Eric and Mr. Birling’s relationship also changes throughout this scene. On page ten when Birling and Gerald are joking about whether, “Eric’s been up to something,” Eric becomes very uneasy and tells them, “Well I don’t think it’s very funny.” Birling becomes quite suspicious and says sharply, “What’s the matter with you?” Eric becomes quite defiant when he says, “Nothing.” The relationship has already begun to breakdown creating some tension for the audience to watch. Later on in the Act, Eric argues with his father and disagrees about whether he should have sacked Eva Smith. “Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices.” Mr. Birling gets rather angry with his son, “Unless you brighten your ideas, you’ll never be in a position to let anybody stay or to tell anybody to go.” This creates interest for the audience and more tension between the characters.
Priestly uses Mr. Birling’s very fixed and dogmatic personality to create some dramatic irony from the audience’s perspective.
“I say there isn’t a chance of war… makes war impossible… the Titanic… unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable… by 1940 you’ll be living in a world that’ll have forgotten all these Capital verses Labour agitations… There’ll be peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere – except of course in Russia, which will always be behindhand naturally.”
The audience know and understand that in two years time the country will be at war and that the Titanic will have sunk. When Mr. Birling speaks of peace and prosperity in the 1940’s the audience know that there is another war, the play was actually written in this period. The talk of Russia being behind is also ironic, as it develops to be one of the two world superpowers throughout the Cold War. These kinds of statements as well as those about men looking after themselves and the class system all help to create tension when the Inspector arrives. Eric begins to mention what Mr. Birling had said, to the Inspector when Mr. Birling cuts in, “Yes well, we needn’t go into all that.” He seems quite concerned and as the play develops, we see that the Inspector is definitely of the opposite opinions to Mr. Birling.
The use of foreboding to create tension is also evident throughout the scene. When Eric is talking about Sheila and tells Gerald, “She’s got a nasty temper, sometimes,” foreboding is used as we find this out later when her temper gets Eva Smith sacked from her job. Foreboding is also used as Birling says, “there’s a very good chance of a knighthood – so long as we behave ourselves, don’t get into the police court or start a scandal – eh?” This is quite ironic to the audience later on, as the plot develops as well as being foreboding.
The Inspector is used as a dramatic devise by Priestly to help create tension. The character of the Inspector is used to control what is revealed when. For example near the end of the act the Inspector shows Sheila a photograph of the girl which immediately reveals to the audience that Sheila is involved too as she recognises the girl and runs of crying. This creates tension as the information was revealed at a crucial point in the play. Only enough information is given out by the Inspector to leave the audience asking themselves questions.
The tension builds up throughout Act 1 and gets greater at the end of the act. When the Inspector mentions that Eva Smith changed her name to Daisy Renton, Gerald interrupts with a startled, “What?” This creates tension for the audience as they are left wondering how he is involved and how he knows the girl. More tension is created as a silent pause is created when Gerald pours himself a drink. The Inspector asks, “Where is your father, Miss Birling?” The audience wonder what is wanted with him now, and are still asking questions about Gerald. Once the Inspector is off stage to find Mr. Birling, Sheila and Gerald begin to talk. Gerald denies knowing the girl and Sheila says, “Oh don’t be stupid. We haven’t much time,” this creates the impression that everything is in a hurry and that something is going to happen very soon. Gerald admits, “I know her. Let’s leave it at that.” The audience want to know why he doesn’t want to discuss the subject and what exactly happened. Gerald tries to charm Sheila but she says, “No, that’s no use,” and begins to ask many rhetorical questions just as the Inspector had been. Gerald tries to say that he doesn’t come into the suicide business and then says, “So – for God’s sake – don’t say anything to the Inspector. The –, are used as pauses which create tension throughout Gerald’s speech giving the impression of him being very tense, nervous and worried. Sheila shows her feelings of tenseness and nervousness when she begins to laugh hysterically. Gerald wants to keep the fact he knows the girl from the Inspector and Sheila remarks, “ Why – you fool – he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t know yet. You’ll see. You’ll see.” The pauses once again create tension as do the repetition of the word knows which could also be seen as the fact that the Inspector appears all knowing and all powerful and that there is no escape. After this, we are told Sheila appears triumphant and Gerald seems crushed. This is reflected in the apparent power loss of Gerald and the gaining of power that Sheila seems to receive. The Inspector appears and says “Well?” The Act ends at this point, which leaves the audience wondering what will happen next. The cliffhanger maintains the interest of the audience into the next act and creates a continuing build up of tension at the end of the act.
