The playwright uses many dramatic devices, such as dramatic irony and tension in order to effectively convey this political message throughout the play. He uses them appropriately for the time in which he is writing the play and for the time in which the play is set. An example of one of the characters that displays egotistic behaviour is Arthur Birling. All he clearly seems to care about is keeping his knighthood and trivial possessions such as port and cigars. Mr Birling is beyond doubt not intimidated by the Inspector. He furthermore wants to join forces with the Crofts to push costs down and pay less. Is this all that concerns him? Even though he has found out Eva is dead he evidently only cares about the engagement party being ruined by the inspector interrupting. “I can’t accept responsibility”. This shows his behaviour is very foolish and he is noticeably cold-hearted. Additionally, he only sees Eva as a “good worker” this shows Birling doesn’t see Eva as an actual person with a heart and feelings but just, only just a worker. Dramatic Irony is also used in act 1. We as the audience already know the Titanic has sunk nevertheless Mr Birling tries to impress Gerald by talking about the Titanic. He says” The Titanic she sails next week forty six thousand eight hundred tons New York in five days and every luxury and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”. This makes him seem like a fool to the audience and shows he doesn’t actually know everything. Mr Birling is a character that is resistant to change as nobody can make him realise what he has done and make him face the fact that he is partly to blame for Eva’s horrendous death.
Inspector Goole is an extremely important character in the play. He demonstrates the rich the dreadful consequences of their actions. When he arrives the lighting first used is described as "pink and intimate" showing a 'warm' and 'joyful' atmosphere. However the audience gets the sense that it is just a screen covering up secrets and that they are in fact looking through 'rose-tinted glasses' and that it is not really what it seems. This is confirmed when the Inspector appears and the lighting changes to a "brighter and harder light" where it gives the impression of exposure and the revelation of truth. The stage directions show how imperative he is to make the rich comprehend what their actions have leaded to. “The Inspector need not be a big man but he creates an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”. The stage directions explain it all he’s here to do his duty and get his story out of the rich. He obviously has no clear class but there is definitely something about him, possibly a supernatural side to him. How does he have all this knowledge about the Birlings and Gerald’s past? The Inspector wants the rich to realise what they have done by making Eva’s death sound deeply painful. He says “She was in great agony”. This shows how intense the pain was. He also says “A chain of events”. The word chain illustrates all the actions driving her to death. The inspector is definitely not intimidated by the rich and speaks his mind. He points out to the Birlings that they all behaved selfishly and incredibly irresponsibly and because of them Eva committed suicide.
Another reason why the audience don’t like Mr Birling is because he is a prosperous factory owner, not the social equal of his wife. He is 'a self made man'. His first priority is to make money 'It's my duty to keep labour cost down'.
The door bell rings, as the maid, Edna answers the door. At this moment, Edna shouts ‘an inspector calls’. This is the point where the dark secrets of the family are about to be revealed to the audience
The introduction has an effect on a new major character, which affects the Birling family, who start to question each other why inspector Goole come to their house and who he has come for. This is indicated to us when Mr Birling questions the inspector ‘well what can we do for you’? This suggests to the audience that the presence of the inspector was at a wrong time for the Birlings.
The most disturbing part of the play for Birling is the scene in which he learns that his own son is shown to be a thief. He still continues to ignore the shameful things that his family has done. When it appears that the Inspector might be a hoaxer he is happy to believe that everything is as it was a few hours ago. He copies the Inspector and laughs when he remembers the faces of Eric and Sheila and accuses them of being 'the famous younger generation who know it all'. This is an example of pride coming before a fall, a moment later of course he is panicking as the phone rings again.
Priestley also uses cliff-hangers to create tension. Such as at the end of the play, when Birling answers the phone to find out that a second Inspector is on his way and that what they thought was just a hoax was in fact true. Ending the play on this cliff-hanger makes the audience want to watch more and find out what happens next. It also keeps them thinking about the play and it's meaning afterwards. Another example of the use of a cliff-hanger is at the end of Act One when Gerald admits to Sheila that he had had an affair with Eva Smith. The Inspector then enters and simply says "Well?" this hooks the audience, as they want to find out what happens next in the play, keeping them on the edge of their seats. Act Two then begins, exactly the same as Act One ended. Priestley decided not to change anything in order to achieve a sense of continuity. Continuity is thus used as a dramatic device to keep the play focused and concentrated on the main characters. This also raises the tension and draws in the attention of the audience.
At the end of act 1, Mr Birling represents Priestley's hatred of businessmen who are only interested in making money. He will never alter his ways and it is left to the younger generation to learn from their mistakes. Also he strongly believes that 'a man has to make his own way'. He does not consider the harm he may cause to other people because of his attitude. He is a 'hard headed business man’. This creates a bad impression of him.
Sheila Birling is one of the only characters that admit to being in the wrong. She shouldn’t have let her jealousy get in the way. She believes Eva was a true person and not just a worker as she says to her father. “These girls aren’t cheap labour they’re people”. She’s clearly showing that Eva was more than just a worker who should be treated with respect. She can’t get beyond the fact that she helped kill Eva. “I can’t help thinking about this girl destroying herself so horribly”. Sheila as a character has definitely changed and regrets her actions. She seems to be awfully distressed when she talks and won’t be shushed by Gerald. When she and Eric are in charge of the business in the future there will definitely be some strong changes.
The message Priestly is trying to send across in An Inspector Calls, is that all humans are equal. Priestley shows the audience how not to live their lives, using dramatic devices to demonstrate this. He makes the audience contemplate over the fact that they are actually "members of one body" and that they are all "responsible for one another". An Inspector Calls is very relevant today's society where people still do need to work together and help others in need. J.B. Priestley effectively uses many dramatic devices in An Inspector Calls, such as symbolism and timings. He applies them in order to expose his political views, using the upper class After J.B Priestley wrote this play I strongly believe the rich would be more careful about their actions and become more socially responsible just as Priestley wanted. He wanted the people to be treated fairly, no matter what your class was.
