At the beginning of act three, and the end of act two, there is a lot of suspense in the audience. They have already worked out that the father of the child is Eric, but are waiting to see his reaction. Priestly does this very well, as he does not state who it is, but has said enough for the audience to guess. E.g.
In order to create this suspense Priestly uses a number of dramatic devices. Firstly he makes sure that the characters are very emotional, and in doing this they all give out different signals as clues. In the last 1 ½ pages Priestly uses more then ten adjectives as directors notes, and the list includes the following: ‘agitated’, ‘severely’, ‘bitterly’, ‘grimly’ ‘triumphantly’, to name a few. The characters hysteria creates a ball of mixed emotions, in which the audience get caught up, and feel the suspense. Towards the end of the act, after the Inspector has subtly revealed his intentions, the hysteria is increased. He uses exclamation marks and ‘…’ to show how surprised, shocked and speech less the characters are: ‘but surely… I mean…it’s ridiculous…’ and ‘My God!’ The characters are even trying to convince themselves that it’s not true: ‘I don’t believe it, I won’t believe it’: the characters cutting in to each others speech:
Mrs B: I don’t believe it, I won’t believe it…
Sheila: Mother- I begged you and begged you to stop-
This shows how agitated the characters were. This outward display of emotion was not seen as acceptable, especially from a family of the Birlings’ status. This was a stark contrast to the beginning of the play, when everything was polite and controlled. All of this went towards creating the suspense in the audience’s mind, and no doubt the feeling of being caught up in it all.
During the end of act two he reveals enough information to the audience so that they know whom the culprit is, but still have doubts in their mind, which established the suspense. The act ends in a very good place, as it has built up a climax, and just as Eric walks in, there is a break, promising to keep the audience hooked. This resembles something that is used in modern day dramas and soap’s, a cliffhanger. If dramatic devices that Priestly used, are still used today, the play cannot be out of date, as it will obviously have an effect on a modern day audience. At the beginning of act three, the climax breaks, as Eric walks in, practically saying to the audience: ‘you were right it’s me’. The suspense does not end after the culprit has been named, as now, the audience are waiting to see how all the other characters will react, will their be sympathy, anger or disgust? The climax builds up again as each character reveals their feelings, one by one. They are also waiting to see how Eric reacts, as if to see if the Inspector is successful. All of the characters have lost patience with each other, and their confidence in each other has gone. Priestly shows this when the characters accuse each other of things, shout at each other, and cut into each other:
Mrs B: No- Eric- please- I didn’t know- I didn’t understand-
Eric: You don’t understand anything.
On many occasions, as I have mentioned before, the Inspector keeps the peace, as well putting the story back on track. He also portrays the characters loss of confidence, by putting in an element of uncertainty. The audience and the characters don’t know what’s going to happen next. In the characters case, they are acting on impulse, and as they hear more and more home truths, their emotions flare up and they no longer seem to know what they are saying: ’You told her. Why you little sneak!’ and ‘(explosively) No’. In the audiences’ case, everything that had to be revealed had been revealed, the full of sequence of events in Eva Smiths death has been uncovered, and there’s still half an hour left. The suspense in the audience’s mind is what is going to happen next, and as this is revealed more and more questions are brought up.
This scene shows us that ‘An Inspector calls’ is not out of date as the issues it deals with are still relevant today. Other then the pregnancy aspect, it also brings to light many other issues which would still be relevant today. Eric as the young alcoholic is still a very relevant story line today. Many modern day soaps and dramas have incorporated this issue into their storyline, and the lesson has not yet been learnt. Another very important issue that it raises is that of the dysfunctional family. The Birling’s are a perfect example of a dysfunctional family; they barely know anything about each other, what they do in their spare time, their opinions on certain issues etc. Sheila and Eric have been hiding the fact that Eric is an alcoholic, and the news comes as a shock to their parents. This shows us what a dysfunctional family can lead to, and how it is important to communicate with those in your family. This lesson has also not yet been learnt, so goes to say: ‘An Inspector calls’ is not yet out of date. On a more general note, all of the sins that the characters commit, always have done, and still do exist today. Anger lust, adultery, and jealousy, are a few of the ‘deadly sins’ that the Birlings committed, one way or another. These sins still exist greatly in our society, and probably will do for a long time yet. This also goes to show that ‘An Inspector calls’ is not out of date, and probably won’t be for a long time.
