Grade 9 Full essay: How does Priestley present the older and the younger generation in ‘An Inspector calls’?
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Course
English
Institution
GCSE
This essay walks you through exactly how to achieve a Grade 9 in an essay on the play An Inspector Calls for the theme 'the older and the younger generation'
Full essay: How does Priestley present the older and the younger generation in ‘An Inspector calls’?
[30 marks]
AO4 [4 marks]
In the play ‘An Inspector Calls’, Priestley exemplifies the detrimental effects of capitalism on
humanity, using his characters to structure and provide depth to his criticism of capitalism and to
represent the different socio-economic ideologies that could govern society. Priestley depicts the older
generation as staunch capitalists who embody and facilitate Priestley’s criticisms of capitalism as
fundamentally cruel, selfish and deeply ignorant. By contrast, the younger generation is shown to hold
more progressive ideals but are ultimately presented as the beneficiaries of capitalism who ultimately
submit to the system.
Priestley’s political beliefs are evident throughout the text as it is clear he intends to make the
audience receptive to his socialist argument through discrediting capitalism. Priestley executes this by
constructing Mr and Mrs Birling as proxies for capitalism and members of the older generation of the
upper class. As proxies, Priestley then uses these characters to voice the ideological tenets of capitalism
which he then exposes as deeply arrogant and foolish. This is performed clearly during the first act as Mr
Birling contends that the Titanic is ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’, and ‘there isn’t a chance of war’.
However, this use of dramatic irony ensures that the audience view Birling as a highly hubristic individual
as his faith in capitalism to preclude disaster is entirely misplaced; the Titanic will sink within the month
and tensions within pre-war Europe will continue to escalate for three decades, culminating in two bloody
wars. These tragic events would have been extremely memorable for contemporary playgoers as the
publication of the play predated the end of the Second World War, thus serving as a signifier that Birling’s
predictions are not to be trusted. If his assertions on technology and international relations are false then
they must question the validity of his political beliefs and ideology. Mr Birling is representative of the
dominant upper class that perpetuates and benefits from capitalism, consequently, he embodies all the
logical flaws of his ideology. This ensures that the older generation is presented as highly ignorant.
Priestley suggests that the older generation’s identity as capitalists ensure that they keep the most
basic of human needs away from the poor. Sequentially, Mrs Birling represents the moral vices of
capitalism, epitomising the corrupting and exploitative nature of the ideology. At a first glance, we may
presume that Mrs Birling’s dramatic purpose is to engineer the revelation that Eric is the father of Eva
Smith’s child. However, an alternative evaluation of Sybil Birling is that she symbolises the corrupt
capitalist antecedent to the welfare state in order for Priestly to present its failings and advocate for a
socialist welfare state. Priestley suggests that the rich claim to be superior on the basis of class as a way to
justify the oppression of the poor, illustrated by the demeaning language that Mrs Birling uses to describe
Eva as ‘giving herself ridiculous airs’ and ‘claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply
absurd for a girl in her position’. Though Eva is likely to be in her mid-twenties, the noun ‘girl’ implies
that she is less mature, less developed and perhaps less valuable than a woman. The fricatives ‘fine
feelings’ and sibilance employed by Mrs Birling are serpentine and cold, creating a harsh sound that
reflects the disdain that she feels towards Eva on the basis of her ‘position’. This implies that Mrs Birling
is unfit to lead the ‘Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation’ as her disdain for the working classes ensures
that she uses her ‘influence’ to actively withhold aid from those in need. This facilitates Priestley’s
socialist message as it critiques Edwardian notions of upper-class philanthropy towards the poor, which is
based on presumptions of the charity giver's social superiority and severe moral judgement of the
"deserving” and “undeserving” poor. By showing that the rich are ignorant to systemic privilege and are
too morally corrupt to decide who should receive care, Priestley exposes such philanthropy as inadequate
and morally deficient. In this message Priestley calls his audience to support the establishment of a
welfare system that eliminates the need for charity, ensuring that every citizen receives the basic
conditions to support life.
Priestley suggests that just as capitalism fails to support the needs of the working class and the
poor, the older generation is shown to neglect the emotional needs of their children. In the third act, Eric
describes Birling as ‘not the type of father a chap can turn to’, this suggests that Birling has never
supported his son emotionally. Perhaps Birling’s cold attitude towards his son is an extension of his
capitalist rhetoric. Initially, Birling describes himself as a ‘practical, hardheaded man of business’ who
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