The Thriller Like Suspense in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Essa

The Thriller Like Suspense in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley â€Å"An Inspector Calls is a perfect play. It contains theatrical excitement in the thriller-like suspense of the Inspector’s inquiry; it has a moral message and it is very tightly constructed.† Do you agree with this statement? The play â€Å"An Inspector Calls† was written by J.B Priestly. The play is set in 1912, in the Edwardian Era, in a fictional town called Brumley, an industrial city in the North Midlands. When Priestly wrote the play in 1945, World War II was just ending. The play is set two years before World War I, in 1912, and in the year of the Titanic. In the Edwardian Era, known as the â€Å"Golden Age† for some classes, upper and middle classes led a pleasant life. They had everything they needed and plenty of money. The upper class, which, in the play, includes Mrs Birling, Gerald Croft and his parents, Mr and Mrs Croft, were hardhearted people. The upper class owned factories and businesses and employed the middle class, like Mr Birling, to run them. The working class, like Eva Smith, were the employees who worked for many hours and little pay. The upper class did not work, but were wealthy and many of them were associated with royalty. It was not a â€Å"Golden Age† for the working class though. They had little money and struggled to stay alive due to lack of food and employment. They worked in factories or coalmines owned by the upper class. The entire play is set in one room, the dining room. The play begins with the Birling family, who appear respectable, celebrating the engagement between their daughter, Shelia Birling, and Gerald Croft, when an Inspector calls to question them regarding a suicide incident of a young... ... Shelia, but not at the same time. Gerald, Eric and Mrs Birling do not see the photograph, this is because they knew her by name, but she had several different names. She was known to Gerald as Daisy Renton whereas, Eric knew her as Eva Smith and Mrs Birling said Eva Smith called herself Mrs Birling. The audience is left to wonder why the Inspector has only shown this photograph to two people and whether or not it was the same photograph. This is another clue to the audience to show that he may not be a real Inspector. â€Å"An Inspector Calls† has been a very successful play because it is enjoyable to watch. The play holds the audience’s attention because of the continuous action. The play today continues to be very popular and the moral or message Priestly tries to put across, treat people how you want to be treated, still applies to a modern audience.