The moral though, that the Inspector seeks to teach his audience, is quite out of date. He seeks to teach his audience that no man should ‘look after himself and his own’, as Birling had proudly stated, as this will never work out for the good, in the long run. At the time when this play was written, the socialist ideal was still trying to climb the steep ladder of success. Although the ideas that were the backbone of the Inspector’s speech, went back long way to the time of St Paul, for instance; the socialist ideal was still seen as nonsense. This was probably due to the fact the England was a capitalist country at the time, and the people who had any say about anything, were people like Birling, people who were living a life of luxury out of it. For this reason it was very unpopular with these sorts of people, and appealed more to the younger generation, the likes of Eric and Sheila.
After this play was shown, we have had two socialist governments and the NHS has been set up, telling us that this lesson has long been learnt. But, Margaret Thatcher’s comment, ‘There’s no such thing as society’ from the 80’s is evidence enough to say that maybe we are forgetting our past. The Conservatives are talking of privatising the NHS and schools, which is what the socialists were fighting against. This agrees with the statement that ‘An Inspector calls is out of date’ as although this lesson has long been learnt, people seem to be forgetting, and maybe they need to be reminded again. From this point of view I have reached a conclusion; ‘An Inspector calls’ is not out of date and the lessons that it teaches are still relevant today, some are even beginning to rise in relevance.
The second statement that I am going to consider is: ‘the characters are out of date, and cannot relate to the audience of 2002’. The characters in ‘An Inspector calls’ each have personalities and which can easily be found in people today. Birling resembles the ‘all-knowing’ father who can’t help but offer barrels of advice: ‘I’ve been giving these young men some advice’. The advice he gives may be slightly different to a father today, as times have changed, but his implications and feelings are still the same in fathers today. Eric is the typical son, who has a mysterious ‘other life’, that no one knows about. Re-phrase: ‘Because you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble’, and it’ll ring bells in households around the country. There’s a bit of Eric in every teenager in the country, and if Eric was a teenager today, he would probably have the same feelings about his family, his sense of privacy and what he does in his own time. Sheila is the typical young daughter, constantly worried about her looks, and they fare compared to others: ‘She was the right type for it, just as I was the wrong type’. A young woman today would be worried about her looks now more then ever. With skinny models splashed in front of their faces day- in, day- out, vanity is more common then ever. Mrs Birling is the typical mother who thinks the world of her children and couldn’t imagine them doing anything wrong: ‘I can’t believe it, there must have been some mistake…’ These sorts of characters can still be found in today’s society, but can be a lot different. Human nature never changes, neither do human emotions, but the way that they are expressed can change considerably. A good example of this is the father- daughter relationship between Birling and Sheila. This play is set before the Second World War, and at that time, equality between men and women, was at its infancy. Women were seen as weak and dainty creatures, compared to men, whose duty it was to protect them. Birling is very overprotective of his daughter, and although is engaged, thinks of her as a little girl. We can tell this from the language that Birling uses when talking to or about Sheila. When Sheila walks in on Birling and the Inspectors conversation, her father answers her: ‘Nothing to do with you, run along’. When Sheila realises her part in Eva Smiths death, and runs out, Birling reacts by saying; ‘Why the devil do you want to go upsetting the child like that’. He addresses her as ‘child’ and talks to her in what would be seen nowadays as a belittling manner. If a father spoke to his ten-year-old daughter like that today, he would definitely have a negative effect. Fathers still see their daughters as ’my little girl’ and do all they can to protect them, but it is done in a completely different manner. Also, if you said ‘run along’ to a woman nowadays, she would probably find it offensive, as women have gained equal rights since this play was set, and it is no longer acceptable to speak to women in such a manner. Sheila would also probably behave differently if she was a women living in today’s society. Sheila’s character is portrayed as very feminine and ‘girly’; ‘Oh- it’s wonderful! Look Mummy- isn’t it a beauty? In today’s society women, especially of Sheila’s age are much more self- confident and independent.
