An Inspector Calls Coursework Example

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An inspector calls
The play, An Inspector Calls, was developed after the Second World War. Since most British men had gone to war, women were forced to take the men’s positions at places of work. The move brought change to the existing perceptions about women. Males had to admit the fact that females were equally capable. Because of this, most females relished in the new freedom brought about by working and making cash. However, not all males perceived the women’s transformation in attitude as a good change and remained rooted in the past. JB Priestley discovers the influence of the newfound female roles by highlighting the individuality of Eva Smith and Mr. Birling’s sexist attitude. This essay seeks to explore the manner in which Priestley has presented women in An Inspector Calls.
Females are depicted as valueless. Priestly uses several female characters to demonstrate this, from a noble, mature daughter to low-born working-class miss. The working-class lady, Eva Smith, suffers the most like a woman. In the entire play, Eva was treated differently by all individuals, as a person who lacked value in the society. At first, when Mr. Birlings speaks about Eva, he says, ‘We were paying the usual rates, and if they didn’t like those rates, they could go work somewhere else”, suggesting his perception about working-class females. Birling indirectly suggests that he does not need the females to labour for him. He goes ahead to say “they could go work somewhere else” (Priestly 15), indicating that the women had no value to him and if they did not like the way he treated them they were free to seek employment somewhere else.

Mr. Birling’s statement suggests how the community lacked respect for females.
Also, women in the play are shown as weak characters- Sheila in Particular who is protected by men from several things including the incident in which Eva Smith commits suicide. Mr. and Mrs. Birling in a bid to shelter Sheila from the dismays of dealings say, “I think you ought to go to bed now and forget this absurd business” (Priestly 56). Created in the 1912 environment, the female in writing is portrayed as a possession of her husband that had no career or did not work due to the male-controlled society. In, An Inspector Calls, Mrs. Birling is protected from external dealings including the fact that most highborn males attended prostitute inns, the “Stalls Bar,” and the fact that her male child drank excessively. These events bring fight within the household (Priestly 34).
Priestly represents women as beings responsible for each other. Different to the rest of her household, Sheila does not separate low-class females from her family and herself as she tells Mr. Birling, “But these girls aren’t cheap labour – they’re people” (Priestly 19), here, she defends Eva Smith. Even though Sheila does not recognise Eva, she tells her dad that just because the women were the lower class, it did not qualify them as low-priced labour and that they were still human beings even if they were not higher class. The event expresses imagery; Sheila represents the women and youth in general. She takes a stand for all low-class females who are mistreated by the community. The actions summarise Priestley’s theme from this play that we all need to be responsible for one another (Priestly 66).
Additionally, Priestly uses dramatic irony to present women as equally able beings in the society. Since the play is based on the 1912 era, it depicts how females in that era were treated; they had fewer rights compared to men, they were not treated as equals to males and were seen as inferior to men (Priestly 41). However, the period in which the book was written, 1945, females had acquired more privileges since men had left for the battle to fight for their country, a thing Mr. Birling feels was not supposed to occur. Therefore, like men, women who were left in charge managed the country and drove it forward (Priestly 54). They grew much independent, and the civilisation began adopting their thoughts, accepting them as powerful beings.
In the play, Priestly tries to demonstrate women’s importance in the society even though not directly. For instance, when the inspector states that, “There are a lot of young women living that sort of existence in every city and big towns in this country, Miss Birling. If there weren’t, the factories and warehouse wouldn’t know where to look for cheap labour.”(Priestly 19). In the quote, even though it seems like Inspector Goole is suggesting that working-class females were low-priced labour, he suggests that all the warehouses and factories in the country needed the women to manage their businesses. Even if they were just women, there was a lot they could do. Thus, in the play, JB Priestly ironically portrays females as low and less critical, while in the real sense they were essential to the society as men were. The ability of the women to participate in nation-building in the play is portrayed by the working-class women, represented by Eva Smith (Priestly 56).
Work Cited
Priestley, John B. An inspector calls. Ernst Klett Sprachen, 2009