An Inspector Calls and Other Plays (Penguin Modern Classics)

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An Inspector Calls at Novello Theatre and others 2009-2010". www.abouttheartists.com . Retrieved 20 January 2023. When the family talk over what has happened, they begin to question whether their visitor was a real police inspector. Mr Birling makes a phone call to the chief constable, who confirms that there is no Inspector Goole on the force. With a further call to the infirmary confirming that no recent cases of suicide have been reported, the family surmise that the inspector was a fraud and that they have been the victims of a hoax. Gerald and the elder Birlings celebrate in relief, but Eric and Sheila continue to feel guilt. The phone then rings and the police tell them that a young woman has just died in the infirmary in a suspected suicide, and that they are on their way to question the family. The inspector's identity is left unexplained (though a clue is in the name), but it is clear that the family's confessions over the course of the evening have all been true, and that public disgrace will soon befall them.

Highly successful after its first and subsequent London productions, the play is now considered one of Priestley's greatest works, and it has been subject to a variety of critical interpretations.

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A large number of scenes were also filmed at Scampston Hall, near Malton, and in the market town of Malton. [ citation needed] The exterior is Attingham House. [ citation needed]

When the inspector visits the Birling's house she says "an Inspector's called." She is asked to stay up late during the play by Mrs Birling to make tea for the Birling family. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.’

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Gale, Maggie (2004). "Theatre and drama between the wars". In Nicholls, Peter; Marcus, Laura (eds.). The Cambridge history of twentieth-century English literature. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p.328. ISBN 0-521-82077-4. the middle class family was at the centre of much of Priestley's work ... most clearly perhaps in 'An Inspector Calls'. An Inspector Calls, written at a time when society was undergoing sweeping transformations, has been produced as a successful film, and enjoyed repeated revivals since it was first produced in 1946. While holding its audience with the gripping tension of a detective thriller, it is also a philosophical play about social conscience and the crumbling of middle class values.

There are four plays in this book and the first three of them are superb. The fourth is good but to be honest I also found it a bit boring. Why? For the simple reason that the first three have metaphysical, supernatural, moral, social and paradoxical elements. The fourth only has the moral and social input. But let's not be too harsh on 'The Linden Tree'. Certainly the characters in the play are very engaging and the ending is excellent, namely the hint of the resurgence of the spirit of a great professor who has almost, but not quite, been crushed by circumstances outside his control. The stage directions that describe the Inspector give the impression that he is an imposing figure. His tendency to interrupt and control the conversation adds to this impression too. David Thewlis. "David Thewlis to lead cast of BBC One's adaptation of JB Priestley's An Inspector Calls - Media Centre". BBC . Retrieved 23 September 2015.

Summary

If you enjoyed An Inspector Calls, you might like Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. Read more Details a b Gardner, Lyn (13 November 2016). "An Inspector Calls review – Stephen Daldry helps make the case for justice". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018 . Retrieved 7 February 2018. For Students and Teachers | jbpriestleysociety.com". www.jbpriestleysociety.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017 . Retrieved 25 May 2017.