As a whole, the Birling family would be a lot different today, in terms of how the family works. Mr Birling was seen as the breadwinner and Mrs Birling the homemaker, nowadays, both men and women are expected to work, and be the breadwinners as well as the homemaker. In my opinion the statement that ‘the characters are out of date, and cannot relate to the audience of 2002’ is true, as although are similar in some cases, the differences in character and situation, are vary big. From this point of view, I have concluded that ‘An Inspector calls’ is out of date.
The third and final statement that I am going to analyse is; ‘the language is out of date, and no longer effective’. In order to do this, I will look at one specific section in the play, and distinguish which type of language, if any, is out of date. ‘An Inspector calls’ was written in 1945, and it was set in 1912. Nearly 100 years later, it is inevitable that there will be some changes in language, new words have been introduced, and some old ones have practically vanished. Most of the language though, can still be heard today; there are only a few words that could be considered ‘dated’. The modern audience is a huge fan of films, programs, and drama’s set in the past. The language used in these programs is also considered to be ‘dated’, as the directors and producers want to make the programs sound authentic. The modern audience is familiar with ‘dated’ language, and although can understand it, don’t use it in everyday speech anymore. There are many such examples in ‘An Inspector calls’, such as: “By Jove” and “I fancy”. The general tone of the language used in ‘An Inspector calls’, can be described as formal, or even ‘posh’ rather than dated. A stereotypical ‘posh’ family is still seen as to speak in the same manner as the Birlings, so if ‘An Inspector calls’ was shown to an audience of 2002, it would be successful in conveying the image of the Birlings that Priestly intended, which was rich, of the upper-class, and posh.
The language and dramatic devices that Priestly uses in ‘An Inspector calls’ are similar to that of a writer today. At the end of act one, when the Inspector reveals that Eva Smith changed her name to Daisy Renton, the audience begin to suspect that Gerald is involved in her death.
Inspector: …so she changed her name to Daisy Renton-
Gerald: (startled) What?
This tells the audience that Gerald is involved, and now the audience want to know how he is involved. Priestly creates this suspense by replacing the Inspector with Sheila. She is now the one asking the questions, and in the audiences’ case, revealing vital clues as to how Gerald is involved: “How did you come to know this girl- Eva Smith?” Giving the audience a hint as to what is going to happen, and then slowly revealing it creates the suspense. This dramatic effect is created partly by the language that Priestly uses, and partly by how and when the characters react. Priestly shows that Sheila is agitated and upset, when she asks lots of questions: “Was it after she left Milwards? When she changed her name, as he said, and began to lead a different sort of life?” Sheila knows how Gerald is involved with Eva Smith, and Priestly uses this to tell the audience what Sheila knows, or assumes. Both Sheila and Gerald are disconcerted, as the sentences at the end of act two are very short: “You don’t” and “You’ll see”. The questions that are in the audiences mind at the end of act two, are not concerning who is the next culprit, but are more general. The audience are now beginning to realise that maybe everyone is involved with Eva Smith, and that Inspector is a lot more then he seems. The language used to create this effect cannot be seen as ‘dated’, as it still used today. There are only a few words in ‘An Inspector calls’, that could bee seen as dated, but these can be quite important. Words such as “drawing room” or “decanter” are not used commonly any more, and most people won’t fully understand them. This could limit their understanding and enjoyment of the play, so supports my final statement.
Overall I disagree with the statement: ‘the language is out of date, and no longer effective’. The language used in ‘An Inspector calls’ is mostly not out of date, and can be fully understood and appreciated by an audience of 2002. It can still create dramatic effect to its full extent, and is not affected by the odd cases of ‘dated’ language.
In my opinion the, an Inspector calls is not out of date, as its language, morals and characters are still relevant today. It can offer an audience of 2002, not only a dramatic and well-made thriller, but also morals and lessons that still need to be learnt. ‘An Inspector calls’ will be entertaining whenever it is shown, as dramatic devices, and human response cannot become ‘dated’ and ineffective, even thought a storyline can. However, the storyline in ‘An Inspector calls’ is still common today, as some of the issues it raises, are still widespread today. ‘An Inspector calls’ was set in 1912, and was written or an audience of 1946; to an audience pf 2002, it offers a chance to learn some history, entertainment, and lessons to be learnt.
NAGINA AKHTAR