Explore the ways in which the opening of an inspector calls sets the :: English Literature

Explore the ways in which the opening of an inspector calls sets thescene and prepares the auditory sense for the downfall of the Birlings andGerald CroftI am going to start my essay by looking at the way in which plays werewritten and what theatrical genres were about in J.B Priestleys day,as this is likely to give an indication as to which genres influencedhim.In Priestleys day, there were four main genres that were performed atthe theatre, these include glamorous musicals, Shakespeareantragedies, detective thrillers and serious drama like that of GeorgeBernard Shaw and T.S Eliot. I think that the detective thrillersinfluenced Priestley to write an inspector calls. Most detectivethrillers, in those days involved adept body, six suspects and aninspector, they then try to find out who done it. These types of playsare called morality plays.J.B Priestley fought in World War I and had experienced life intrenches, which where hell, and was a victim of a gas attack. Thismight have been what formed his socialist view. He was not the onlywriter to have socialist views subsequently WWI there were others such asGeorge Bernard Shaw. Priestley must have realised that if we dontcare for each other and take responsibility for our actions there willbe more wars, so he wrote the play to send across the message thatpeople they have to take responsibility for their actions.The class your family was in, in Edwardian times was very importantand Priestley makes it obvious that this family is an upper classfamily from the very detailed stage directions at the beginning of theplay. The Dining room of a clean large suburban house, belonging toa prosperous manufacturer. It has good solid furniture. From thisquote we can tell that Priestley wants the family to look nearly offbecause he describes their house as fairly big, and calls Mr. Birlinga Prosperous manufacturer which means he is a wealthy person and thathe has a well established business. He also describes their furniturea s good and solid. People in them days could not normally afford solidfurniture, so shows over again this familys wealth.