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you
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welcome to the first episode in clique
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revisions and inspector call season
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these videos focus on a range of study
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topics including the characters and
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themes that run through the play its
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structure in the language used by the
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author JB Priestley as well as the
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social and historical context in which
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the play was written and received by the
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public
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this first video introduces the play's
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context in other words the social and
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historical circumstances in which that
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inspector calls was written and how its
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playwright JB Priestley was influenced
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by the society he lived in we will look
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at some of the background on Priestley
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himself and examined what life was like
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for both men and women in 1912 when the
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play is set we will define what social
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classes and look at how people of
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different social standing with you just
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before the First World War
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we'll also examine different attitudes
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towards charity and social welfare which
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is one of the most important themes of
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the play but finally we will also be
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looking at why Priestley chose to set
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his play in 1912 when it was written in
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1945
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an inspector calls is viewed as one of
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the most important plays of the 20th
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century indeed the fact that it is still
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produced regularly by theatre companies
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all over the world shows how relevant
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Priestley's work still is over 70 years
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later the play was written in 1945 at
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the end of World War two but is set in
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1912 shortly before the start of the
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First World War though it is a play by a
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British playwright and very much about
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Britain it was first performed in the
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Soviet Union or Russia and wasn't
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performed in the UK until a year later
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JB Priestley was born in Yorkshire in
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1894 and narrowly escaped death fighting
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in World War one upon returning from the
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war he began writing and went on to
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write letters newspaper articles over 50
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plays and much more his work often
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sought to make a political statement
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about the state of society and the
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plight of the people in it during the
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Second World War he also hosted a weekly
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talk show which was axed for being
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critical of the current government
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despite being very very popular with the
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public Priestley it was viewed as a left
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winger or a socialist which means he was
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interested in equality and fairness for
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all people not just those who could
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afford to support themselves in 1942
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three years before an inspector calls
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was first performed Priestley helped
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some people start a new political party
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called the Commonwealth party which
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became part of the Labour Party in 1945
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and he was also one of the founder
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members of the campaign for nuclear
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disarmament or the CND Priestley
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believed that people should all take
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care of each other regardless of their
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background or differences his goal was
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to point out how people from lower class
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backgrounds were given less opportunity
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in society than people from upper class
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families and therefore found it more
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difficult to succeed ultimately he
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wanted society to even out so that
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everyone got an equal share and a fair
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shot of success
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so just what is class and how do we
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define what class a person falls into to
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understand social class it's only
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important to know the difference between
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three different types of people these
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divisions are made based on the wealth
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and background of each individual and we
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can draw a clear line from top to bottom
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which makes it very simple so at the top
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we have the upper class these are people
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born into money who are generally
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thought to have an easier life than
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those born without money because they
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don't have to struggle they live in some
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degree of luxury compared to the less
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well-off and they have more power within
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the community because of their wealth
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the upper-class are also usually the
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most well educated and are more likely
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to go to university and take up
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professional well-paid jobs in later
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life this sector of society is
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represented in the play by both mrs.
