An Inspector Calls - Dramatic Tension

An Inspector Calls is a three-act drama, which takes place on a single night in 1912, and focuses on the Birling family, who live in a wealthy but not particulary homely house in Brumley. The story begins when the mysterious Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family. The idea of the play, and particularly the role of the inspector, is to try to bring the Birling family to understand that they have a moral responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, if not a legal one. In Act Three, the Inspector tells the Birling family: “The girl killed herself and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.” But who was really the

Mr Birling and Inspector Goole are two opposite characters. Both characters have a similar age and are both male, but have a very different presence on stage. Mr Birling is described at the start as "heavy-looking, rather portentous

Mrs. Birling reacts to Eva Smith’s death, by saying “She only had herself to blame”, whereas Sheila exclaims “Oh — how horrible!”. Mrs. Birling reacts instantly by thinking about herself, claiming her debatable innocence and emphasising that Eva Smith only had herself to blame and therefore everyone aprt from her is innocent, whereas Sheila reacts instantly by sympathising with the dead young woman and exclaiming her shock about the suicide. Priestley tries to tell the audience that the youth, who are not politically socialist, do develop socialist ideas subconsciously. The purpose of this, is to make the audience realise that even if they are capitalist at heart, they can still alter their views and become more

Although there are some clear aspects of the inspector that show presents the inspector in different lights, but there are also slightly more subtle points Priestley made to present the inspector differently. One of these ways is through the identity of Inspector Goole. The fact that the inspectors name is 'Goole', gets the audience questioning his existence. This is because, although some people will argue that ghosts and such exist and others will argue against that, there is always a slight hint of doubt due to the fact that it cannot be proven. By naming the inspector 'Inspector Goole', the audience start to question the reality of what is happening in the story, later to realize that his name foreshadows what is too come. The audience also,, respond to the inspector in a slightly negative way as, stereotypically, ghosts and gooles are not usually viewed as a good thing, but as something supernatural and out of place. This also makes the audience become slightly sceptical of the inspector's intentions of questioning the Birling family and Gerald. For a different way of looking at how Priestley presents the inspector, you can relate the inspectors' name to the two main theories of time. The theory that I believe most relates to the inspector is

The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is set in the North Midlands, the industrial city of Brumley in 1912. The play revolves around the death of a young girl named Eva Smith and the wealthy, middle class Birling family. The Birling family consists of four main members. In addition, there is Gerald Croft who is engaged to the daughter of the family, Sheila Birling, and the maid Edna who plays a small role in the play.

are adverbs to tell the actor how to say the text. This can be slowly

The arrival of Inspector Goole in JB Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ creates a feeling of uneasiness and completely changes the course of the play. The inspector represents an almost ominous and mysterious being that suggests a manifestation of each of the character’s guilt and certainly calls to the fact that each of the Billings had a role in Eva Smith’s tragic death.

The Dramatic Methods Used by Priestley to Convey the Social and Moral Message of An Inspector Calls

In the play ‘An Inspector Calls’, written by J.B. Priestley, there are 6 main characters. Sheila Birling, daughter of Sybil and Arthur Birling, is a childish young lady who’s engaged to Gerald Croft, the son of the owner of a successful business. Eric Birling, the youngest out of the family, is a seemingly quiet and insecure man who is consistently ignored and thrown back by his father who in comparison is a highly selfish, egocentric businessman. He only considers himself, money and reputation. His stubborn wife, Sybil, regularly attempts to portray herself as an upper class woman.The Birlings are a very wealthy capitalist household, meaning that they believe in responsibility for themselves and no one else. On the other hand, Inspector Goole,

This part of the play also shows that the family is not as happy as

Birlings, as they find out that they have all played a part in a young

The play “An Inspector calls” was written by J.B Priestly in 1945, and set in 1912, before the WW1 happens. Through out the opening of the play, Mr Birling speaks about things that he thinks that the world should be and the things that he thinks that will happen. For example, he says “German don’t war”, which shows clear dramatic irony for the audience who are watching the play at 1945.Also the quote “community and all that nonsense” shows how does the people were thinking and behave before the world war started – arrival of inspector. In the play, after the inspector arrives, Mr Birlig and his family was horrified in fear and surprise. However, as soon as they find out that the inspector isn’t real, they start to act like nothing has

In the play An Inspector Calls by J.B.PRIESTLY compares the different generations. The young are Eric and Sheila Birling , the old being Arthur and Sybil Birling while Gerald lies in between the two. They all react differently to the Inspectors presence. At the time capitalism was ruling the country exploitatively .The setting of the play had a significant role in the play as it allowed the use of dramatic irony,mainly when Mr Birling speaks about the future,”were in a time for a time of steadily increasing prosperity”.

and goes to BIRLING. Both GERALD and ERIC rise to have a look at the

The audience then focus on this visitor, Inspector Goole.     Another dramatic device used in the play is the dramatic irony that is used very early on in the play. Mr Birling claims that the titanic is