"Here, what do you mean by that?"
Gerald is then very quick to say back to him
"Only something we were talking about on the way home, a joke really."
By doing this he is trying to keep the peace between them, because he can see how wound up Eric became after the comment was made.
There is an ironic edge to the Inspector's arrival because he is there to try and teach them about responsibility (Dramatic Irony). He arrives just after Birling has finished talking about "community and all that nonsense." This is because the Inspector came in to question Birlings responsibility in connection with a girl’s suicide.
It feels as if the Inspectors arrival is a dramatic turning point in the play. This is because it was a happy party atmosphere before the Inspector arrived and after the atmosphere and peoples attitudes changed dramatically, everything turns very serious all of a sudden. Then they all start to question each other’s responsibility.
Gerald comments on how he wants to be part of the family now, but Sheila replies to that with ignorance,
"Yes, except for all of last summer when you never came near me and I wondered what happened to you."
Gerald after hearing this is very quick to explain his absence to Sheila and the others in the room by saying how he was very busy at work and he was spending all of his time there working. Sheila does not bother to argue but jut says to him,
"Yes, that’s what you say",
With real sarcasm and ignorance.
Later in the play Sheila finds out about Gerald’s affair with Eva Smith/Daisy Renton after Gerald’s confession. Sheila is strong after hearing Gerald’s confession; she can somehow accept his betrayal.
"I don’t dislike you as I did half an hour ago"
"I respect you more than I ever have done before."
Sheila is surprisingly impressed with his honesty,
"That’s the best thing you've said tonight!"
"At least you're honest."
When Sheila is first given the engagement ring she is over the moon "Oh it’s wonderful", She is very quick to show the ring off,
"Look mummy, isn't it beautiful?"
Sheila now feels like they have taken another step in their relationship, "Now I really feel engaged." She knows that the ring chosen by Gerald is the one that he wanted her to have, because of this she promises to keep it safe
"I'll never let go out of my site for a second."
However this all changes after she finds out about the affair and Gerald leaves the house to "Go for a walk," she does show some anger towards him,
"But incase you forget to come back.... take this with you"
She hands him back the ring.
By handing back the ring she is telling him that she no longer wants anything to do with him.
There is a small argument between Gerald and Sheila,
"So that’s what you think im really like, im glad I realised in time."
She says this to Gerald because he put it to her that she was selfish because she had been through something and didn’t like it she thought other people should go through it, just a she had.
After both their confessions thy both have different reactions. Sheila is very calm and doesn't really show any emotion.
Eric is different though, he does get quite upset by it and puts some of the blame for the death of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton on Sheila.
Birling tries to make Sheila forgive Gerald for the affair, he tells her that that’s what young men are like.
"Now Sheila, im not defending him but you must understand that a lot of young men...."
(Mrs Birling interrupts him.) No doubt that Birling is trying to get them back together so that he can say that his daughter is married to the son of Lord and Lady, hense he is a relation of them.
Mrs Birling dislikes Gerald and thinks that Sheila should have no more to do with him. This is very different from the start of the play where they are all getting along fine and are all extremely pleased that Gerald has asked Sheila to marry him. It is clear that Mrs Birling is not worried as much as Mr Birling is about their social stature. (She is not worried about Sheila staying with Gerald because of the position of his parents in society). This proves that the break up of these two characters has different effects on the other characters. We can tell this because of the different way they react after hearing the news of the break up.
There are divisions between the characters at the end of the play.
The Inspector uses "one line of enquiry at a time" when questioning the family, by not asking too many questions at once and without going into a lot of detail the Inspector can find out how much each character actually knows about her.
When the Inspector arrives they all have different reactions some very edgy and others very cool. Throughout the play they have learnt that they are all partly to blame for her death, but some people more so than others.
Characters in the play like Gerald accept some responsibility for her death because of what he did, but others like Sheila do not accept responsibility for her death and think that their meetings with Eva Smith/Daisy Renton could have no relation to her suicide. Surprisingly some characters try to pass the blame from them to other members of their family.
There are divisions occurring in society, first there are the divisions that occur in the Brumley society. The class structure, which is the way that the 'upper class' are separated from the working class.
