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Priestley: An Inspector Calls
In this course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores J. B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’. In the first module, we provide a broad introduction to the play, focusing in particular on the influence of Gogol’s ‘The Government Inspector’ and the importance of the ordinary, middle-class background of the Birling. After that, in the second and third modules, we think about two historical contexts that are important to the play: first, politics and society in Edwardian Britain, when the play was set; and second, politics and society in 1940s Britain, when the play was written and first performed. In the subsequent twelve modules, we go through the play scene by scene, starting with the opening stage directions (“The dining-room of fairly large suburban house”) and ending with the play’s stunning final twist. As we go through each scene, we think about how characters interact with one another and respond to the events of the play, the development of the plot, the use of dramatic effects, key themes such as guilt, duty, and responsibility … and much, much more.
Note: Page numbers refer to J. B. Priestley, An Inspector Calls and Other Plays (Penguin Modern Classics, 2000). Students using a different version of the play may encounter slight differences in both the text and line numbers.
Introduction
In this module, we provide a broad introduction to the play, focusing in particular on the influence of Nikolai Gogol’s ‘The Government Inspector’ and the works of Henrik Ibsen, and the importance of the ordinary, middle-class background of the Birling family.
An Inspector Calls – nice title, isn't it?
00:00:03It's not ‘the’ inspector,
00:00:07it’s ‘an’ inspector,
00:00:09and that word ‘inspector’ makes us think –
00:00:11what does that make us think?
00:00:14Think of the word ‘inspector’. There was an older play, which
00:00:15I'm rather convinced that J. B. Priestley was referring back to,
00:00:19from early in the nineteenth century in Russia, by a wonderful writer
00:00:23called Gogol, called ‘The Government Inspector’.
00:00:28And how that play works is a village,
00:00:33a very remote village. hears that they're
00:00:38going to be inspected by an inspector from Moscow.
00:00:42And that word ‘inspector’ puts fear in them.
00:00:46And then, coincidentally, a guy turns up
00:00:50who isn't the inspector, and we know he's not the inspector,
00:00:54but the people in the village don't
00:00:57know he's not the inspector.
00:00:59And they all become subservient,
00:01:01they kowtow to him,
00:01:03they obey his every command,
00:01:05they give him everything trying to persuade, or indeed
00:01:06perhaps corrupt, the government inspector in order
00:01:10to clear their own consciences and to feel safer.
00:01:16Guess what?
00:01:20At the end, of course, it's revealed he's not
00:01:21the government inspector.
00:01:25And suddenly the real government inspector
00:01:27is about to appear. Consternation.
00:01:30Now, I'm sure that J. B. Priestley knew that play, because there
00:01:35are elements of that, as you will
00:01:41see, throughout this short, clever little play.
00:01:43What's it about?
00:01:50Well, an inspector calls –
00:01:52he visits –
00:01:55and by talking to all the members of the family,
00:01:58he brings out their consciences.
00:02:03He brings out their misdeeds.
00:02:06He brings out the illnesses at the heart
00:02:08of this very English family.
00:02:12So it's a family drama.
00:02:17That really is important.
00:02:20When you're looking at the characters in this play,
00:02:21you'll see how important the family is.
00:02:24And the house that they live in is
00:02:29emblematic of a kind of fairly wealthy, middle class
00:02:33family, which you'll still see everywhere today.
00:02:41You look around, you'll see all the characters in this play
00:02:44anywhere you look.
00:02:48The thing is, being Priestley – Priestley was a northerner –
00:02:51so this is a northern family in a northern industrial context,
00:02:55and Mr Birling has made his fortune from his factory.
00:03:00And they are well-off and comfortable.
00:03:03So it's a play of the comfortable bourgeoisie.
00:03:07We need to stop there and think about that for a moment.
00:03:13Why?
00:03:16Well, the comfortable bourgeoisie
00:03:17were the people who went to the theatre.
00:03:19And therefore, they liked to see, and still do,
00:03:22a mirror of something of their lives and times.
00:03:26This goes back to a Norwegian writer whom
00:03:31I commend to your attention, Henrik Ibsen, who in the 1880 and 90s
00:03:34wrote a lot of middle-class setting
00:03:38plays, where the flaws, the faults, the history, the sins
00:03:42of the fathers running in the family are examined,
00:03:49brought out, and the consequences
00:03:55faced by the characters.
00:03:57This is a play of the characters facing the consequences
00:04:01of their own actions.
00:04:06And when you look at the individual characters,
00:04:08look at the individual actions of these characters
00:04:10and where they have been wronged or behaved badly,
00:04:15because that exploration of conscience
00:04:20is a mirror of things wrong in society.
00:04:26Does any of the characters escape criticism?
00:04:31But then again, the big question is, who is this inspector?
00:04:37He's called Goole, G-O-O-L-E. Now I don't know if
00:04:39you've thought of this, but there's a word in English
00:04:46G-H-O-U-L, which many people pronounce ghoul –
00:04:50some people pronounce it ghoul – but he's
00:04:57a sort of ghost? Or what?
00:05:01He's a presence.
00:05:05Is he real?
00:05:06Well, he seems real all the way through,
00:05:08and we believe him, and the characters believe him.
00:05:10But then, of course, there's a nice twist at the end,
00:05:13because Priestley is a masterly dramatist who structures things
00:05:16with suspense, with tension, with curtain lines,
00:05:23and with a nice twist in the tale,
00:05:28so that the audience can go away feeling –
00:05:30yes, they've had the mirror held up to them to see who they are –
00:05:33yes, we all have faults that could be inspected.
00:05:38I want you, when you're reading it,
00:05:48to think, what would the inspector, if he called on you,
00:05:50what would he find in you that you maybe
00:05:55wouldn't want to admit,
00:05:59things that you've done? Bullying?
00:06:01That's one of the things that happens. Treating people badly
00:06:05because you feel superior to them?
00:06:09Having a moral standpoint that means you are right
00:06:12and everyone else is wrong?
00:06:16Some people have said that the Birling family is actually
00:06:18an easy target because of the complacency, the self-
00:06:22satisfaction, that middle- age self-made man thing,
00:06:27which Mr Birling represents.
00:06:32Well, that's all well and good,
00:06:34but everybody, as I’ve said, has a conscience.
00:06:36They, as a family, don't think about how they got there.
00:06:41They don't think about other people.
00:06:45They don't think how well-off they actually are.
00:06:48And that's the mirror that Priestley
00:06:52wants to hold up to their behaviour,
00:06:54so that we can all identify with something that's going on.
00:06:57
Cite this Lecture
APA style
McRae, J. (2019, January 17). Priestley: An Inspector Calls - Introduction [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/priestley-an-inspector-calls/act-3-the-final-twist
MLA style
McRae, J. "Priestley: An Inspector Calls – Introduction." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 17 Jan 2019, https://massolit.io/courses/priestley-an-inspector-calls/act-3-the-final-twist