How Do The Characters in An Inspector Calls Reflect 1912 Society? :: English Literature

How Do The Characters In An Inspector Calls Reflect 1912 Society? J.B Priestley, born in 1894 in Bradford. He went to Bradford Grammar School but did not decide to go to University but to follow his passion for writing, first he wrote articles for the local London papers before going on to be a playwright. He joined the army in 1914 at the age of 20. After being on the frontline in the Second World War, Priestley became very political and started to involve his political opinions in his work, as in 'An Inspector Calls' which he wrote in the second week after the Second World War which only took him a week to finish. He put his message across to the audience through the play, which states that people of all the social classes must learn to get along with each other since everyday is spent together. The play 'An Inspector Calls' is set in 1912 but written in 1945. The characters reflect the society of 1912 in many ways. There are six main characters that reflect 1912 society and one character, the Inspector, who takes control and who basically expresses the opinions of Priestley. The Birling family are the stereotypical upper class family of 1912, they own a 'large suburban house', the father of the family is a wealthy businessman and all have high social status. Mr Arthur Birling is the man of the house he has his wife Sybil, his son Eric and his daughter Sheila. He is a hard headed businessman, only concerned with wealth, profit and social status. He reflects a stereotypical upper class businessman of 1912 because the husband would go out to work, run the business and earn the money. Mr Birling is the person who got the Birlings their high social position, this is all he cares about for example when he realises that Eric stole money from his office he says, "I've got to cover this up as soon as I can. You damned fool" here he shows how concerned about his social position he is. This is what Priestley gets at. Priestley is annoyed about the fact that the upper-class businessman, such as Birling, had no outlook on others, mainly the working class, and Priestley tries to get his message across to the audience that people in Birling's position should not act as arrogantly as he and realise the value of others across the community. Mr Birling thinks very highly of himself and it shows especially where he talks about the First World War and how war was impossible, "Just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two, or a