An Inspector Calls - Explore how Priestly prepares the audience in act one for the rest of the play.
Explore how Priestly prepares the audience in act one for the rest of the play
The themes and concepts that Priestley explores in Act One provide the audience with the core of the plays meaning. The play is split into three Acts and Act One is of extreme importance to the play as a whole.
J.B.Priestley's "An Inspector Calls" is a well-made play that attacks the social morals of his time; he uses the Birling family, a typical upper class family of the time to criticise moral issues and project his own message. It contains all the ingredients of a well-made play; it is captivating, and it holds the attention of the audience. It achieves this by the use of climaxes, the slow unravelling of the plot and the use of the detective-whodunit style.
In his stage directions Priestley ensures that the audience are aware of the Birlings status in society before the play has started by setting the scene in a "large suburban house". The house and furniture are described collectively as "comfortable" as against "cosy"; this is a subtle suggestion that not all of the characters are at ease with one another.
Mr Birling opens the play with "You ought to like this port, Gerald. As a matter of fact, Finchley told me it's exactly the same port your father gets from him." Birling's first line of dialogue shows him trying to 'social-climb' by showing that he too drinks the same Port that Gerald (in a position of higher status than Mr. Birling) drinks. This simple statement begins to give the audience insight into Mr. Birling's personality; he is portrayed as a shallow person, social class having the utmost importance to him.
During a speech to congratulate the 'happy couple' Mr. Birling expresses his hopes that the marriage will lead to profit and success in his business, "we look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together". This action reveals Birling's attitudes towards marriage and society. His first priority is to make money "It's my duty to keep labour cost down". He is also a social climber, and Sheila is engaged to the son of his "friendly" rival, which is why it could mean a lot to him in the business world because Gerald's father is of higher class than the Birling family. "You're just the type of son-in-law I wanted..." emphasises this point and makes the audience wonder whether Birling wants them to get married for themselves, or for him. This raises questions about both his priorities and moral issues.
"The Titanic unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable." is one of many examples of the ironic comments from Mr Birling as the 1945 audience knew the fate of the Titanic. Due to this, Mr. Birling immediately appears in a bad light as his views on the matter colour the audience's view of him, his naive statements appear to show how wrong he can be, although to be fair his view was that of most people in 1912 and so he is stereotypical of society then.
Sheila is the daughter of Mr. Birling and is engaged to Gerald. She has ...
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"The Titanic unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable." is one of many examples of the ironic comments from Mr Birling as the 1945 audience knew the fate of the Titanic. Due to this, Mr. Birling immediately appears in a bad light as his views on the matter colour the audience's view of him, his naive statements appear to show how wrong he can be, although to be fair his view was that of most people in 1912 and so he is stereotypical of society then.
Sheila is the daughter of Mr. Birling and is engaged to Gerald. She has a totally different attitude to Birling, and we see this emphasized as the play progresses. Sheila is described in the stage directions as "a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited." J.B Priestly is deliberately trying to portray Sheila as perhaps dizzy or unable to make an independent decision of her own.
When the Inspector arrives, Sheila is out of the room. When she enters, she is immediately drawn into the situation, asking questions that her father isn't pleased about. When the news of the death of Eva Smith has finally been told, Sheila is shocked - "How horrible - was it an accident?" As time progresses and Sheila is more well-informed about the situation, she reacts "I can't stop thinking about this girl - destroying herself so horribly - and I've been so happy tonight. Oh, I wish you hadn't told me." Her character, although quite naïve and selfish at the moment shows facets that will result in her changing throughout the play into a thoughtful, mature individual.
As the Act proceeds and the Inspector is discussing cheap labour in workhouses and factories, Sheila begins her change. She starts to think as Eva as a person and not as "cheap labour". When the Inspector shows Sheila the photograph, she instantly recognises it, so much in fact she has to leave the room. When she enters again, she admits that she did sack her for being jealous. She shows knowledge of the error of her ways when she says "I felt rotten at the time and now I feel a lot worse." According to Priestley, Sheila is a woman who is willing to listen and change. Sheila is a woman for the future, trying to break the boundaries of the 20th century.
