(first English performance 1946) by the dramatist, novelist and essayist J(ohn) B(oynton) Priestley (1894-1984) is a compelling play in which a man claiming to be a police inspector calls on the prosperous and seemingly secure Birling family when they are entertaining the young man to whom their daughter is engaged, and skilfully manoeuvres each of them into acknowledging their apparent responsibility for the part they played in the “chain of events” (14) leading to the suicide of a twenty-four-year old working-class woman whose original name was Eva Smith. The play is set in the North Midlands industrial city of Brumley in early April 1912. Priestley often looks back to the Edwardian era with nostalgia, for example in his play
Eden End(1934) and his novel
Bright5280 words
Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "An Inspector Calls". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 November 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35070, accessed 26 November 2024.]
