An Inspector Calls - How does the opening scene prepare the audience for the rest of the play?

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Folasayo Ogundele

How does the opening scene prepare the audience for the rest of the play?

During the opening scene of ‘An Inspector Calls’  J.B Priestly uses various methods and techniques to hint to the audience about what was likely to happen in the latter stages of the play.  Due to the play being in the murder/mystery genre, the audience at first are given no real indication on what was the main cause of Eva Smiths death, however in the opening sequences of the play, Priestly provides the audience with some of the keys to help unlock the mystery, without telling them which doors lead to the truth, ergo, this leaves the audience guessing until the last minute and on the edge of their seats throughout the play.  

One of the cunning ways which he does this is through the clever use of characters.  Authur Birling is a prime example.  Being the most prominent character in the play, Priestly uses his speeches, interposed with dramatic irony to send the audience a clear message that this ‘self made man’ possesses a lot less knowledge than he thinks he does.  Moreover Birlings last speech before the inspector arrives with the use of hindsight gives a great insinuation to the audience, as it is this speech which the play is based around and more importantly, is the only speech by the Birlings to be directly answered by the inspector later on in the play.  In addition to this the opening scene of the play required each of the individual characters to act in a distinct and peculiar way, with the objective that within 5 minutes the audience could develop a personal relationship with every character.  This would prove extremely important as later on in the play, each characters personalities is exposed, and the way each person acts during the dinner gives the audience a strong indication about how they all treated Eva Smith.  Furthermore the stage directions in the opening scene play a significant role in the production, and when observed closely, can give a useful insight on how the characters are feeling inside.  Additionally the props and settings are another key which Priestly uses to acquire the audiences attention.  The beginning of the play the atmosphere reflects the general mood, with pink lighting and mellow, angelic music reflecting the cosy, joyful environment.

        The first sign which the audience gets which indicates how the play eventually turns out is through Gerald and Sheila’s dialogue within the opening exchanges.  This can be said because although this was their engagement party, it is clear that Sheila still has some resentment towards Gerald because of the way he treated her last summer.  This is made clear by the tone which she talks to her husband to be, stark and inhospitable which is completely at odds to the overall mood. Moments later the audience is exposed to its first piece of irony, where Sheila foolishly says after receiving the ring that Gerald gave her “I’ll never let it go out of my sight for an instant”, this comment which at this time nobody could foresee, would come back to haunt her.  

In addition to this in the opening scene Eric presents himself to the audience as an oddball character, talking and acting in a childish manner with comments like “steady the buffs” and gestures like laughing when nobody joke has been said, although these actions could be explained because on a few occasions he was seen helping himself to port, therefore as a result at the time he was slightly tipsy.  Furthermore Eric lets slip a piece of dramatic irony when he says that his sister “got a nasty temper sometimes”, which later on will be sensationally exposed.  However probably the most confusing moment in the first scene was where Eric suffers another lapse of concentration when himself and his dad are talking about the importance of cloths to women “Yes, I remember-”.  The way he said this and rigorously denied it tells the audience that Eric was hiding something, but it would not be revealed what until later on in the play.  

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In the opening scene the audience also learns what sort of character Mrs Birling is.  This is because while her husband and Gerald are congratulating Edna on a wonderful meal, Mrs Birling unnecessarily condemns them for doing this “(reproachfully) Authur, your not supposed to say such things”.  From this sentence alone the audience can learn that Mrs Birling is selfish, arrogant and unpleasant, and in the latter stages of the play this evaluation of character will be proved further to the spectators.  

Finally from Mr Birling the audience could learn a great deal about what was going to happen ...

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