How Is the Theme of Remorse Developed in 'an Inspector Calls'

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How is the theme of remorse developed in ‘An Inspector Calls’? J.B Priestly wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ to promote his socialist views and impact his audience’s political opinions. Priestly was a socialist activist and was part of a group that desired to change how the country was run. He uses the play to explore characters and relate them to his audience, helping him to create a greater effect- changing their political views. The main element Priestly explores is the change of remorse. By creating different types of characters, with multiple characteristics and opinions, it relates to everyone, consequently altering the public’s views on the government. The play is about a very wealthy, upper-class, family who are questioned by a police inspector. They receive news that a young girl had committed suicide by swallowing strong disinfectant. Each character confesses that they had done something wrong to the girl; contributing to the cause of her death. This splits the characters into groups, due to their opinions and amount of guilt. Some of the groups are: capitalism and socialism, old and young, sympathetic and non-sympathetic and remorseful and remorseless. These groups help the audience to define themselves, hopefully changing them into a socialist; as capitalists are perceived as evil and wrong in the play. Throughout this essay I am going to explore the theme of remorse and how it develops I expect to find that each character’s individual, amount of remorse changes throughout the play. The wealthy family are called the Birling’s. Arthur Birling is a very successful businessman who has brought much pride and money into the family. At the beginning of Act One the family are celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling (the daughter) and Gerald Croft (the son of a rival businessman). We can see that the family are wealthy as they have; port, cigars, cigarettes,
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