“An inspector calls” has many elements from different types of plays but shows the main characteristics of a typical “Detective” story. Which usually consists of a bad crime being committed or someone dies under suspicious circumstances, then detective questions a group of people and by process of elimination the detective finds out who is the most to blame for the death/crime.Throughout the play clues are revealed, mysteries are solved and the audience feel they know who the main culprit is which also suggests the genre of the play is a typical detective story. There is also an element of mystery in “An inspector calls” because of Inspector Goole’s name, the inspector’s name sounds like the word ghoul which leaves the audience uneasy about the inspector and unsure if he is a real inspector.
In Act 1 Priestley uses many examples of dramatic irony to make the audience feel superior to the Birlings. When Mr.Birling makes a reference to the titanic being unsinkable “The Titanic is unsinkable” and how war with Germany would never happen “Nobody wants war” it shows how Mr.Birling can be very easily wrong about a lot of things and shows his outlook on society.
During the play Priestley uses many different effects to get his viewpoint across to the audience. At the start of the play the lighting is “Pink and intimate” to represent how the Birlings are comfortable with their surroundings and are not aware of the error of their ways so they cannot correct them. When the inspector calls the light gets “brighter and harder” which signifies that the Birlings can start to see the error of their ways. Priestley also used the doorbell to signal (cue) the lights to get brighter and introduce the inspector to the play. When the inspector is introduced into the play the other characters feel he is invading their privacy and are shocked with his unconventional methods of questioning. The pressure the inspector is so constant that they all begin to break under it one by one, each character leaves at one point or another to collect their thoughts away from the relentless questioning of the inspector. These sudden entrances and exits made by the characters keep the audience interested with the play. J.B. Priestley also has lots of mini climaxes in “An inspector calls” where the audience think 1 person is to blame for Eva Smith’s death and then focus on that character until there is development in the story line where they see another person is also responsible for Eva’s death and they then focus on that person, J.B. Priestley uses this dramatic device to keep the audience interested in the play.
Near the end of act 1 the audience starts to realise that the whole act is very ironic because the Birlings started out very happy and confident about themselves and how they felt about responsibility. Mr Birling: “Its one of the happiest nights of my life.” But when the inspector turns up they all conflict over eachovers responsibilities and show how they cannot act like a family when they are under pressure. Eric Birling: “It isn’t if you can’t go and work somewhere else.” Mr Birling: “Look – just you keep out of this.” This shows the audience what affect Inspector Goole is having on them as a family, if someone agree’s with inspector goole then they are immediately overruled by Mr or Mrs Birling because they are the eldest people there and suposedly the wisest. This affects the audience beacause it becomes very dramatic and tense when the inspector arrives and starts breaking up barriers between the family and it also keeps the audience interested and focused on the play.
In Act one J.B. Priestley shows what society’s view on women was at the time and shows how unfair men were to women for example Mr.Briling and Gerald stay in the dining room to discuss manly things such as money, business and politics while the women leave to talk about clothes, makeup ect this shows how men think that all women should be dumb and good looking and not be able to talk about deep issues such as politics or buisness.
By using a series of dramatic devices J.B. Priestley convey’s his message that everyone has responsibility and needs to remember that so they can choose to do the right thing rather then do the bad thing and ruin someone’s life. This message is still relevant today and always will be because everyone has a lot of responsibility to uphold and have to consider the needs of other people as well as their own needs.
