Wednesday, March 18, 2020

The dramatic impact of the opening of the play Essays

The dramatic impact of the opening of the play Essays The dramatic impact of the opening of the play Essay The dramatic impact of the opening of the play Essay In the opening Birling begins talk about his business and his aspirations to join with Crofts Ltd. As he talks about his own business he refers to himself, on three separate occasions, as a hard-headed business man. Clearly showing his pride and how vain he is, this description reflects Birlings self image and shows the audience his characteristics. But the reference is also made three times and for many people 3 is an unlucky number. Birling continues with his speech and goes on to talk about war: And I say there isnt a chance of war. Bearing in mind that this play is set in 1912 World War One began only two years later, so this contradicts everything that Birling has just said. The audience at this time may have had to live through this war, and when Birling makes these comments they trust and believe him less and less as they know his predictions are rubbish. This establishes a message that is being directed at the audience; that the family talk nonsense and make grave mistakes. The Second World War then reinforces that the family do not learn from their mistakes, as did the countries that fought in these wars. Birling proceeds to talk about the voyage of the Titanic and says how it is unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable which the audience again know is false. The Titanic is quite an important reference in the play as it has layers of meaning that reflect facts about the Birling family. The meal that the Birling family are set to enjoy starts as a celebration with joyful conversation and talks of many happy things, much like the voyage of the Titanic. The ship was a thing of great importance; it was a huge solid structure that supposedly could not be broken, the Birlings also had this impression of themselves (solid and respectable). This shows how they thought they were better than most people simply because of their social status. Although as the play carries on events unfold that unearth very unpleasant things about the characters, and the family slowly falls apart, and sinks- exactly like the Titanic. Eric and Sheila can also be seen as survivors of the wreckage, as they seem to be the only ones who can and have been rescued from the awful family affair. Whereas the Birling parents could not be saved and didnt heed any warnings before the problem arose, much like the Titanic and its crew. The timing of the Inspectors entrance is crucial as it is immediately after Birling has finished his speech to Gerald and Eric about business and his predictions. In fact the final sentence before there is a ring at the door is a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own this ultimately sums up his feelings about others, below his social status and in his community which is exactly how his reactions are when he discovers Eva Smith has died. This is again reflected when he is more concerned about the Inspectors arrival rather than the poor girls death; Yes yes horrid business but I dont understand why you came here Inspector? As soon as the Inspector enters he takes control of the scene and the people around him, he is described as creating an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. This instantly creates an intimidating and authoritative figure, even though we already know hes an Inspector. Just before the Inspector enters Birling also asks for more light, as is directed in the stage directions before Act One by Priestley. The relevance of light can mean many things, as it can represent something holy and glorious, or it can be seen as a revelation in a serious of events. In this play the Inspector is mainly there to spread light over the past events and reveal the truth, however he can be seen as a supernatural power: deus ex machine. This phrase completely describes the Inspectors role in the play as he is dropped into the play and completely changes the mood and tone. This great figure then brings up the question, is he a real person? The name Goole reminds us of a ghost, as in ghoul, and the phrase dues ex machine means god out of a machine, maybe the Inspector is the voice of God or that of Priestley. Either way the inspector comes in to completely change current events and disrupt the family to reveal their true selves. The foreshadowing and irony that the inspector brings to the play is also greatly relevant, when he says: you seem to be a nice respectable family. The audience already know to some extent and later totally discover how untrue this is, another example of the unreliability of the family. The opening of the play aims to establish character and setting. It does this by simply describing each character we also discover how Birling is very arrogant and very narrow minded which is shown through his ridiculous assumptions. The Inspector is established as a very powerful and dominating character the reference to him and the light is also in the opening. The major themes are also introduced, such as the class and gender division and the moral and social responsibilities that are also linked with the age of the characters. Priestley makes the opening of An Inspector Calls very dramatic towards the end to draw and entice the audience to watch more. Priestley explores quite controversial issues of the time, and these issues make the audience interpret the character differently, showing how he uses the audiences personal experiences to influence their feelings towards the play.

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