During Act Two, the tension increase is maintained. The Act begins with a conversation between the Inspector, Sheila, Gerald and Mrs Birling. It is a discussion about whether Sheila should remain in the room or should leave. Gerald thinks that she should leave but Sheila is adamant that she wants to stay. Sheila and Gerald’s relationship begins to breakdown even more in this act. When Gerald says, “You’ve been through it – and now you want to see somebody else put through it,” and Sheila replies, “So that’s what you think I’m really like. I’m glad I realised it in time Gerald.” This increase in tension between characters creates tension for the audience to watch and maintains their interest.
Soon after this, Sheila becomes quite hysterical about the whole matter. Many pauses are used to emphasise certain words and phrases. “I know I’m to blame – and I’m desperately sorry – but I can’t believe – I won’t believe – it’s simply my fault that in the end she – she committed suicide. That would be too horrible –.” She does not want to be blamed for the girl’s suicide; this all creates tension, as the audience want to know who is ultimately to blame for it. What the Inspector replies is, “we have to share something. If there’s nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt.” This can have different interpretations. The Inspector could simply be saying that all of the characters in the play have to share their guilt for the girl, which creates tension as the audience want to know who will be punished for the girl’s suicide and how the other characters come into the matter. You could also interpret it as the fact that everyone has to share their guilt for all the problems in the world, things like the poor and the fact that everyone is as guilty as each other. This make the audience wonder about the Inspector and almost how much of an Inspector he really is.
When Mrs. Birling enters, tension is immediately created by the way she enters the room. She enters briskly and self-confidently, quite out of key. This creates tension between the characters and interest for the audience. Dramatic irony is also used to create tension and interest for the audience. Mrs Birling says, “I don’t think we can help you much,” to the Inspector which is already untrue as Sheila and Birling have already produced evidence that they are involved. Further on in the play it is revealed that Mrs. Birling is also involved.
Priestly uses foreboding throughout the play to help produce tension. When Sheila says to her mother, “I’m afraid you’ll say something or do something that you’ll be sorry for afterwards;” it produces tension for the audience to watch, as Sheila seems to know and understand what is coming. It also shows the change in the power between Sheila and Mrs. Birling as at the start of the play, Mrs. Birling was very much in control but now Sheila is telling her what to do and to say. Foreboding is also used when Mrs Birling was talking and says, “We can’t understand why the girl committed suicide. Girl’s of that class –,” and Sheila interrupts, “For your own sake, as well as ours, you mustn’t –,” Sheila seems to know something is going to happen and the tension between the characters creates audience interest as well as the fact they want to know what is going to happen and what Sheila means. Foreboding is also used when Mrs. Birling has been ill-mannered remarks to the Inspector. Sheila says to Mrs Birling, “But, Mother, do stop before it’s too late;” this gives the impression of urgency and speed and the need to hurry up before time runs out. Tension is created because the audience want to know what time is running out and what the hurry is. The relationship between Mrs. Birling and Sheila has changed still as Sheila is calling her “Mother” and is almost telling her what to do.
Further on in the Act Mr and Mrs. Birling begin to learn more about their children. Mrs Birling thinks that Eric is still only her little boy. Therefore, when Sheila and the Inspector reveal that Eric is frequently drinking too much and is regularly drunk, Mrs. Birling gets a large shock. This creates tension as what else is there that Mrs. Birling doesn’t know and what else will be revealed. Mrs. Birling severely reduces the amount of power she has, as she can’t quite believe it and the fact that she is the only one seemingly not to know things. Foreboding is also used around this point when Sheila says, “He hasn’t started on you yet.” The audience are left to wonder what will happen next and Mrs. Birling will be very apprehensive at this point. It is probably written in italics to give emphasis to those words. Mrs. Birling’s attitude towards the Inspector also changes and becomes much more polite. “If necessary I shall be glad to answer any questions the Inspector wishes to ask me. Though naturally I don’t know anything about this girl.” This also contains some dramatic irony, as it is obvious to the audience by now that Mrs. Birling is involved in some way although they do not know how. This creates tension and maintains the audiences interest. When Mr. Birling enters not knowing about the previous conversation about Eric he asks the Inspector why Eric needs to stay up. The Inspector replies to this by saying, “Because I shall want to talk to him, Mr Birling.” This creates tension, as the audience want to know why the Inspector wants to question him and what about. Further on in this section the Inspector begins to question Gerald. When the Inspector says, “Mr, Croft, when did you first get to know her?” This surprises both other characters except Sheila, as they previously didn’t know he knew her or had anything to do with it. This creates an enormous amount of tension at that point on stage between the characters. After Gerald has been questioned, Sheila tells Gerald, “You and I aren’t the same people who sat down to dinner here. We’d have to start all over again, getting to know each other –.” This is a very true statement as Sheila and Gerald’s relationship cannot be the same as at the start of the play due to what they have found out about each other. This does create tension and it maintains the interest of the audience, as they would want to know what would happen between them.
