Social and Cultural Background

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J..Priestley’s J..Priestley’s own own

experiences experiences may have on the may have on the

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WALT understand the social and cultural background to the

play ‘An Inspector Calls.’ (Where are you now on the arrow? Mark it with a B)

Starter - Challenge yourselves!

All: Imagine you are the daughter of a wealthy, well-known businessman. He is forcing you to marry a man you do not love. Write a paragraph describing how you feel about the situation.

EXTENSION: Write a paragraph explaining why women might be viewed as lower than men in Edwardian England.

Activity 1: J.B.Priestley

You are now going to explore the background of the writer: J.B.Priestley.

You will be doing this by playing dominos.

You will have 8 minutes.

J.B.Priestley

Key words/terms: • Bradford – Yorkshire town. • Clerk – worker who performs office duties. • Critic – someone who judges or appraises. • Strife – bitter, sometimes violent, conflict or struggle.• Truce – an agreed break in a dispute or fight. • Suffragette – a woman campaigning for women’s rights

e.g. the vote. • Order of Merit – award recognising great service in the

armed forces, science, art, literature.

Activity 1: J.B.Priestley• J.B.Priestley was born in 1894. • He was born in Heaton, Bradford. • He called Heaton an ‘ultra-respectable’ suburb of Bradford. • His parents were middle class. • His first job was as a Jnr clerk in a wool company. • He joined the Army during WW1. • He was declared unfit after a gas attack. • He read Modern History and Political Science at Cambridge. • By 1922 he was a journalist and critic. • 1930s: he became concerned with social problems and industrial

strife. • 1940: presented Postscripts where he expressed left-wing political

views. • Conservatives complained about his programme and axed it. • 1941: Priestley and friends found the socialist Common Wealth

Party. • After WW2 he continued as a writer.

Activity 1: J.B.Priestley• 1945: the play was called ‘An Inspector Calls.’ • First performed in Russia 1946. • First UK performance October 1946. • 1957: ‘Russia, the Atom and the West’ led to the formation of the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. • He was interested in the concept of time, as seen in his article ‘Man

and Time.’ • Priestley wrote an introduction to Antonia Raeburn’s ‘The Militant

Suffragettes’ in 1973. • 1977: awarded the order of Merit. • He wrote 2 autobiographical volumes in later years. • Priestley died in 1984.

Edwardian England: the facts! Why is context important?

To help you fully understand the text as personal

views, beliefs, events and attitudes from the period

will have influence the content, plot and themes of

the play. So, to fully understand ‘An Inspector

Calls’ you will need to understand what happened

in Britain at the time it was set.

The Play • Play is set in 1912, Edwardian England.

• 2 years before WW1.

• This was a time of strikes, food shortages and political tension.

• Play was written in 1945, just after WW2 (when the country was in a similar state!)

• Play’s moral message = we should think of others, work together and be treated equally. (SOCIALISM – see next slide)

• Play is set in the fictional (not real) town of Brumely; a Northern town, like Bradford

• Bradford had many factories, owned by rich people who paid very little for the back breaking work.

Socialism

• In the play, the country is run by Capitalists who believed that each person had to look after themselves – this resulted in unequal treatment of people i.e. lower class.

• When Labour came to power for the first time (just before the play was published) they established the idea of Socialism. This meant: – Everyone should think of others, not just themselves.

– Everyone should work together for the greater good.

– Everyone should be offered the chance to be treated equally i.e. no class system for example.

“The establishment of a system of society based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means and instruments for producing and distributing wealth by and in the interest of the whole community.”

The Socialist party of Great Britain.

Employment

• With the Capitalists in control, England had NO welfare system i.e. no dole if you were unemployed.

• For those lucky enough to be employed, there were no unions or laws that helped and protected people at work.

• There was no minimum wage. • The average number of hours worked was up to 65 (we only work,

on average, 39!) • Employers could basically treat their workers as they wanted! • Factory owners paid pittance for back breaking, excruciating work. • People who tried to take a stand against the pay would find

themselves out of a job, as there were plenty of people

waiting in the unemployment line who wouldn’t grumble.

Men and Women

• Women had fewer rights than men at the time. • They hadn’t yet won the right to vote. • They were not expected to work unless they were the lower class. • The lower class women would have to work to survive; they were

seen as cheap labour.’ • The higher class women were simply expected marry. • The eldest male of any home would be the breadwinner and also be

the person in charge at home: their word was LAW. • A wife or daughter would never argue or answer back to the

husband or the eldest son. • Women were subservient to men.

Equality

• During Edwardian England there was a divide between the rich and the poor: Upper, Middle, Lower class system.

• 87% of all the money in England belonged to only 5% of the population.

• The Upper classes believed there was no need to change anything about the way the Capitalists ran the country.

Divisions: - Rich vs Poor - Employed vs Unemployed- Men vs Women - Parents vs Children

What families lived on during Edwardian Times

Working Class Budget Middle Class Budget

£1.12 per week £5.75 per week

Rent 0.33 Rent 0.66

Social Club 0.01 Rates and Tax 0.23

Funeral insurance 0.04 Servant’s wages 0.34

Coal 0.04 Washing 0.50

Wood and lamp oil 0.03 Food and cleaning materials 1.50

Soap and soda 0.04 Repairs, replacements 0.19

Meat 0.16 Wine, beer, spirits 0.17

Husband’s dinners 0.15 Coal, gas 0.38

All other food 0.16

Total 0.96 Total 3.97

Leftover 0.16 Leftover 1.78

1912 (SET) 1945 (WRITTEN) WW1 would start in two years time.

Mr Birling’s optimistic view that there would not be a war is completely wrong.

WW2 ended 8th May 1945. People were recovering from nearly 6 years of warfare, danger and uncertainty.

Strong distinctions between upper and lower classes.

Class distinctions had been greatly reduced due to the 2 wars.

Women were subservient to men. No real role except wife and mother (high class).

As a result of the wars, women had earned a more value place in society.

Ruling classes felt nothing need to change with the ruling of the country.

Great desire for social change. After 2WW Labour won victory over the Conservatives – Socialism began.

VS

1912 vs. 1945: Importance?• Priestley deliberately chose to set his play in 1912.

• He chose this because the date represented an era that was very different to when he was writing in 1945.

• In 1912, there were rigid class and gender boundaries that made sure that nothing would ever change.

• Yet, by 1945, most of those class and gender divisions had been broken.

• Priestley wanted to make the most of these changes.

• Through his play, An Inspector Calls, he encourages people to seize the opportunity given to them by the end of the war, to build a better, more caring society.

Homework:

Find out what the Common Wealth Party was and write a brief explanation in your book.

Due: NEXT LESSON

•Founded July 1942

•Left wing party

•Concerned about those who are disadvantaged.

•Believed the class system was wrong.

•Wanted to create a more equal society.

•Believed in democracy and political morality.

•Supported Socialism: the idea of everyone helping each other.

Social and Cultural Background

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explore the explore the effect effect

J.B.Priestley’s J.B.Priestley’s own own

experiences experiences may have on the may have on the

play. play.

WALT understand the social and cultural background to the

play ‘An Inspector Calls.’ (Where are you now on the arrow? Mark it with a A)