Inspector Goole in J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls :: English Literature

What is the function of Inspector Goole in J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls? An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 by John Boynton Priestley. The play was set in 1912 two years before the first world war so from this their would have been irony as the audience would know. The play is set in a dining room in the Birling’s residence in Brumley, North Midlands which was a fictional industrial city. At the time the play was set the world was a very class conscience place with higher and lower class depending on one thing: money. The country was set up in two categories with the socialists which consists of the Political System in which ways of community and sharing are promoted and capitalists which is the political system which values private ownership and the individual. The country really was involved around capitalist values. For example there was no welfare state. In this essay I will be focusing on the main functions of the inspector. The inspectors role is a key to the plot and conclusion and delivers morals and principles and how the functions of the inspector get used in specific places throughout the play. The play opens with the Birling family and Gerald celebrating the engagement of Gerald and Sheila. It is dramatically effective because you get to see all the characters in one room therefore seeing their personalities, instead of them being introduced one-by-one. They are celebrating and at ease which means they are a little bit drunk. The mood is very relaxed and everyone having a nice time. From the stage directions it says the mood is â€Å"pink and intimate†. We learn from Mr.Birling that he is selfish and a capitalist from his speech. He sums himself up within the opening of the play saying â€Å"that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own-and-†(act one page 11) this indicates that he is a selfish man and cares for his family only (Mr.Birling is a capitalist). The mood is soon to change from relaxed and chilled to harsh when the inspector arrives. At the last word of Mr. Birlings speech the door bell rings at the right time to create tension, the doorbell ring was purposely put their to create tension and to stop Birling preaching about capitalist views. Its clever even how one word â€Å"and† can be such a tensional word as the door bell rings. In the stage directions â€Å"the lighting should be pink and intimate until the inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder† it changes to as if all the characters were being