Analyse how J.B. Priestley uses characterisation and dramatic tension to engage the audience interest in act one of ‘An Inspector Calls’

The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ was written by a fifty one year old in 1945 by the name of J.B. Priestley. Priestley wrote novels and essays before becoming a famous playwright. A few of his pieces of work were influenced by the Great War, World War 1, including ‘An Inspector Calls’. Priestley’s plays sometimes included the theme of that an individual actions have over a period of time, which links to each of the Birlings is guilty of the various degrees of the seven deadly sins. This play was written for theatre as detective thrillers were popular at this time but theatre had large amounts of competition from the cinemas. This play observes the classical unities of time; place and action-the time span of when the play was performed corresponds with the actual time the events would take place.

The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ was set in 1912 just before the Great War. Priestley has included two types of classes; higher class and lower class, which represent the strong s...