Although Gerald and Sheila appear to be the stereotypical 'happy couple', this concept is thrown into doubt when Sheila presents the statement, "Yes-except for all last summer when you wouldn't come near me, and I wondered what had happened to you." This plants doubt in the minds of the audience and suggests that everything is not as it may appear.
Eric is the son of Mr. Birling and a brother to Sheila. When Eric first hears about the death of a girl, Eva Smith, he is undeniably shocked because his first response is the outcry "Oh, God." Like Sheila, Eric feels immediate sympathy for Eva for the way she was sacked by Birling. Eric is presented by Priestley as an unstable character; he appears shy, awkward and close to getting drunk. Priestley conveys this through Eric's irrational behaviour "Eric suddenly guffaws" and jerky speech, "I don't know-really I felt I just had to laugh".
Eva Smith, the victim of the "chain of events" brought on by the Birlings, represents the stereotypical lower class worker of the time. She is a character of pivotal importance throughout the play with her role being to reveal other characters real feelings, thoughts and views on life. This is achieved through the interrogation of the inspector. She remains a mystery as the audience never actually meet her but her character is gradually revealed through the other characters reactions to her death.
"She was very pretty and looked as if she could take care of herself"
At the beginning of the play, J.B. Priestley gives a very elaborate and detailed amount of stage settings, lighting and character descriptions. I feel that these were so detailed as Priestley wanted the mood of the first Act to linger through out the whole play. For example "The general effect is substantial and heavily comfortable, but not cosy and home like." I felt that this was actually taken in to account as the extremely large table was the central point of the beginning. The size of the table showed that although the characters were a family, they weren't close, not even being able to eat and celebrate with each other.
The structure and pattern of Act One is a template for the rest of the play and reflects the cyclical nature of the play as a whole. In each Act, with each character, the Inspector outlines the events involving each family member, shows a photograph to the relevant family member which leads the character to confess to their misdeeds. Act One begins with this chain of events; the Birlings feeling self-satisfied, the next stage is that they are then upset by the Inspector, then the Inspector leaves and the Birlings return to feeling self-satisfied. The play closes with an inspector calling to bring the cycle full circle.
"That was the Police; a girl has just died - on her way to the Infirmary - after drinking some disinfectant. And a police inspector is on his way here - to ask some questions."
There is a dramatic mood change during Act One, brought on by the arrival of the inspector. Priestley's stage directions regarding the lighting reflect this, "The lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder". This change in lighting represents the idea that before the arrival of the Inspector, the Birlings were seeing the world through 'rose-tinted-glasses' (only seeing the nicer side of life, things they wanted to see) whereas when the inspector arrives the 'truth is revealed' and reality 'kicks in'. There are no longer any shadows to hide the Birlings from their inconsiderate acts.
Act One presents the audience with Priestly understands of the middle classes, of this time, through the life of the Birlings, very accurately, and sets the stage for this moralistic mystery to be played out. J.B. Priestley was writing the play for a middle class audience and was trying to speak up for the working class by showing how the Birlings and Gerald Croft were all involved in making a young working class girl's life a misery. Priestley wants to show us that we have a responsibility to others to act fairly and without prejudice and that we do not live in isolation. Our actions affect others. This is the concept of collective responsibility. Priestley says, 'things could really improve if only people were to become more socially responsible for the welfare of others'. We have to confront our mistakes and learn from them
Act One begins the process of inspection into beliefs and morals for both the audience and the characters. In my opinion, in the writing of this play, Priestley's aim was to make us think, to make us question our own characters and beliefs. He wanted to show us that we can change, and we can decide which views we side with. He wanted us to ask ourselves if we wanted to be a Sheila or a Sybil, an Eric or an Arthur. Priestley wanted the audience to learn from the mistakes of the Birlings. Priestley wanted to make a difference in the way people think. The play gives the audience and society as a whole, time to change their actions towards others. That is, before an Inspector calls on you, to warn you that if the lesson is not learnt, it will be taught in "blood and fire and in anguish."
