Dramatic irony is used to reveal Mr Birling’s character in Act1.
“Some people say that war is inevitable. To that I say fiddlesticks.”
Judging from when the play was written and when it was set, it is clear to the audience that Priestly is showing Mr Birling to be an ignorant man who is soon to be proven wrong in his theory.
Priestly creates a dramatic moment in a hysterical outburst from Sheila. “Why- you fool- he knows. Of course he knows.” Sheila is the first person to realise the inspector’s game and is the only person, at this point, who understands his reasons.
I think Sheila and Eric’s understanding of the inspector compared to the others is a crucial idea in the play as a whole.
“We often do on the young ones. They’re more impressionable.” The inspector is suggesting that the older generation are far less willing to take on board his ideas and learn from their mistakes. The fact that the inspector says this line so “coolly” intrigues the audience and makes it even more dramatic.
Priestly uses dramatic irony to show the ignorance of the older generation. There is also a rather tense atmosphere building when Mrs Birling says, “I blame the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have.” The audience have already realised the father of the child is Eric. It is dramatic for the audience to watch the characters on stage slowly start to realise it too.
In Act 2, the character’s relationships appear to break down, to dramatic affect.
“I think you’d better take this with you.” Sheila giving back Gerald the ring confirms the breakdown of their relationship. The audience empathises with Sheila, which separates Gerald more from the younger, more sympathetic, generation to the side of Mr and Mrs Birling. This increases the tension amongst the characters.
At the end of each act, Priestly creates a dramatic cliff hanger to intrigue the audience. This is often done in the stage directions.
“We hear the front door….Eric enters…..he meets their enquiring stares.” The audience do not know what will happen next, but they, and the characters, do know that Eric is the father of the baby. All suspect that trouble will follow. There is a strong sense of tension building.
The breakdown of relationships continues into act 3. Priestly creates a shocking and powerful moment when Eric reaches breaking point with his mother.
“You killed her….You killed them both.” The audience is shocked by this outburst. Audience members are made to think about the subject of blame more. Also, it increases the generation divide and shows the effect of the inspectors visit on the Birling family.
The character of Eric is used by priestly again in Act 3, to build up tension.
“Eric goes for a whisky….The others watch him narrowly.” The stage would be silent apart from the sound made by pouring. This would make a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere. The longer Eric took to make his drink, the tenser the atmosphere would get. By this time in the play, the audience feel sorry for Eric. I think this increases the dramatic effect of the moment. This is also the first time Mr and Mrs Birling realise their son may have a drinking problem.
I believe Act 3 has a strong theme of understanding and realisation.
“We’ve been had.” Gerald has realised that the whole evening’s events could have been unnecessary. The shortness and simplicity, in my opinion, increases the power and dramatic effect of this line. The other characters are relieved and start to be lulled into a false sense of security.
This sense of security is abolished when Priestly uses a powerful aural effect to surprise the characters and the audience.
“The telephone rings sharply. There is a moment of complete silence.” The moment of silence creates huge tension on the stage; no-one knows what the call is about, but the family is aware it is probably not good news. The audience is fully aware that the phone call will bring bad news. This adds to the overall dramatic effect of the phone ringing.
Throughout the play Priestly uses a variety of techniques to make it dramatic. He uses cliff hangers and long pauses to create tension and suspense. He uses the breakdown of the character’s relationships to show the profound effect of the inspectors visit on the Birlings. Priestly uses very specific stage directions right through the play to create tense and dramatic atmospheres. Priestly also uses sounds such as doorbells and telephones to surprise and stun the audience.
All of these techniques, and more, come together to make ‘An inspector calls’ a very dramatic play.