Another way of dramatic tension created by Priestley through the role of Eric Birling, where he explores rich people abuse poor people. The point is the audience may have lost interest in him however his opening line of Act Three makes all the difference. He says "You know, don't you," which immediately makes the audience desperate to see the reaction of the rest of the family towards Eric. At this point in the play Eric is resoundingly miserable as, according to the stage directions, he says something "bitterly." Sheila, whom Eric normally gets on fairly well with, has finally gotten to him and he snaps at her when he says "You told her. Why you little sneak!" I think the fact that Eric has been discovered as the father of Eva Smiths child, has altered the audience's opinion of Eric quite severely because, in their eyes, he is no longer the humorous and mischievous young lad, but instead the irresponsible womanizer.
Although Eric does seem a nasty piece of work at first, when he tells the story of what had happened when he had met Eva Smith, he becomes a more likable person. I think this is probably because he had only been unfortunate because he'd had too much to drink - he hadn't actually set out to hurt Eva or cause what had happened to her. I can tell this because he gave her around fifty pounds to help her and, although it was stolen from his father's office, he had risked getting into trouble just to help her out.
An Inspector Calls is a play with social and political message. J.B.Priestley believed a great deal in socialism and he used several of his plays to try and influence people to be socialism as well. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen as the way forward. It was a popular way of thinking at that time so Priestley’s aim for the play was probably to teach the unconvinced. The Inspector in J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector calls’ is one of the most though provoking and mysterious characters that modern day literature has yet produced. It is this mysterious element that contributes greatly to making him a very interesting character and one that may be perceived in many ways. The audience does not find a great deal out about the Inspector and nothing is explicitly told us; we are given hints and clues from the way he acts and what he says and are forced to piece these together to form our own ideas about his identify and his intentions. In this way, Priestley has asked his audience to act as a judge and to reach personal conclusion about him.
There are several examples of dramatic tensions created by Priestley. There is a mystery hint where Gerald is concerned. Sheila states '...last summer where you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you' to which Gerald replies in a hasty fashion 'And I've told you - I was awfully busy at the works at that time. This is the first main dramatic tension that is present before the arrival of the inspector. There is a mystery, where the audience can see that something is not right, and there may be an uncovering later on.
Priestley created dramatic tension at the end of Act 1, when Sheila is beginning to change. She has become more mature in her attitudes. She has admitted her part in the death of Eva Smith and knows that Gerald is hiding something. She is acting much more responsibly than he is and she says to him,
"Oh don't be stupid."
Sheila seems to be the only one are to see how the Inspector is influencing them. She realizes that he doesn't need their confessions to understand what has happened, because he already knows what they have done.
Priestley created dramatic tension with a cliffhanger at the end of every Act. There is an example in Act 1 where Sheila says,
Why - you fool - he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t know yet”. Sheila becomes a stronger character as the play moves on into Act 2. She disagrees with things people say, instead of merely going along with what others have to say.
The Inspector shows a picture to Arthur Birling to show her identifies to make him accept he should also be blamed for her death; as he refused her a pay rise of only a few shillings in her wage. The Inspector showed that picture to the other Birling’s as well but Arthur Birling didn’t understand why he is being questioned he did accept that when Eva asked to him arise her wage he had discharged her and felt no sympathy for her. H e isn’t ashamed of what he did as he is a businessman who cares about the profit and not the people who comes across this sort of stuff everyday.
Sheila is the next one in the first to be interrogated , she complained to the manager at Milwards as she thought that Eva Smith was making fun of her while she tried on a new dress. As a result of this Eva Smith on as she called herself Daisy Renton, was killed out of her job. Sheila feels very ashamed about her behaviour and feels sympathy towards Eva Smith. She is open and, agrees about her involvement with the girls’ death “But these girls aren’t cheap labour……. They’re people”.
Then afterwards she also stood up for Eva Smith’s rights by making a good speech to her family. Sheila is completely opposite of her mother because her mother doesn’t care about the lower class people. These interrogations create guilt in some characters but in others there is denial. This too helps to create more dramatic tension.
After everyone has been interviewed, the Inspector makes them all listen to how each of them in turn has had some part in pushing Eva/Daisy towards suicide. The Inspector's final speech reminds the characters and audience that "One Eva Smith has gone - but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, what we think and say and do". The speech is powerful and dramatic, similar to a political speech. The reason it is so dramatic and powerful is because of the use of "we and us" and the phrases the Inspector uses to warn that if changes are not made the future will be one of "fire and blood and anguish". Immediately after his speech the Inspector bids the family "Good night" and walks straight out leaving the family in chaos.
After the Inspector's departure the family argues over what has happened. Arthur Birling is worried that he will not get a knighthood if there is a scandal and blames Eric for Eva/Daisy's death. Eric says that he is ashamed of his parents like they are of him and believes they are all in someway responsible, just as the Inspector felt in the "chain of events" back in Act One. Arthur still believes that he and his wife were right in their conduct; Mr. and Mrs. Birling are behaving as if nothing has happened, "nonsense! You'll have a good laugh over it yet". Sheila, angry at her parents' turns on them, "it was anything but a joke. You knew it then. You began to learn something. And now you've stopped. You're ready to go on in the same old way".