Nearing the end of Act 2 Priestly through the character of the Inspector begins to get his own political message across. The Inspector makes the comment to Mr. Birling, “Public men, have responsibilities as well as privileges.” Here the responsibilities spoken of are the poorer members of society, people like Eva Smith, this creates tension, as we do not know how Mr. Birling will respond to this. The Inspector is becoming much more in control over the other characters which creates tension when they cannot realise this. There is an example of this further on when Mrs Birling says, “you have no power to make me change my mind.” She soon becomes only one of the other characters and the Inspector claims total control.
Foreboding is another method used throughout to create tension. When we hear the front door slam, most people would assume that Gerald had returned although the Inspector says, “Unless your son has just gone out.” The audience immediately will think how does he know and why has Eric gone. I turns out it was Eric leaving and when Mr. Birling tries to say it doesn’t matter the Inspector says it does and that he will have to find him if he has to. Foreboding is also used when Mrs Birling tries to say she hasn’t done anything wrong and the fact the Inspector says “I think you did something terribly wrong” almost demonstrates the fact he seems to know the outcome of this enquiry already.
Tension is created when Mrs. Birling says she Eva Smith called herself Mrs. Birling. The other characters immediately become suspicious and shocked as well as the audience watching. They want to know why she called herself that. The Inspector is used once again to create tension by revealing a fact at a critical point in the plot. He tells everyone that the girl was going to have a child. This creates a large amount of tension, as the audience want to know who the father is and whether any of the other characters could be. After this is mentioned, Mrs Birling tells the Inspector that the father of the child is responsible. At this stage, the audience do not know that the father is Eric but this is where she begins to set him up without realising. Even nearer the end of the Act on page 46 the Inspector suddenly loses his sense of calmness and his patience and says, “I’m losing all patience with you people. What did [Eva Smith] say?” This completely reduces Mrs. Birling’s power status and creates tension, as the audience do not know what will happen next now that the Inspector is totally in control of the situation.
Snobbery begins to create tension as Mrs Birling clearly did not believe the story the girl told her and she is putting on airs which the Inspector strips away from her quite quickly. Mrs. Birling begins once more to set up Eric by saying, “I blame the young man who was the father of the child,” she still does not realise what she is doing. More tension is created when the man gets described as not of her class and a drunken young idler which is what Eric is, as we found out earlier in the act although Sheila and Mrs. Birling have not realised what is going on. The audience probably realise at this point who the father is and this definitely creates tension for them and maintains the interest they have in the play. Mrs. Birling begins to get quite angry with the Inspector when he seems to believe the girls story even though she doesn’t. All of the while the Inspector is setting up Mrs. Birling to blame Eric creating a large rise in tension for the audience to watch. Sheila does suddenly realise what is happening and tries to warn her mother but she thinks she still knows best and ignores Sheila’s cries. It becomes quite ironic when Mrs. Birling says “make sure that he’s compelled to confess in public his responsibility,” this is not what she wants to say but she still does not know it is Eric and is trying to clear her own name from any blame that the Inspector might land on her. The Inspector begins to ask many rhetorical questions that are almost laughing at Mrs. Birling and the way she is falling for it. When Mrs. Birling asks what the Inspector is waiting for and he replied to do his duty like she told him to, she realises what she has done. Sheila, Mrs. Birling and Mr. Birling all are now very distressed and more pauses in sentences are used to demonstrate this. Tension is created throughout this section by each one of these methods and audience interest is definitely maintained. When we hear the front door the Inspector holds up his hand for silence. This creates a large amount of tension as no one knows what will happen next and then it is the end of the act. It is left on a cliffhanger and every one wants to know what will be happening next and how exactly did Eric get involved and why. Eric clearly knows they know something as he comes in, turns pale, and looks distressed. This leaves the audience interpreting what will happen next and why for themselves. Tension is created all the way through this act using many different methods all of them affective.
Priestly uses many different techniques to create tension throughout the whole play building them up as it draws nearer to the end. I think that silence and pauses are very important in the creation of tension as many people are at the edge of their seats wanting to know what happens next in the play. Leaving the ends of each act open to audience interpretation is also very effective and works well. This helps as it leaves the audience to try and think for themselves what might happen next and who else is involved and why and how. The conflicts between the characters relationships also help to create tension as the tension they create between themselves is also shown through into the plot of the play. Foreboding is also very important especially with the Inspector. He always seems to know what id going to happen next and is just trying to make them realise what they have done which in the end it turns out that is what he is trying to do. Foreboding help as the audience do not know the ending and want to know how the Inspector knows these things. I think that the most successful device that Priestly uses to create tension is the character of the Inspector. This is done very carefully and subtly, as the plot develops the Inspector seems to always be able to add a twist at critical moments just to keep the audience interested and to maintain the increase in tension. Priestly has very successfully created tension and maintained the interest of the audience throughout the play and both Acts 1 and 2.
