Scrutinising the theatrical effects used by J.B Priestly in his classic tale of "An Inspector Calls".

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GCSE English Coursework: “An Inspector Calls”      Christopher McIntosh

For the duration of this assignment, I shall be scrutinising the theatrical effects used by J.B Priestly in his classic tale of  “An Inspector Calls”. By combining quotations and examples from the manuscript itself, the topic of whether these methods of drama work will be questioned.

I myself will be concentrating largely on the final pages of Act One of the play. With this I will create a thorough analysis of some of techniques featured here.

To conclude the assignment, I shall be taking into account the question of whether the techniques employed by Priestly would have an effect on a 21st Century Audience of today.

J.B Priestly sets the play in the fictional city of Brumley in the year of 1912. Brumley is situated in the North Midlands, which at the time was considered a vast industrial area. In this city of factory owners and corrupt politicians, social standings were far more important than they were today. Many men who had invested in such industries as coal and iron had made considerable fortunes. Men such as Arthur Birling may have come from humble origins but their wealth allowed them to climb up the social ladder. But many employers did not take the rights of workers too seriously. Thus, upper and lower class was developed and for some such as Eva Smith, the situation could only get worse off than it had been.

This has a big effect on how the drama is presented. It is a special genre of writing and needs a performance in a theatre to arrive at a full interpretation of its meaning. It must not be read but acted out. Contained within it must be certain features such as a main plot and different themes. But most of all are the dramatic and stylistic features involved. This coincides with Eugene Scribe’s (1791-1861) theory of a well-made play. He came up with the formula that the structure of a well-made play should be carefully crafted in order to arouse suspense and tension. In total, he came up with seven different features.

An extremely common technique employed by Priestly is that of the “Obligatory Scene”(This is only an exaggeration of the word scene. It does not mean a whole scene, as there is no different scenes in “An Inspector Calls”, only three separate acts). This hallmark of drama takes place when a secret revealed to that of everyone present, audience and performers included.

An ornate example of this takes place from page 20-25. The Inspector mentions the topic of Milwards department store, due to Eva Smith’s acceptance into their offices before her untimely death. Once this is brought up, Sheila Birling is the first to react:

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“Milwards! We go there”. Straight away it is obvious to tell that Sheila has some sort of connection with the shop Milwards. As the Inspector continues his enquiries, he seems to have an understanding of who is partly to blame for victim’s death. He mentions that “a customer had complained about her”. Sheila seems to be disturbed by this remark, and her facial expressions show for this:

(staring at him, agitated)”. When offered to see the photograph of the victim in question, Sheila is non-hesitant. However, when the photograph is produced, she “recognises it with a little cry, gives a ...

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