Use of Dramatic Devices

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Explain and analyse some of the ways in which J. B. Priestly uses dramatic devices to convey important messages to his audience

In 1945, John Boynton Priestly released a hidden-message phenomenon to the world: a cleverly designed play, which created controversial opinions throughout England - An Inspector Calls.

The play tells the story of an upper-class family living in 1912. They are celebrating the engagement of their daughter and her fiancée when they receive an unexpected knock on the door. An Inspector enters the Birling household to question the family about the death of a girl (Eva Smith). The inspector slowly investigates each member of the family in a way that ensures the leak of all the critical information, which shows that all the members of the family were involved in the girl’s life, one way or another. However, whilst the Inspector breaks down the stories from each character, the family begins to fall apart and the atmosphere takes an emotional U-turn. When the Inspector leaves the house, a conflict arises between the Birlings. Until, new evidence comes to light that the Inspector was a fake and the whole thing was a hoax. However, the play ends when a phone call is sent to Mr Birling by the police, informing him that a girl has just died and they are sending over a police inspector. This cliffhanger leaves us guessing what reactions each of the characters will display and how they will act second time around.

Different messages were expressed throughout the duration of An Inspector Calls, but all share the similarity in being wake up calls. Considering the play was set in 1912, social-economic statuses substantially divided the population into groups at this time. Therefore, different classes were separated from each other completely. One of the more important messages expressed was the idea of creating a more equal society. This technique was certainly amplified by the happenings during the play.

The second message used was the idea of thinking about how our actions can contribute to significant effects on other people. Where you may think an event is small and inconsequential, it could be a momentous happening for another. When these unfortunate circumstances occur, we must accept the responsibility of what we have done.

Another influential message was the consistently used idea of learning from our mistakes. This approach is made obvious to the audience, even when the majority of the characters do not wish to confess they have done wrong in their dialogue. Whereas, Sheila is keen to divulge her wrongdoing and criticises her family in not doing the same, “The point is, you don’t seem to have learnt anything.”

In 1912, England was – in my opinion – a very unfair and communist-like country. The lifestyles between the rich and poor were opposite to each other. The upper-class segment of the social ladder was power-mad and ensured they were separated with anybody who had a reputation of being poor and working class. The rich lived in big houses whereas the poor had to find shelter wherever they could. There was no health service or unemployment benefit so having a job was essential to sustaining your life. Overall, England was not a very nice place to live in during 1912 if you weren’t wealthy or didn’t belong to a wealthy family.

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A powerful technique used by J. B. Priestly is historically centred dramatic irony. The play was set in 1912, whereas it was released in 1945; a lot happened in those 33 years. The unsinkable ship had sunk, a revolution in union strikes had occurred and two cataclysmic world wars had taken place. The impact on the world was catastrophic: England was never the same. Social-economic separation had almost disintegrated; women were becoming more and more commensurate due to the war-effort and England’s population had begun to respect each other for their distinctive contribution to the country during times of ...

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