At the beginning of the extract the inspector departs. How does Priestley make what follows in the rest of the extract so dramatic?

An Inspector Calls

Question 7

Q) At the beginning of the extract the inspector departs. How does Priestley make what follows in the rest of the extract so dramatic?

A) Priestley makes the play interesting for the audience all the way through; there is a climax at the end of each act to keep people hooked. Most of the play is the inspection and is based around the inspection but when the inspector departs the play stays interesting and what follows is even more dramatic. Priestley does this by shocking the audience. The characters question whether the inspection was real or not. This makes the play interesting because it surprises them to find out that the inspector might be a hoax. Also the audience want to know who the inspector was and why he pretended to be an inspector. People will then not know whether the story of Eva Smith is true or not and so they will keep watching to find out the answers to these questions.

The play is also kept interesting because each character reacts differently. Sheila and Eric are upset and ashamed of the things that they have done. They have both learnt a lesson from the inspector.

They are both upset that Eva Smith is dead and don’t care about public scandals. An example is when Sheila says:

“I behaved badly too. I know I did. I’m ashamed of it. But now you’re beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened-”

To this Mr Birling replies:

“Nothing much has happened! Haven’t I already said there’ll ...

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They are both upset that Eva Smith is dead and don’t care about public scandals. An example is when Sheila says:

“I behaved badly too. I know I did. I’m ashamed of it. But now you’re beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened-”

To this Mr Birling replies:

“Nothing much has happened! Haven’t I already said there’ll be a public scandal – unless we’re lucky – and who here will suffer more than I will?”

From this you can tell that all Mr Birling cares about is that there is going to be a public scandal and that he will not be able to get his knighthood. He doesn’t care that Eva Smith is dead. Mrs Birling is the same, they blame everyone except themselves, for example Mr Birling says:

“There’s every excuse for what both your mother and I did – it turned out unfortunately, that’s all – ”

By having Mr and Mrs Birling behaving in this way, not caring about Eva Smith it makes the audience want to get involved because they agree with Sheila and Eric. It makes people annoyed that they haven’t learnt a lesson from the inspector and how they can be so selfish. Also Sheila and Eric give small speeches in the play for their point of view, which makes the audience agree with them even more. An example of this is when Eric says:

“Whoever that chap was, the fact remains that I did what I did. And Mother did what she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her. It’s still the same rotten story whether it’s been told to a police inspector or to somebody else…”

This is very persuasive and makes people think about it more and so they get involved in the play, it is like it is really happening.

Priestley ends the play with a cliffhanger to keep the audience wanting more. The ending is left open to different ideas to make people think about what it meant. The play ends with the police ringing the Birlings to say that a girl has committed suicide by swallowing disinfectant and an inspector is on the way to ask some questions. This makes people think about the play and everyone has different interpretations as to what is happening in the play.