J.B Priestley

CHILDHOOD 1894-1914 (setting on play 1912)

John Priestly was born in 1894 in Bradford (Yorkshire). His Mom died soon after his birth. His father was a headmaster. He left school at 16 instead of going to University, and got experience, later becoming a junior clerk at a wool firm in the city while writing at night. Eventually he got his articles published in newspapers.

Priestley was surrounded by Socialist values, his father was a proud Socialist his peers were also politically active. These cemented his Socialist values while he was young.

In Bradford, Priestly witnessed a lot of poverty among the working classes. The city was very much industrial, the living conditions had improved since the 1840s, but many still lived in slums and impoverished conditions. He also noticed how the respectable folk behaved, he viewed them as being smug and hypocritical.

WW1 1914-1939

Priestly was 19-20 when WW1 broke out. He volunteered for the army and served 5 years as a private, lance-corporal and officer. In his time he was buried alive by a shell attack and a victim of a gas attack. He survived physically but his experience could have lead to survivors guilt. At a regimental reunion in Bradford, he found that his fellow veterans were too poor to afford clothes for the event, he was outraged as they had given everything to a society that didn’t care about them.

After the war, Priestley studied Modern History and Political Science at Cambridge University before focussing on his writing. He moved to London and became a famous novelist and radio broadcaster. He used his platform to speak out about class inequality and poverty in Britain and promote Socialism.

WW2 1939-1945 (play was written 1945)

When WW2 broke out, Priestley became a radio broadcaster for the BBC. He had his shows ‘Postscripts’ come on after the news. The shows purpose was to give his own personal reflections on the wartime conditions, and to boost national morale. He wanted a fairer, better society to emerge after the war. The show ended as it was apparently too left-wing.

In 1942, Priestley became a co-founder of the Common Wealth Party (Socialist political party). At this point he was an influential figure in British politics. His opinions shaped a lot of political debates. He helped Labour win the election in 1945 and contributed to the Welfare State.(the government is responsible for the individual and social welfare of its citizens)

A key theme in Priestley’s work is responsibility. How individual and collective had responsibilities and duties.