I would stage the conversation between Gerald and Sheila starting with Sheila joking with Gerald and after saying “just you object!” with a big grin on her face, gently punching his shoulder. Gerald should then say his piece about being part of the family confidently and happily, then, becoming unsure and more serious when Sheila doesn’t answer his comment about becoming part of the family. I think when he says, “Haven’t I? You know I have.” He should say it in a way much like he is trying to convince Sheila and her family that he is being honest but also that he is desperate for re-assurance. Sheila should start her piece about Gerald never coming near her in the summer in a playful tone at first but then getting more serious and worried as she finished her sentence. Gerald should say “and I’ve told you – I was awfully busy at the works all that time” looking at the ground in a serious tone. Sheila should say “Yes, that’s what you say” in quite a serious tone, more serious than before and she should say “you” louder. When Mrs Birling tells Sheila not to tease Gerald Sheila should say “I don’t believe I will” playfully, but then say “So you be careful” seriously and almost threateningly with strong eye contact with Gerald.
To make the monologues more effective I would change the lighting so that there was a spotlight on the person saying their lines making the viewer’s eyes concentrate on the character and not on anything else. A good time to use this method is during Mr Birling’s monologue because it is quite long. Mr Birling’s words have a different meaning to the audience because the audience knows more about the situation he is discussing than he does at this time. This portrays Mr Birling as a foolish, pompous and arrogant man. He says many things that very incorrect and dramatic irony is quite common in his speeches. In act one, one particular mistake Mr Birling made was to say:
“And I say there isn’t a chance of war”
Mr Birling tries to make it seem as thought he is very knowledgeable, but the audience knows better as a few years later world war one broke out and the audience at the time would have just been through world war 2.
Another thing Mr Birling brings up is that the titanic is unsinkable; in fact he is so sure of himself that he says that the titanic is “absolutely” unsinkable and he repeats this:
“The titanic… and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.”
However, in actual fact there was a famously different story in real life, the titanic sunk a couple of months later. This would have helped the audience perceive that Mr Birling was too sure of himself and if anything over confidant.
“Fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war… except some half-civilised folk in the Balkans”
This is a very typical comment of Mr Birling to say. The Germans were involved in both First and Second World War, both these wars would still be clear in the minds of the audience and this comment would most probably have shocked the audience, that a man could be so narrow-minded. This remark is very racist as well, which would have given the audience a negative view of Mr Birling. The dramatic irony used in the play just emphasises a message to the audience that Mr Birling is too sure of himself.
==>The first impression we get of Mr Birling is that he presents an image of being the dominant member of the family household through his boisterous speeches and monologues and because he always has a lot to say in all conversations.
“A man has to look after himself… he won’t come to much harm… community and all that nonsense.”
Mr Birling says this to Gerald just before the inspector arrives to interrupt his speech. This is significant of the inspector’s importance to the play because, in a way he is teaching the audience a lesson showing that what Mr Birling said was a load of rubbish. I think that somehow the inspector’s arrival is preordained and that he is there for a special purpose, maybe to correct a mistake.
Throughout the play and especially in the beginning we can see a ‘triangle of power’ develop between Mr Birling, Eric and Gerald. This is highlighted through snippets of conversation we hear. We can see that Gerald has a power over Mr Birling because Mr Birling bought a special port for him and he tries to make a special effort to shower Gerald with admiration, this is perhaps because Gerald is of a higher class than himself and when Sheila marries Gerald he will have the status that he so wanted and worked hard for.
Mr Birling has power over Eric because he treats him like a boy and doesn’t let him explain or finish his sentences, I can tell this when Mr Birling makes a speech about prosperity and capital, Eric says:
“Yes, I know – but still-”
He is immediately cut off by Mr Birling who rants on about how he is a “practical man of business” and that the titanic is unsinkable and how there will be “peace and prosperity” everywhere “except of course in Russia, which will always be behindhand naturally”, again more racist and unintelligent comments by Mr Birling.
Mr Birling also keeps Eric out of the joke he makes with Gerald about him getting a knighthood:
“What’s the joke? Started telling stories?”
Eric is bewildered, and thinks that they are telling stories. Mr Birling quite bluntly replies “No.” to Eric and changes the subject by offering him a glass of port
“No. Want another glass of port?”
As the story progresses we discover that Eric drinks heavily, probably as a result of being offered so much alcohol, and that he has got into the habit of helping himself to the port, as we can see by the stage directions for that scene ‘take decanter and helps himself’. Towards the end of the play, Eric finally tells his father what he thinks of him and blames him for Eva’s death:
“Because you’re not the kind of father a chap can go to when he’s in trouble”
This shows us that Mr. Birling is not a very paternal man and was not there for Eric when he was in trouble. In the end, it is quite ironic because Eric has a power over Gerald as he had got Eva in the end.
There is an obvious tension between the characters in the first scene, especially between Sheila and Eric, where Sheila comments that Eric is ‘squiffy’ (drunk) and he denies it, Sheila comes to this conclusion after Eric bursts out laughing for no apparent reason, after that they continue to squabble. The anxiety continues between Eric and his father, where Eric is being his usually boyish and mischievous self and when Mr Birling offers everyone a drink of port he is quite rude to Eric, and treats Gerald as a man but Eric as a boy letting him be the butt of jokes.
