“In Act One of ‘An Inspector Calls’ how does Priestley use dramatic devices to convey his concerns? - page 2
Keywords: Act One; Dramatic devices and How it is conveyed to the audience
By Shin on 13/06/2008
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 2 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
the audience.
Very early on in the scene of Act One of 'An Inspector Calls,' Priestley uses dramatic irony in order to convey his concerns about Capitalists like Mr Arthur Birlings, who in a speech to Eric and Gerald says, "And we're in for a time of steadily increasing prosperity." -Birling is mistaken because the audience know that events such as the Depression in 1936 and the Wall Street crash in 1929 caused mass unemployment and businesses, shares and profits to collapse.
Priestley shows another concern. Mr Birling says in a speech, "I say there isn't a chance of war." -This shows that Capitalists like Birling are so indulged in their businesses that they don't realise that there are chances of war. Priestley makes Birling look foolish, a joke that shocks the members of the audience and prejudices them against Mr Birling, and perhaps all Capitalists, throughout the play.
Priestley uses the significance of the lighting in order to convey his concerns about the Lower classes. The atmosphere in the Birlings house is described as being "Pink and Intimate" at the start of Act One which probably gave the members of the audience a warm and comforting feeling. The audience are welcomed to the act just like guests are when entering someone's house. This is because of the richness of the Birlings that stands the Birlings out as a posh family. This however gets disturbing when the Inspector arrives causing the lighting to become "Brighter and Harder" which tenses both the audience and the Birlings because the lighting has created an uncosy atmosphere that tells the audience and the Birlings that something bad is going to happen. This tells us that the most perfect family may seem perfect but in fact have some flaws underneath such as the phrase, “Never judge a book by its cover" suggests, in this case the book is the family of Birlings.
The effects on the Birlings that comes from the Inspector is similar to the effects of the Birlings on the Lower classes because the Birlings find the presence of the Inspector scary similarly to the Lower classes finding the presence of the Birlings scary. Priestley shows that everyone will meet their match like the Inspector ruining the Birlings occasions just like Mr Birling who ruined others -by refusing pay rises (which Eva Smith came requesting for) and being selfish just like
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