The use of dramatic irony early n in the play makes Mr Birling seem stupid. For example he says the ship ‘Titanic’ is ‘Unsinkable’ and the audience know that it is sinkable because it has sunk, another time is when he talks about world war one and that it will never happen but kicks off two years later. After Birling has said this it gives the audience an advantage over the characters and this gets them more involved.
In Act One it says there should be a change in lighting from ‘Pink and intimate’ to ‘brighter and harder’. This is important because it shows the presence of the inspector causes unrest in the play. The exit of Sheila and Mrs. Birling shows that they must be feeling guilty about something that’s why they leave the room.
When the doorbell sounds, it summons a change in the play. The change affects the mood because a new character enters, Inspector Goole. It gets the audience wondering who it might be whilst building up suspense. The sound of the bell helps to build up tension because it actually interrupts Birling. It interrupts him near the end of his speech on how, ‘A man should look after himself, and then a family if he has one.’ This speech portrays Birling as a very self-important man. With the entrance of the Inspector the audience begin to see the other characters as less important.
Also, when the he enters he asks if he can speak to everyone individually about the death of Eva Smith. The audience begin to think that he is not an inspector at all because he is not at all scared of Birling’s threats, he says ‘I don’t see much of the chief constable’. This implies that the inspector will not know him and whilst saying it he is covering his tracks.
The inspector leaves immediately after he makes a speech regarding how he (or Preistley) feel about people ignoring other’s feelings. In the speech he and therefore Priestley try to make people understand just how serious problems can get because ‘we are responsible for each other’. This is used to further the plot because it gives an opposite message to that of Birling, as if to prove him wrong. Another thing the inspector makes reference to in his speech is, the forthcoming war with the idea that if people do not learn, that ‘we are all members of one body… …then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish’. This statement is really powerful because the inspector is implying to the audience that the war was sent to punish people for not accepting socialism in society, and at the same time forcing them to do so. All this gets the audience wondering who the inspector really is and if he is an inspector at all, the play suggests that he is not because his questions are to do with moral law and not criminal law.
Much of Act 1 is greatly ironic because the audience know Birling is always wrong.
My opinion of the Birlings changed in Act 1 because the inspector chooses to interrogate them individually and in chronological order to how they play a part in Eva’s death. First he questions Mr. Birling on why he dismissed her from a job at his factory, just for asking for a pay rise. Birling says that it is his ‘duty to keep labour costs down’ which indicates that he does not treat his workers as individuals or even real people, he mostly about the financial aspect, he does not recognise the name Eva Smith after personally dismissing her. This reinforces the fact that he is a very self-centered, self-important man. Priestley has done this to let the audience realize that everyone is equal no-matter how poor they are, they should be treated with the same amount of respect as anyone else. This involves the audience extremely deeply. In regards to society the inspector voices Priestly’s opinion that we cannot make any progress if we do not work together. In my opinion, people watching or reading the play today will learn a bit in moral teaching but not as much as the audience of 1945 because people, nowadays have accepted the advantages of socialism over capitalism.
