context

jb priestly’s play, an inspector calls is set in 1912 but written in 1945. the play is set before both world wars and at the time when the british empire was still a force to be reckoned with internationally

the play is about an edwardian family who are visited by a character who appears to be a police inspector. during the discussion that follows, it becomes clear that everyone in the family, including gerald, the daughters fiancé, has contributed to the death of a young girl who took her own life after her treatment at their hands. she was sacked from two jobs, had two unfortunate love affairs and was turned away by a charity committee while pregnant. pregnancy outside of marriage was greatly frowned upon in this period.

the play is made theatrically effective by the twists and turns in the story and an intriguing chain of events. it then asks questions about blame and personal responsibility, whether the girl actually exists and if the policeman is an imposter or even a spirit.

this is the key moral point of the play. priestly’s message is that we all have a duty to society and it will collapse if we don’t honour that duty

class is also a very important theme in this play. the historical context is that class was still very rigid in edwardian times and it was thought that the upper classes should never mix with the lower classes.