Abstract
Language plays a crucial role in shaping moral responsibility in dramatic texts. It is central mechanism through which culpability and moral responsibility are constructed in dramatic literature. In An Inspector Calls, J. B. Priestley employs dialogue, rhetorical strategies, and discursive confrontations to expose the moral culpability of each character involved in Eva Smith’s death. This study examined the role of language in determining culpability within the play by analyzing the linguistic patterns of interrogation, denial, confession, and moral persuasion. Using discourse analysis and socialist ethical criticism as theoretical frameworks, the study explores how Inspector Goole’s authoritative discourse challenges the capitalist rhetoric of the Birling family. The analysis demonstrates that culpability in the play emerges not merely from actions but from the language through which characters justify, deny, or accept responsibility. Through close textual analysis, the research reveals that linguistic strategies such as interrogative discourse, moral rhetoric, and emotive language transform the play into a moral investigation. The study concludes that Priestley deliberately uses language as a dramatic instrument to reveal complicity, critique capitalist individualism, and advocate collective social responsibility. The reputation of the work thus lies in its expansion of critical understanding of the relationship between language and moral accountability in dramatic literature.
Keywords: Language, Culpability, Discourse, Socialism, Priestley