E.g. All Birlings and Gerald dressed in eveningwear of the period, Edna dressed as maid.
There are also gender issues between men and women, which also form the divisions in the society.
E.g. after dinner the women leave the men to talk about business.
Finally the divisions that occur due to socio-economic.
E.g. the strike by the workers at the factory because there requests for a pay rise were not met.
There are also division’s occurring in Priestley's society.
The first of these divisions is caused by class structure.
E.g. Community, the Inspector is the author, Priestley's mouthpiece. His chance to give his views about society and things to do with it.
The socio-economic also forces divisions in Priestley's society.
E.g. Property and power. Those who owned their own business were considered to be powerful, compared to those who worked for someone. I.e. Edna, the Bilings' maid.
Dramatic Devices
Setting
* The children at the beginning of Act 1 give the contrast between themselves and the Birlings, because of the appearance of the children. They are wearing old clothes and are playing in the street, when a passer by drops something they all rush to see what it is and try to take whatever it is that was dropped.
* This contrast is represented again by the way the house is set above the street. The house is very posh compared to the street that it is built on; it looks completely out of place on that street.
* The staircase that connects the Birlings house to the street acts to bridge the gaps between the two different classes. When the Birlings use the staircase to step down to street level they look like they are very uncomfortable in those types of surroundings. This is shown when the maid lays carpet so that Mrs Birling doesn’t have to walk on the road! She also has a chair at the ready every time Mrs Birling wants to sit down!
* The realistic stage set makes you feel as though you are actually on the street watching what is going on from the distance, this is because the stage props are placed to the sides of the stage and not just square in front of the audience.
* The wealthy ‘Middle Class’ theatregoers would be able to relate to the opinions of the Birlings (a wealthy Middle Class family). They could also relate to the difficulty that the Birlings have in putting up with ‘Common people’.
* The scenery at the start of Act 1 emphasises the idea of the wealthy family because the audience would be able to see, from their seats the dramatic difference between the Birlings house and the street that the house is built on.
Characters
* The Inspector appears from the side of the stage and stands under a street the dark mist of the night. He just stands and looks at the house for a few minutes before doing anything else. This lamp in gives the audience the idea that he is a fairly mysterious character straight away.
* The Inspector is dressed in a long coat and he has a hat on, this makes him look very smart and like his is of a lot of importance.
* The Birlings and Gerald are dressed in eveningwear of the time, this tells us that they are wealthy and are perhaps having a small family celebration-, which they are!
* The Inspector takes charge ‘massively’ by ordering the Birlings about from the start. He is always asking the Birlings or Gerald questions and he doesn’t let anyone else but in or try to explain their actions. It is clear from when he first starts questioning the Birlings and Gerald that he means business and is out to find answers.
* The actors Interpret their characters very well, they also give the audience a chance to see how different the characters are from each other even thought they are all being asked about Daisy Renton/Eva smith. Mr Birling is quite obviously the man of the house, he delivers his lines with anger when he or any member of his family are being questioned (including Gerald). It is clear to see that he is becoming increasingly more uncomfortable with the Inspectors questions and method of questioning. Mrs Birling speaks rather more quietly and has a tone to her voice and she gives the Impression that she fells that she shouldn’t even be there because of who she is. Eric is constantly making jokes out of other peoples answers; this gave the audience the impression that he too is very uncomfortable with the Inspector being there. The way that he answers the questions makes him sound and look very guilty.
Special Effects
* When the inspector arrives after he begins to question the family the lights begin to brighten up, this contributes to the idea of being able to see things more clearly.
Dramatic Irony
* When the Inspector first starts asking questions the audience will all have their own ideas of who they think was most responsible for the death of Daisy Renton/Eva Smith? But as the Inspector asks more questions to the different characters it becomes easier for the audience to work out who was the most responsible. A lot of the audience would have probably said that Gerald played the biggest part in her death.
Coup De Theatre
* When the telephone rings at the end of the play is answered the characters and the audience are shocked at what the telephone call was about. Then the audience may question themselves as to who they think was responsible for her death.
Stephen Holloway
