The effect of Inspector Goole
The inspectors’ sudden entrance gives an impression of “massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”. He has an air of authority that dominates the room. He is smartly dressed in a dark suit and he looks about fifty years old. He is serious, direct and makes a big impression. His entrance seems to be a surprise to Mr. Birling and the rest of the family, this brings more drama to the play. The inspector suddenly enters while Mr. Birling is giving a long lecture to the two young men Eric and Gerald.
His timing seems to make a very big impression, as Birling attentively stops his speech and listens to the door, as it seems the Birling family was not expecting other visitors. The atmosphere suddenly becomes a bit tenser contrasting to when they were all celebrating happily without any worries. Before he came the atmosphere is content, now it seems that everyone is getting impatient with the presence of the inspector, this brings out the minor problems in-between the members of the family. The audiences’ impressions of the characters are that Mr. Birling is very pompous, he is confident and firm on his beliefs about politics and society. Eric is seen as a drunken boy who seems to get in a bit of trouble now and then. Gerald backs up Mr. Birlings’ beliefs. Gerald is quite confident and addresses the inspector with authority, he doesn’t seem to be very intimidated as he says “look here, sir.” As if trying to get control of the conversation. Sheila seems to be a girl who is very childish saying things like “mummy” which makes her look very immature.
