclical structure).

Question 3

Symbols

-What images or ideas do we see often? Do they have a deeper meaning?
-What do they symbolise?
-What is Priestley trying to show us about this idea (the deeper meaning)?

Answer 3

-Ring, Alcohol, Doorbell, Lighting change.
-Sheila rejecting the ring symbolises independence and the growth of her character. The alcohol symbolises immorality. The doorbell symbolises the superiority of socialism and the social responsibility. The lighting change represents how Inspector Goole sheds light on the true nature of the characters.

Question 4

Context

-When is the play set? What do you know about life during this time?
-When was the play written? What do you know about life during this time in comparison to when it was set?
-Are there any moments where Priestley deliberately uses the audience’s knowledge of the time to create meaning?

Answer 4

-1912, pre-WW1
-1945 (performed in 1946), socialism was a growing ideology.
-Priestley uses the audience’s knowledge to show the stupidity of Arthur Birling (the man Priestley wrote to be the symbol of capitalism) through making him say things which turned out to be horribly wrong (titanic not sinking, Germans not making a move).

Question 5

Character

-What does each character represent?
-How are the characters influenced by their expectations or roles during this time?
-How might you describe them at the beginning? What about the end?
-Which ones do you think he has deliberately exaggerated or satirised? How so? Why?

Answer 5

-Inspector represents morality and social responsibility. Arthur represents capitalism and greed. Sheila represents envy. Gerald represents lust. Sybil represents pride. Eric represents wrath. Edna & Eva both represent the lower class.
-Sheila is treated like a child throughout the play. Arthur is influenced by his expectations and role as a wealthy businessman.
-Sheila began the play being very dependent on her parents and Gerald, by the end she was independent with her own opinions. Eric began the play being shy and awkward, by the end he was miserable and broken.
-Sheila was exaggerated to show how the younger generations can change their views towards socialism, no matter what their parents say.