What time was An Inspector Calls set?

What time was An Inspector Calls set?

1912
JB Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls is set in 1912 but written in 1945. We need to remember that the play is set before both world wars and at a time when the British Empire was still a force to be reckoned with internationally.

What is the setting of An Inspector Calls?

An Inspector Calls is a three-act play with one setting: the dining room of ‘a fairly large suburban house belonging to a fairly prosperous manufacturer’. The year is 1912, and we are in the home of the Birling family in the fictional industrial city of Brumley in the North Midlands.

How is time represented in An Inspector Calls?

Priestley draws on ideas about time to create twists and surprises in the play. For example, the idea of time repeating itself, and using knowledge of the past to change the future, occurs at the end of the play. Here, the phone call telling the Birlings that a girl has just died brings the characters full circle.

What two time periods are key to An Inspector Calls?

Daldry’s concept was to reference two eras: the 1945 post-war era, when the play was written, and the ostensible historical setting for the work in pre-war 1912; this emphasised the way the character Goole was observing, and deploring, the Birling family’s behaviour from Priestley’s own cultural viewpoint.

Why does Priestley set the play in 1912?

Priestley deliberately set his play in 1912 because the date represented an era when all was very different from the time he was writing. In 1912, rigid class and gender boundaries seemed to ensure that nothing would change. Yet by 1945, most of those class and gender divisions had been breached.

Was An Inspector Calls written after ww2?

J B Priestley wrote An Inspector Calls after the First World War and like much of his work contains controversial, politically charged messages. An Inspector Calls is set in 1912, it was written and performed in 1945 (he was known for writing quickly!). This table describes what society was like in 1912 and 1945.

Why was Inspector Calls set in 1912?

What is the storyline of An Inspector Calls?

An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley, is a play that revolves around the apparent suicide of a young woman called Eva Smith. In the play, the unsuspecting Birling family are visited by the mysterious Inspector Goole. He arrives just as they are celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft.

What is ouspensky theory of time?

Ouspensky believed in the theory of eternal recurrence. Ouspensky believed that our time on the planet was spent travelling along an ever-recurring spiral and that the aim of all individuals should be to change and improve this spiral and stop making the same old mistakes.

What themes are presented in an inspector calls?

An Inspector Calls Themes

• Wealth, Power, and Influence. The Birlings are a family of wealth and power, who take pride in their high social position.
• Blame and Responsibility.
• Public versus Private.
• Class Politics.
• Morality and Legality.

Why was AIC set 1912?

Is An Inspector Calls set in the Victorian era?

An Inspector Calls was written in 1945, however, it is set in 1912 and reflects the Edwardian era.