At the beginning of the play, three young children wander round the stage in front of closed curtains, dressed in clothes suited to that of the period the play is set in. One child moves towards a radio placed to one side of the stage. When the radio comes on, we hear the sounds of war, falling bombs and sirens. The children quickly lie down onto the floor and crawl under the now lifting curtains. This is a rather dramatic opening to the play.
Once the curtains are opened we are met with a rather small ‘dolls house’ looking home. The lights in the house are on and we hear voices and laughter coming from inside. We know these are the voices of the Birling family; Arthur and his wife Sybil, Eric and Sheila. A guest, Gerald Croft, who is to be wed to Sheila, also joins them. The house looks very tidy and rather upper class whereas the street it is situated in looks dirty, dull and run down. We hear the ladies and gentlemen talking for a while and after a few minutes dramatic ‘mystifying’ music is played into the theatre. Sound and music is used to enhance your emotional experience whilst watching the performance.
We see the Inspector appear on stage. He is wearing a raincoat and hat, which gives the impression he is hiding something or himself. He is cast in shadow, that gives him a massive presence and this piece of stagecraft adds a dramatic effect. Throughout the play the Inspector always seems to be in dim light. This makes us believe that he is a mysterious character and we will never know everything about him. This also shows that lighting is of very important in the stagecraft in the play.
The housemaid Edna introduces the Inspector to the household. By the Inspector being introduced by someone else this gives the impression he is of great importance to the play. Even though the Inspector is introduced to the house, he never enters it; he stays out in the street. His name is Inspector Goole and this sounds like ‘ghoul’, this makes us think that the Inspector is unearthly and makes us wonder if he is really there at all.
The house on stage is opened just like a dolls house, as the front is on hinges. This gives the impression that the Birling Family and Gerald are merely dolls, and the Inspector is here to ‘play’ with them.
The Inspector speaks carefully and weightily and always looks directly at the person he is going to speak to before he actually addresses them. If he is interrupted he is not pleased and if faced with something he does not want to answer he will simply ignore it.
The Inspector seems to know everything the Birlings are going to confess and is there just to make them say. The Inspector gives the family the news of Eva Smith’s death.
The first person the inspector gets a confession from is Mr Birling. The inspector shows Mr Birling a photo of the deceased, which jogs his memory. The Inspector only reveals the photo to one character at one time and this adds drama, as we never see what Eva Smith looks like even though the whole play is based around her death. This keeps the audience gripped.
One after the other, it is revealed that every character in someway had a connection to Eva Smith. The way this is revealed is chronological. For instance, we learn that Gerald was involved with Eva Smith or her former name, Daisy Renton in a sexual way. After this we find out that Sybil runs a help centre for pregnant women but when faced with Eva Smith bearing a child, she turned her away.
There is heavy dramatic irony in this play, as we know things the characters don’t. For example, Mr Birling says that the Titanic is unsinkable- we know it has already sunk. He also preaches that there wont be a World War, however we know that were two.
The play engages the audience by asking rhetorical questions, for example in a conversation between the Inspector and Gerald ‘And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?’ Which Gerald answers ‘If possible-yes’. The Inspector then says ‘Well, we know one young women who wasn’t don’t we? We know this is a rhetorical question, as we know that Gerald, as well as we do knows the answer.
In act three when the Inspector has got confessions from all other characters he gives a final speech, which is a monologue to the characters and to the audience. He says ‘one Eva Smith has gone but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes, their fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives and what we think and say and do’. This suggests that Eva Smith signifies all the other people that are influenced and driven to certain things by the actions of others. People that aren’t noticed by anyone else. By repeating the word millions three times this shows just how involved the inspector is with this situation. He ends with ‘Goodnight’ and exits the stage leaving the characters all speechless and subdued.
Soon after, the Birlings house falls forward and all their possessions fall from the house. This is able to happen as the house is rigged mechanically. This is very dramatic and signifies how their life has been ruined by them all finding out things about each other they did not know.
Following, Gerald uses the payphone on the street to call the infirmary to check whether the young girl, Eva Smith, has been brought in due to swallowing disinfectant. On finding out that no young girl has been brought in the family all think that the Inspector calling is a big hoax, however this is a very big twist to the story. If Eva Smith has not died then how did the Inspector know that they had all had connections with her? And how come they had all confessed to their doings with her? This is very dramatic as we are left to try and figure out for ourselves how the Inspector knew the things he did or if there really is an Eva Smith at all.
A few minutes pass and the phone rings loudly, shocking the audience. All the characters freeze for a few seconds, adding tension. Mr Birling walks to the phone and answers. The person on the other end rings off and Mr Birling stares at the other characters with a panicked and scared expression.
The last words of the play are ‘ that was the police. A girl has just died- on her way to the Infirmary- after swallowing some disinfectant. And a police Inspector is on his way here – to ask some – questions’.
From finding out another Inspector is on his way we are all left questioning how the characters will act to an Inspector the second time around. This leaves everyone wondering and very confused. Was the Inspector real? Was he an actual Inspector? Was he a conscience? Was he a forewarning? Was he a ghost? Was he God? This all add drama to the play because there are many unanswered questions that the audience have to try and work out for themselves. I think Priestly did this on purpose so that the audience leave pondering the ending of the play.
The ending to this play leaves us questioning our morals. Priestley wants to give the impression that the Inspector could call for us at any time. Inspector Goole was a device used to make us examine our own conscience and the way we view other people.
In conclusion I think that the way Priestly wrote the play and the way it is performed on stage makes it very dramatic and very effective. Throughout the play the audience are always paying attention due to the high and low points of tension and drama. The lighting, sounds and costume all contribute to the effectiveness of this play. The Inspectors final speech leaves us questioning ourselves, and the cliffhanger ending leaves the audience thinking about it for days.
Jade Lee