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Birling and Gerald Croft who were born
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into affluent or wealthy families hello
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the upper-class sits the middle class
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these are self-made people people who
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are born without great wealth but who
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have a fair education and have managed
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to build themselves up enough to live
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comfortably among the upper class and do
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not have to struggle in the play this
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sector of society is represented by
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Arthur Burleigh who mentions how he's a
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self-made man several times and who is
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excited by his daughter's engagement
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Gerald because it brings together two
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factory owning families
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finally at the bottom rung of the ladder
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we have the working class or lower class
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this sector encompasses the poorest and
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least educated people those who work
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less skilled jobs have to strive to pay
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bills and who often struggle to make
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themselves part of the society created
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and controlled by the upper class in
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this play the character of Eva Smith
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represents the poorest most unfortunate
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members of society those who in
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Priestley's view don't stand a chance in
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a system that's stacked against them
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from the start and JB Priestley uses her
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fate as a way of looking at the
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treatment of all lower-class people by
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the rich and powerful
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there has always been a large gap in the
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quality of life between the upper and
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lower classes in society and this is
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reflected in the place setting which
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we'll examine in greater detail later in
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this series however it should be clear
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from the outset of the play that the
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Burling family is very well-off priestly
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supplies very detailed stage directions
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that describe the house the family lives
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in and the lavish celebration they're
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hosting to celebrate their daughter's
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engagement this is a comfortable family
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who live in a house with separate dining
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rooms study and lounge who have a
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telephone which only the very richest in
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society had in 1912 and who drink their
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alcohol from a decanter and not from the
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bottle this is a stark contrast to the
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conditions lived in by Eva Smith the
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inspector describes her home as being
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little more than a dingy little back
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bedroom Priestley uses this contrast to
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highlight just how easy the Burling
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family have it as privileged members of
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society and this links to how much
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irresponsible power legs are on the
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people around them particularly Eva
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Smith it is no coincidence that we never
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see Eva Smith in the play we don't
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actually see on stage flashbacks for
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each character we only hear about her
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from the mouths of the other characters
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this is because the upper and lower
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class is rarely directly mixed with one
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another and one of Priestley's goals was
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to highlight how little the rich and
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powerful think about the people they
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consider beneath them in the social
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hierarchy so if the upper class are the
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lords and ladies the lawmakers the
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mayors the respected members of society
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then by comparison the lower class
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encompassed the roles in society most
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frowned upon or least respected from
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manual workers all the way down to
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criminals and prostitutes in theory the
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higher up the ladder you are the more
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likely you are to look down on those
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beneath you and judge them of course
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this is an extremely simplified way to
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look at it but it helps to place the
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events of the play in the correct time
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and place the first part of the 20th
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century saw a great deal of social
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change in Great Britain after all the
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two world wars that took place forced
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men and women from all backgrounds to
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support each other in a way they never
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had before against a common enemy
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however this social change didn't happen
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overnight and many members of the upper
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class fought hard against any attempts
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to offer charity to people they saw as
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the dregs of society
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in fact the issue of charity and
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goodwill is just as important to the
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context of in spectacles as it is as a
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central theme of the play the Burling
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family are all in a position to be able
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to help the worst doc in society again
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represented here by deva smith and
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choose to exert that power differently
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as we will discuss later each member of
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the family views its responsibility to
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help others or not help them at all in
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very different ways and priestly uses
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this to encourage debate among the
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audience about how these ideas relate to
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the world they live in in studying and
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in spectacles you'll probably have been
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asked to consider the question which
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member of the Burling family is most to
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blame for the death of either Smith and
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if you haven't is a very useful question
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to consider it's important to remember
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that in answering this question
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there is no incorrect answer only the
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opinions of each audience member based
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on their own beliefs and how they view
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the morality of each character as long
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as you feel you can justify your
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opinions based on the events of the play
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you will always give the right answer
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which makes your job much easier so
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whether you feel Arthur Burling is to
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blame for firing either Smith from the
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factory or that Eric and Gerald are most
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to blame for the way they exploited
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either Smith or that mrs. Birling is
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most responsible for casting a pregnant
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woman out at her time of greatest need
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this says as much about your own beliefs
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as it does about the actions of the
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characters and this is exactly what JB
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Priestley wanted to achieve
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so why did the writer set the play in
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1912 when it was written in 1945 well
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firstly Priestley was using the events
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preceding the First World War to allow
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his characters to predict the future
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there are many mentions in the play of
