Utopianism In J. B. Priestley:

Dalia El-sayed Anwer

J. B. Priestley (1894–1984) is a novelist, dramatist, essayist andliterary critic. His dramatic career began in 1932 with Dangerous Corner(Brome 136). In J.B. Priestley De Vitis and Kalson say ”Priestley thedramatist is a unique figure.... from Bernard Shaw to John Osborne Britishdrama is a waste land. It is Priestley, the solitary Englishman, who bridgesthe gap, along with Sean O’Casey the Irishman and James Bridie the Scot. Inthe 1940s only these three could be named in one breath as dramatists ofdistinction and serious intent actively engaged in expanding the theater’shorizons, with Priestley by far the most prolific” (116). Matthew Norgateargues that Priestley’s writings opened fire on the predominant ”trivial’’literature of the 1940s: ”At this time the emphasis was on the trivial, andeven so business was not good.... Priestley had opened fire with the firstattempt to restore serious drama with his Music at Night” (28).Priestley’s plays may be divided into two main types, the time playsand the social plays. In the time plays he is mainly concerned with the themeof time. This type centers on Time and the Conways (1937) and I HaveBeen Here Before (1937) (Ward Longman Companion of 20th CenturyLiterature 1001). In the second type, ”the serious plays” as Ward calls themin his Twentieth -Century Literature (139), Priestley reveals a great interestin the relationship between man and the community. In these plays he writesabout man’s responsibility for his fellowmen and his commitment to thecommunity. These plays include People at Sea (1937), They Came to a City(1943), An Inspector Calls (1945), Summer Day’s Dream (1949) and Homeis Tomorrow (1950).