Is Inspector Goole an angel?
Many critics and audiences have interpreted Goole’s role as that of an “avenging angel” because of his supernatural omniscience and all-knowing final warning, and even because of his name, which is a homophone for the word “ghoul”.
What are the themes in An Inspector Calls?
Let’s look at the four main themes:
- social responsibility.
- age.
- gender.
- class.
Did Inspector Goole killed Eva Smith?
An inspector arrives at the Birling house. He tells them how a girl called Eva Smith has killed herself by drinking disinfectant – he wants to ask them some questions. The Inspector reveals that the girl used to work in Arthur Birling’s factory and he had her sacked for going on strike.
What is the message behind An Inspector Calls?
An Inspector Calls is scathing in its criticism of middle-class hypocrisy. The play gives voice to Priestley’s strong socialist principles, and carries a clear moral message, stressing the importance of social responsibility: ‘We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’.
What is the meaning behind An Inspector Calls?
Chris Power introduces An Inspector Calls as a morality play that denounces the hypocrisy and callousness of capitalism and argues that a just society can only be achieved if all individuals feel a sense of social responsibility.
Is An Inspector Calls a morality play?
J B Priestley’s play An Inspector Calls, first performed in 1945, is a morality play disguised as a detective thriller. The morality play is a very old theatrical form, going back to the medieval period, which sought to instruct audiences about virtue and evil.
What happened in An Inspector Calls?
An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley, is a play that revolves around the apparent suicide of a young woman called Eva Smith. In the play, the unsuspecting Birling family are visited by the mysterious Inspector Goole. He arrives just as they are celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft.