The lighting on stage at the beginning of Act One is ‘pink and intimate’ this setting remains the same until the arrival of the Inspector, then the lighting during the scene changes to be ‘brighter and harder’. The pink, intimate lighting not only shows the pleasant, comfy mood of the evening when the Birling family are celebrating the engagement of their daughter, but the mood and atmosphere of their overall family life. They are a respectable family with a comfortable living and lifestyle. The effect of introducing the much harder form of lighting along with the Inspector helps the on looking audience to dramatically see the difference in mood and tone he brings with him. He creates fear and uncertainty in the family and they begin to become anxious about anything he has to say.
Inspector Goole is first introduced to the play by the ringing of the doorbell. It is a ‘sharp’ ring and instantly grabs the attention of the whole Birling family and of course the audience, this is due to the dramatic change in atmosphere as soon as this device takes place. The timing of the ring is crucial as it sounds just as Mr Birling is making his speech to both Eric and Gerald about everyone needing to only look out for themselves.
“The way some these cranks write and talk now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as If we were all mixed up together”
This dramatic device helps the audience to spot a connection and also an element of irony between the words Birling has just uttered and the unexpected visitor. The connection here is that the Inspector has now come to question and challenge Birling on his views and try to make him change his ways.
The Inspector has;
“An impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. He is a man in his fifties, dressed in a plain darkish suit. He speaks carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking.”
He uses his character to create the impact on the family that he is to be taken seriously and they are not in for such a comfortable evening as usual. When beginning his investigations he displays his habit of looking closely at each of the main characters before questioning them. He works systematically ‘one person and one line of enquiry at a time’ he confronts them all and is harsh, giving them a piece of information and then letting them talk. Mrs Birling who is not so accommodating uses the phrase of:
“Giving us a rope – so we’ll all hang ourselves
When his suspects exit the room after they have been interrogated, the Inspector uses this as his excuse to move onto the next. For example, in the exit of Sheila Birling, she leaves the room in tears as Inspector Goole has made her feel that she is personally responsible for the death of Eva Smith after she has recognised her in a photograph. What the family and Sheila do not realise is that there is much more to the girls death than just Sheila’s actions. The audience by now will have probably noticed that there is more to the death and so know more than the characters, here Priestley is displaying dramatic irony with the use of these exits. These exits by the main characters also help to reinforce the Inspectors power over the whole situation that night.
At the end of Act One, the audience discover that Gerald, fiancé of Sheila, and son of Lord and Lady Croft, had been having an affair with the girl in question. Only he knew her by a different name, her alias, Daisy Renton. The audience then feel compassion for Sheila as her soon to be husband, Gerald, has cheated on her with a girl, which before, Sheila herself along with the audience had felt compassion for. This shows the difficult circumstances Sheila has been left with and also the seeing of cracks in the ‘comfortable’ set up the Birling’s had previously. Priestley leaves the audience hanging at the end of this Act as they hunger to find out what other connections there could be and the consequences of the family’s actions.
Gerald Croft is a well-respected man. His status in the society at the time is higher than that of the Birling’s and a marriage between the two families would result in the Birling’s social status rising. Arthur Birling tries to save the marriage between his daughter and Gerald for this reason. He knows that having his family and the Croft family could also make his business stronger due to the rivalry they share, of course the Croft business is bigger and this translates into money for Mr Birling. Priestley’s views and concerns on how Birling is only seeing wealth coming to him from Gerald and Sheila’s marriage, he has no concern for their love for one another and the way in which society works at an unfair advantage to some.
Many of the words, events and actions in Act One, in retrospect, are ironic. From the comment Birling made about the Titanic ship and the events, which followed from his speech, it seems that Priestley displays dramatic irony throughout. In the case of Birling’s speech, the statement made was almost instantly countered by the introduction of the Inspector who had come to prove Birling wrong and make him see how he needs to change because of the outcomes this visit has.
The alternative view in the play, taken on by the Inspector also represents the view of the writer; Priestley. Priestley had many political and social views on how people should all be allowed equal opportunities and that everyone should be treated the same, in the play the Inspector only aims to show the Birling family this way of living but in life Priestley aimed at tackling the government.
“We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”
The contrasting views contained in the play by two of the main characters also display irony in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’, this is due to how much they differ to each others, they are the complete opposite and this is bound to cause conflict in many ways like it did in the time Priestly was writing the play.
During the course of Act One, the playwright uses the Inspector to bring out different sides of the Birling’s (due to Eva Smith’s suicide earlier in the day). The new light of this seeming pleasant and respectable family at the beginning of the Act is not so kind upon them and the audience see the Birling’s to be selfish in their actions to only look out for themselves. The power of the Birling family appears to lie in other people’s perception of them, their status within the community. However, Mr Birling does see himself as a very influential and powerful person, and displays this arrogance to the Inspector when he first arrives.
“I was an alderman for years – and Lord Mayor two years ago – and I’m still on the Bench – so I know the Brumley police officers pretty well”
Here, Birling’s arrogance is turned into embarrassment as he fails to impress the Inspector, but he still thinks highly of his own achievements.
Priestley involves his audience by making them ask questions about the Birling’s and allowing them to come to their own decisions as to which Birling is most at fault for Eva Smith’s death and also whether or not the Inspector is conveying the truth to them. I think J.B Priestley’s message within the play is that Birling is wrong in his views, it is everyone’s responsibility as a community to take care of each other, regardless of how close you are to them. This, I think is a message which is still relevant today as many people are unwilling to help and support those in need.
