An Inspector Calls Coursework Assignment.
To what extent can Sheila Birling be held responsible for the death of Eva Smith?.
J.B Priestley wrote An Inspector Calls' in 1945, however, the play was set in 1912. Priestley's main aim in writing this play was to warn the government of the consequences of not making social changes that natural justice demanded. Priestley had fought in the First World War. In 1918, when the war was over, Lloyd George had promised the soldiers that they would return to a fit country for heroes to live in. Instead, they returned to a country in turmoil. England had an abundance of unemployment, recession, strikes and hunger marches. In this play, he reminds the government of the dreadful situation after the First World War. He attempts to ensure that the new Labour government did not allow the country to slip in to the same plight after the Second World War.
People were expected to know their place in society and adhere to it and those in power frowned upon moving from one section of the class system to another.In the play itself the main family, the 'Birlings' are wealthy middle class landowners and proprietors of a large factory that was established by the father of Mr. Birling. Mr Birling has hopes of gaining a knighthood, due to his services as a magistrate and as Lord Mayor, which he sees as a way of climbing the social ladder to the lower rungs of the aristocracy. This is shown in the way in which he compares this to the mother of his daughter's fiancé, Lady Croft, who is already, part of the aristocracy. Therefore, it can be seen that by marrying Gerald Croft, Sheila is playing a part in the family's social climbing.
Women at that time were seen as being delicate, fragile and obedient to their husbands or fathers. Women were trying to gain the same rights as men, thus beginning the Suffrage movement. Under Roman law, which influenced later British law, husband and wife were regarded as one, with the woman the "possession" of the man.