“Unless Eric’s been up to be up to something. And that would be awkward, wouldn’t it”
Here Gerald is making a joke about the inspector’s call upon the house and how Eric may be involved in it. Mr Birling replies “Very” and goes along with the joke humorously, leaving Eric confused about the whole ordeal. Eric retorts “Here, what do you mean?” and questions Gerald in a quite defensive manner, this most probably has something to do with his involvement, as we later discover in the play.
“Only something we were talking about when you were out. A joke really”
Gerald replies to Eric in a way that still keeps him in the blue and carries on the joke. This shows the tension between Eric and Mr Birling, we can see how they leave Eric out of the conversation and joke that Eric has been up to something, they wont let Eric in on the joke.
The inspector is first presented as a mysterious man; the stage directions describe him as a man who creates a sense of great importance and solidarity. Throughout the whole play he creates an atmosphere of strangeness and doubt, which all together squeeze the truth out of everyone.
“Has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking”
He is described as a most peculiar and idiosyncratic man, and his methods of questioning are outright bizarre. This altogether annoys Mr Birling and makes him feel uneasy about the situation. Inspector Goole asks questions that Mr Birling would rather not answer and puts him on guard with either rather cool or snide comments, disregarding Mr Birling’s prominence and stature. A good example of this is where Mr Birling says:
“And you asked me a question before that, a quite unnecessary question too”
The inspector calmly and coolly replies “It’s my duty to ask questions”. As you can see the inspector is not afraid of talking back to Mr Birling, and makes snide comments similar to these all the way through the play which altogether annoy Mr Birling.
The audience should feel intimidated by inspector Goole because he is quite a strange and out of place character, but should also be intrigued by the inspector because of his puzzling way of doing things. The audience should also be scared of the inspector, especially at the end of the play where he makes his final speech about ‘fire and blood and anguish’ because he was predicting the future (i.e. world wars 1 and 2), this could also be interpreted as hell.
One of the most important monologues is Sheila’s monologue in act one because it shows the idea of attitudes towards women in the play generally and the plays historical outlook.
“But she was very pretty and looked as if she could take care of herself. I couldn’t be sorry for her”
Sheila was jealous of Eva Smith and because Eva was pretty, she was sacked. Sheila had no remorse about it. This shows us that Sheila saw Eva Smith as a threat and judged her by her looks.
During the play there is not many exits and entrances by the characters, this helps to increase the tension because they are stuck together in the house and simplifies the scenery changes. When characters enter the scene, we wonder how they will be involved and implicated. When the characters exit the house, we suspect them because of the manner in which they leave, i.e. when Gerald or Eric leaves. The inspector’s arrival is signalled in the play by ‘the sharp ring of a door bell’, which probably would alarm the audience and warn them of his arrival.
The inspector’s last speech was one of much relevance to the time the play was set (before world war 1) and staged/written (in 1945 after the Second World War). People of the time would have been more taken aback by the words he said and probably scared because it would be very frightening that someone in the past would know of the pain, suffering and death in the future. I think Priestly used this to his advantage to make a character that thinks completely the opposite to himself so he can ridicule him in the character of Mr Birling and make him look like an imbecile by saying things that was completely unknown to man of that time but also very inaccurate. This built up the dramatic irony because the audience know he is wrong.
To create a slight anxiety in the play I would raise the lights slightly, making them brighter when the inspector is called to enter in order to show the tension and hostility he creates. This would also show that he is a threat to the family, and also to show that even before his character is developed and presented to the audience he manages to ruin their unpretentious and self-satisfied lives.
From a director’s point of view, I think Priestly ends the play the way he does because it leaves the audience wondering about the plays significance and morals. This would also scare the audience because they do not know who the inspector really is and the importance his last words have.
I think that, in these modern times, it is quite difficult to emphasise the themes that Priestly wants emphasised because the relevance of social themes such as being pregnant and unmarried has changed so much since 1940’s as has the theme of social class and the importance of it. As Priestley was a Marxist, (which means he is someone who believed that the upper classes take advantage of the lower classes to further their own wealth) he created Mr Birling to have the exact opposite views as himself to further his point that all people should be treated with respect.
I think ‘An Inspector Calls’ is still a popular play for modern day audiences because the themes that Priestley applies in the storyline are still relevant to today. Gerald cheating on Sheila shows us that there are many storylines that are significant to modern day audiences and that have been around at least since 1912, but there are themes that are not as relevant today as others. For example, social classes are not so defined today as they were when the play was first performed and therefore not as significant as when the play was first shown. Another thing to take into account is the fact that the play was first performed just after the Second World War so the Inspector’s last speech meant a lot more to the audience then it would with a modern day audience. Furthermore, there is the big question of the Inspector, and who he is. I think that Priestly has quite cleverly made the inspector character so that we cannot put a class on him, which is most ironic because the play is based on class. This play has a message to the whole of society, it criticises the social system using the inspector as a front man for Priestley’s opinions and portrays the message effectively to us all.
From the proceeding, it seems that the play has a mixture of both relevant and non-relevant themes to modern society and thus inflicts the modern day audience with conflicting opinions. It has the storylines of a modern day soap opera but is set in 1912 and consequently is misunderstood because the subject matter is trivial. In its time it was a revolutionary play in relation to other contemporary plays because it was true to many realities of life and reflected existing opinions, now compared to other modern day plays of its nature it belongs to history and is not as prominent and hence not as popular with a modern day audience.