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the possibility of war though as we will
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see in later videos each character views
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the threat very differently with some
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character seeing war as a certainty and
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others more doubtful that it will happen
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of course the First World War did take
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place only two years after when the play
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is set and by looking at the events of
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the play from the future
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audience members are able to judge
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whether the forward-looking views of
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these characters were right or wrong in
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the context of what actually happened
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this isn't the only way Priestley uses
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real-life events to contextualize the
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plays narrative either Burling mentions
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the Unsinkable new ship Titanic which
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launched in April of 1912 the same month
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the players say he also mentions the
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factory strikes of 1910 which were a
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real world event that altered many
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attitudes towards factory work and
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sparked a fierce public debate however
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there were many events that took place
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between 1912 and the end of the Second
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World War which all resulted in a huge
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amount of change and as we'll see in a
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later video mr. Birling fails to
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correctly predict the outcome of any of
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them so beginning in 1912 we have the
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launch of the Titanic which was thought
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at the time to be a glorious monument to
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mankind's progress and achievement but
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ultimately ended up looking like one of
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mankind's biggest acts of hubris or
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arrogance then in 1914 we have the
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beginning of the First World War which
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lasted until 1918 and altered the roles
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of both men and women in British society
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forever then in 1917 came the Russian
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Revolution which saw the collapse of the
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Russian Empire and a new communist
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government in the soviet union this is
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particularly important because it links
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strongly to JB Priestley's own political
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beliefs as a socialist which in turn are
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very strongly intertwined into the
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narrative of an inspector calls next in
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1926 came the general strike in the UK
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where over 1.7 million workers went on
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strike for nine days in support of
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Britain's coal miners again this is
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important as it's an event hinted at by
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both the miners strike of 1912 which is
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mentioned in the play and the
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striking workers a Burlington company
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who were fired from their jobs for being
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seen as troublemakers three years later
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in 1929 came The Wall Street Crash and
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the Great Depression that followed it
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which resulted in the financial crisis
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that caused a ripple effect across the
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entire world for years to come
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then finally in 1939 we have the Second
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World War which once again forced men to
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fight overseas and alter gender roles in
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the UK and also saw the first atomic
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bombs being used in warfare in August
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1945 something which JB Priestley was
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completely against as a founder member
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of the campaign for nuclear disarmament
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or CND so between 1912 and 1945 a lot of
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British life which was assumed to be
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fixed and safe was actually changed
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forever this is most evident in the role
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of women in British society as this
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period in history saw women begin to
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move towards some level of equality with
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men this happened for a number of
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reasons firstly the rise of women's
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movements such as the suffragettes
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highlighted the vast gap between men and
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women in terms of pay and power after
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all women wouldn't be allowed to vote in
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elections in Great Britain until 1918
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furthermore the two world wars that took
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place between 1912 and 1945 created a
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huge shift in gender politics simply
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because so many men were conscripted
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into the army and sent overseas to fight
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and often died in battle
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many roles usually occupied by men from
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factory workers to postman and milkman
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were taken by women while the men were
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away at war cementing the role of women
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as more vital to society running
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smoothly and resulting in increased
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equality when the war finished as many
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women were reluctant to go back to their
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previous often home-based mother and
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housewife roles before this period women
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were nearly always seen as subservient
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or less important to society than men
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particularly in poorer families where
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the women were forced into child care
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and housekeeping roles it was not
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uncommon for women to have all their
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decisions made for them by men and this
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has reflected several times in the play
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particularly in Sheila's response to her
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engagement ring Oh Gerald it's the one
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you wanted me to have so overall that's
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a lot of information to take in and a
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lot of knowledge to have in order to
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really understand the background of the
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play however beyond all the dates and
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the
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in the events the most important thing
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for you to remember is that the first
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half of the 20th century saw a huge
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amount of social economic and political
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change in Great Britain and an inspector
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calls is set almost the exact moment
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before that change began
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thanks for watching up next in episode 2
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of clique revision series on an
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inspector calls we're going to begin to
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look at each of the characters beginning
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with arthur Burling
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now you've watched this video try to
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write a few sentences or even a long
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paragraph answering each of these
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questions when you re watch the video
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you can continue to add and develop your
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response until you're satisfied you have
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plenty to say on the subject if it comes
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up in your English literature exam
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question 1 what is social class and how
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do we define the different classes in
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society
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question two how did the role of women
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in society change during the first half
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of the 20th century question three
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why did JB Priestley second inspector
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calls in 1912
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you
