At the start of act 1, Sheila and Gerald have known each other for about a year, and they are celebrating their engagement.’ Gerald comes from a rich, powerful, well-respected family who are in a higher class than the Birlings.
Throughout act 1 we don’t really learn anything about Gerald just that he is in a higher class than Sheila and that there was this one summer where he and Sheila didn’t see each other because Gerald was “awfully busy at the works”, This might lead the audience to think that Gerald is quite a secretive lying character in some parts of the play but maybe pleasant and loving in others.
In the beginning of the play, Sheila and Gerald’s relationship is unbalanced because Gerald sees himself as the dominant one, and he is controlling. Sheila is naïve, quite immature for her age, and impressionable. Gerald chose and bought the engagement ring for Sheila, without her having any say about it, and she just accepts that, and doesn’t question Gerald. She says ‘Is this the one you wanted me to have?’ which shows her willingness to be controlled. The atmosphere at that time is very calm and it seems that nothing could possibly go wrong and change that, in a way the atmosphere is almost like Sheila and Gerald’s relationship, the inspector tells the family about the death of Eva Smith, fortunately for Sheila and Gerald neither of them are familiar with that name but Mr Birling is, but as the inspector carries on and tells them that Eva went by a different name, Daisy Renton, but this time Gerald is the one who recognises that name.
By the end of Act One, Sheila is aware that Gerald has been up to something in the previous summer and Sheila gains some control of their relationship. She works out what the Inspector is doing, and says ‘Why – you fool – he knows…and I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t know yet. You’ll see. You’ll see.’ It also says ‘She looks at him almost in triumph. He looks crushed.’ She feels triumphant because she has stood up to Gerald and gains control over him for once.
Right before the inspector enters the Birlings home, he rings the door bell, this is significant because inside the house the mood is calm and everyone is having a good time, and a sudden bell ringing would disturb the mood and cause it to change, by doing this Priestly has already given The inspector power by making him able to change the mood inside the house even when he’s not actually inside yet. Mr. Birling orders the maid, Edna, to bring the inspector inside and “give them more light” this could mean that Birling, unknowingly changes the mood by changing the lighting, or it could be that Priestly is creating tension by having particular characters on stage when the inspector enters, Mr. Birling, Eric and Gerald are the first people to meet the inspector, this is important because it could suggest that maybe the three of them have something to do with what happened to Eva Smith, it also adds dramatic effect because some characters are not on stage when he comes in and the audience doesn’t know what they are doing. Another way it adds dramatic effect is where Gerald asks the inspector if he should leave, and the inspector tell Gerald not to leave, this might suggest that the inspector wishes to talk with Gerald as well as Mr. Birling suggesting that the inspector might be suspicious of Gerald.
In conclusion to act 1 of the play, it really changes your view on a lot of characters over all, for example it shows Gerald to be connected to Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton through an affair he had been having over summer, and it also shows Sheila to get easily jealous and do things without fully thinking them through and thinking of the consequences.
The way Priestley uses the inspector to create tension grabs the audiences’ attention because he seems to know everything about all of the Birlings including Gerald, but he never gives away more than he needs too and this would keep the audience intrigued and wanting to know more and find out how he knows all everything.
We have been studying a 20th century play called ‘An Inspector Calls’ wrote by J.B Priestly in 1945. I am going to state how the mood changes and what devices he uses to create tension and suspense.
