This helps to express important ideas that bad things can happen to rich, posh people too. At the start of the play, the language used by the characters makes them seem respectable, polite and well-mannered. As the play unfolds, the audience begin to see how this contrasts drastically with the families actions towards other people. The family suddenly do not seem quite so respectful by the end of the play.
In Act One of the play, Priestley uses a range of dramatic devices in order to interest, and to help to deliver his message, to the audience. Firstly, the play begins with a happy celebration. “Desert plates and champagne glasses” are on the table. Everyone is calm. Mr Birling is sharing his port with everyone and is delighted with the news of his daughter’s engagement. Towards the end of the Act, Mr Birling is angry and is no longer resting in his chair.
“BIRLING (angrily)
(still angry)
(moving)”
He is annoyed and stressed. Things begin to fall apart and everyone is confused. The atmosphere becomes very awkward. Mr Birling and his family are shown in a completely different light to that at the start of the play. Their personalities have completely changed. Mr Birling starts off in the first scene as a respectable, confident, business-man but by the end Act One, he becomes inferior of the Inspector and is not the calm, confident man we saw at the beginning.
Secondly, the lighting at the beginning of the play changes when the Inspector enters. “The lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder” The play begins in a very calm way. When the lights become bright, it disrupts the tranquil ambience and draws attention to the importance of the Inspector. Everyone, including the audience, is immediately more focused and tense.
Another way in which Priestley interests the audience is the way Mr Birling makes incorrect predictions. It makes the audience distrust him. “war impossible”, “Titanic…absolutely unsinkable”, “peace, prosperity and rapid progress everywhere” He is very confident man, who is very sure of himself and his opinions. It gives the impression that he knows what he is talking about. Although Mr Birling is confident in his opinions, his thoughts on war show the audience that he can be wrong. The audience knows he is incorrect because the play was written in 1945 after all these events. They can no longer trust anything he says; he becomes an unreliable character.
“We hear the sharp ring of a door bell. BIRLING stops to listen.” An extra dramatic device used by Priestley was the use of a doorbell. The audience are interested in what is happening, as no one knows who is at the door. The celebration has been interrupted for an uninvited guest. The suspense of the uninvited guest creates even more tension in the inquiry room.
A further dramatic device used by Priestley is the way the Inspector enters for the first time. “An impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”. No one is aware why the Inspector is here. He makes the other characters feel inferior. The Inspector has a “Disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking”. He makes the characters feel uncomfortable when he stares at them and the audience are extremely curious as to why he is there.
Another technique cleverly used by Priestley is the way all the action takes place in “The dining room of a fairly large suburban house”. By making everything happen in this one room, an illusion of claustrophobia is created. Everyone is trapped in this prison and they are unable to escape. They are shut off from the rest of the world. Everyone can see what the victim of the interrogation is going through at the time. Nobody misses out in what is happening – no one is being kept in the dark.
Another way in which a dramatic device is used is when the photograph is shown to only one character at a time. The audience is never allowed to see it. “Inspector takes a photograph about postcard size out of his pocket and goes to BIRLING. Both GERALD and ERIC rise to have a look at the photograph, but the INSPECTOR interposes himself between them and the photograph. They are surprised and rather annoyed. BIRLING stares hard, and with recognition, at the photograph, which the INSPECTOR then replaces in his pocket” No one is aware who the other characters are looking at in the photograph. Every time someone looks at the photograph, the Inspector puts it back into his pocket. The audience do not know who is really in the photograph, or if the characters on stage are even looking at the one. The characters may be misled into believing they are all looking at the same person. This means that if they are not looking at the same person, then they may have admitted to events which were unnecessary and could have gone unmentioned.
An additional dramatic device used is the breakdown of the relationship between Sheila and Gerald. At the beginning of the Act, they are celebrating their engagement and are overwhelmed with happiness. “celebrating a special occasion and are pleased with themselves”. By the end of the Act, they are arguing and accusing each other. “Now listen darling”
“No that’s no use. You not only know her but you knew her very well.”
The audience wants to know what is going to be revealed and how each of the characters will react. The relationship breaks down here because Sheila found out that Gerald had a relationship with ‘Daisy Renton’. Priestley is trying to get across the point that everyone makes mistakes, no matter what their social status is. Every couple has secrets from each other, no matter how small. This will break down most relationships at some point or another, but it is possible for people to forgive and forget. The audience are extremely curious as to whether or not anything else will happen to this couple and how they will cope. They are constantly asking themselves, “Will Sheila forgive Gerald?” and “Can anything happen to make this worse?” Tension and suspense are created here, which makes the play more exciting for the audience.
Finally, a cliff-hanger is used at the end of Act One.
“I hate to think how much he knows. Of course he knows…you’ll see”
”Well?”
The audience is left wondering how much the Inspector really does know and whether Sheila and Gerald will stick together; the audience has to wait until the curtains open again.
The audience’s views and opinion of the Birling family are gradually changed throughout Act One. At the beginning, the audience are pleased to see the happiness and love between the characters in the family. The characters are getting on very well together and are celebrating the engagement of Gerald and Sheila. As the play progresses, the audience begin to stop feeling so happy for the characters and are appalled at their actions towards Eva Smith. Also during Act One, Priestley uses a variety of dramatic techniques including the use of lighting, how events quickly change, the use of a doorbell, the impact of the Inspector, the action taking place in just one room, the breakdown in relationships and the effect of the cliff-hangers at the end of the acts. He uses these devices in order to interest and involve the audience. It is a clear way for him to express his concerns and ideas. These techniques are very effective in creating interest, suspense, tension and excitement.
By writing this play, I think Priestley was hoping to teach the audience the importance of looking after one another. Every small action one makes will automatically affect somebody else life, no matter how big or small that action might be. On page 56, the Inspector delivers his ‘moral message’. He says that the family cannot change what they did to Eva Smith, but they can prevent it happening again. We are all responsible for each other and should watch what we say and do. “time will come soon, when if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish”. The Inspector is saying that if we do not learn from our mistakes, and change things for the better, then we will eventually be punished for it. This may be that the tables will turn and it is us on the receiving end. People alive in 1914-18 and 1939-45 did not learn from their mistakes. Wars are still happening in the world today and world peace has not yet been accomplished.
I feel Priestley was successful in delivering the moral message. Throughout the play, the Inspector acts as our conscience. It makes it clear that the people in power take advantage of the people weaker than themselves. Eva Smith was an ordinary, working class women. When she was needed to do a job, she was hired. Yet when she was no longer of any use, she was discarded and cast aside. J B Priestley wants us to learn from our mistakes, to prevent further injury. Between the time that the play was set, 1912, and actually written, 1946, we can see what happens in a heartless, uncaring civilization. People living between these times have had to deal with two World Wars, and other horrors such as the holocaust and depression. When the play was written, it was possible for the audience to look back and see that the bad events are going round in circles and have happened again. This emphasises the point of how important it is to look out for others, for people weaker than ourselves, instead of taking advantage of them. We should not forget that there are other people in this world. We need to stop being selfish and help those around us.