The most interesting exit was made by Eric. In Act 1 Eric tries to leave but is told that he will be needed. But later he does sneak out. The audience will instantly figure that young Eric has something to hide or he wouldn’t have been so eager to leave before being questioned. The inspector’s entrance has a large significance upon the play. Before hand there is only the dramatic irony to keep the audience entertained but as soon as he enters there is depth added. The audience is affected by the wait; the time it takes for him to enter allows them to speculate about who the inspector may be, they anticipate the Inspectors arrival and like the characters wait for him to finally enter. The delay further dramatizes the inspector's admission. The inspector takes his time when speaking "carefully" and "weightily", he is not intimidated by Mr. Birling and makes him wait for an answer.
At the end of Act Three, Birling seems not to have taken any of the lessons of the evening to heart. The demise of Eva Smith and the part each member of his family played in her death have not shaken his belief that "a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own…" and that "there's every excuse for what… (He and Mrs. Birling)… did." In fact, he is more concerned with his own reputation than with Eva. "…who here will suffer…more than I will?" He says things that should have been said to him, "you don't realise yet all you've done...you don't seem to care about anything", yet when he says these things, he is of course talking not about Eva Smith, but about his own reputation and an upcoming public scandal. The attitudes of Mr. and Mrs. Birling, and to an extent Gerald, and their willingness to explain away the events of the evening to hoaxes(deceiving), all go towards the final plot twist - the Inspector is returning to teach the Birling’s their lesson again. This tie in with the idea that if you don't learn the lesson the first time, you will be taught it again, through "fire and blood and anguish.
Stage directions are to help to make the play easier to understand. I will look at how stage directions help make the play more dramatic and enjoyable.
The stage directions in An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley are very helpful to anyone reading the play. Stage directions are there to tell the actors how they should move and speak their lines. This helps the reader to understand their character better and accept their attitudes towards Eva Smith. For example, Mr Birling says to the Inspector “(rather impatiently) look – there’s nothing mysterious – or scandalous – abut this business – at least not so far as I’m concerned. It’s a perfectly straightforward case, and as it happened more than eighteen months ago – nearly two years ago – obviously it has nothing whatever to do with the wretched girl’s suicide. Eh, Inspector?” This shows that Mr Birling is not very concerned about Eva’s suicide because he speaks “rather impatiently” as if he does not see the point of the Inspector’s questions about Eva and they are stressing him out. Later on, when the Inspector asks Mr Birling why he refused to give Eva an increase in her wages, Mr Birling says, “(surprised) Did you say ‘Why?’?”. This shows that he is surprised at being asked why he refused, which suggests he does not think that raising her wages should even be a remote possibility, and that if he didn’t raise her wages it is not his fault if she killed herself. I don’t think Mr Birling should have raised her wages anyway as he has to keep his costs down and if people kill themselves that’s not his problem. The audience would see him as stupid because he says the Titanic is “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”, and that there will not be a war, but everyone knows the Titanic sank and there was a war. Stage directions are important for Goole, as he is sometimes described as “Massive” and “cutting in”, so this shows he is a very strong and dominant person to the Birling’s.
Priestley uses dramatic tensions to keep the audience interested and give the correct information. In this family situation, he is able to manipulate it, to give the right setting. He shows how the family connects and communicates with each other when put in an uneasy situation. Dramatic devices are used, is the key part to this play and the most important one is that the audience knows that we will learn about each character, one by one. From very early on, we know that. The suspense in that is how they fit, where they fit, when they fit in and why they fit in. There is always a huge sense of relief when you find out another chunk of information.
After the inspector leaves the house, they are shocked, but then think about the idea whether the inspector really is the guy he pretends to be and they come to the conclusion that he is not an inspector after all. They find this out by contacting the police who then unfold the truth about him. The play finishes when the police calls saying a young lady died and an inspector is on his way to the Birling house.
My main reason for thinking that Mrs. Birling is responsible is because she was not only the last step before Eva/Daisy ended her life but because in my eyes she was the most powerful one. Eva/Daisy was at a time where she was most emotional and she must have been feeling desperate as her life had progressed in a downward spiral ever since she lost her job for fighting for what she believed in. When she presented her case to Mrs. Birling she did not expect a miracle but did hope for a little help. When Mrs. Birling refused her help, she must have felt like that was the last straw. She had missed the last train to any sort of life improvement and felt that she had no other option but to end her life. The most dramatic point in the play is when the Inspector says in his final speech 'we are responsible for each other.... if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish.' This is an implication that he is criticizing those who do not learn, not those who have acted that way in the past.
We get the impression that she is a when Priestly adds, ‘very pleased with life’. She is ignorant to the world of the working class, and is constantly surrounded by her riches without even considering the lives of other people. During the engagement party, Gerald gives Sheila an engagement ring. This is to represent their relationship and love. Her words on receiving the gift are ‘Oh –Gerald-you’ve got it’. The pause in her sentence indicates the excitement in her voice. She then becomes very involved with the present- like a child receiving a birthday gift. Mr. Birling is about to make his speech about the war and the Titanic, however, he pauses when he realizes that Sheila may not be listening, as she is only concentrating on her ring. This is what a child may do when receiving a toy. This as with both her ‘mummy’ and her father gives us the impression that these people are annoying and makes us dislike them
