AIC Writer's Techniques Flashcards
describe how one set is used for the entire play:
- all the action takes place in the ‘dining room of a fairly large suburban house’.
- Priestley’s design helps make the atmosphere of the play seem more claustrophobic and intense.
- emphasises the Birlings’ private and self-centred lifestyle and highlights the unwelcome arrivals of the Inspector who brings bad news from the outside.
how are there warning signs of the family’s troubles from the very beginning?
- shows the family falling apart as their secrets are revealed.
- the actor playing sheila is ‘half serious, half playful’ to make it clear that although she’s joking, she’s still not sure about last summer. SIGNS OF PROBLEMS.
- Eric needs to balance his performance as a troubled, regular drinker, so he doesn’t seem too sober or too drunk. unsettles the audience, as it’s clear something isn’t quite right. SIGNS OF PROBLEMS.
describe the staging of the play:
- takes place in one room. characters have closed themselves off from the world, with their close-minded behaviour.
- lighting is ‘pink and intimate’ at the start, as if they’re looking through rose-tinted glasses. becomes ‘brighter and harder’ when the Inspector arrives - spotlight turned on their cosy world.
- Birlings and Geralds’ clothes and furniture look wealthy - the image they present to society. the Inspector is relatively plain.
describe Steven Daldry’s adaptation of the AIC set:
the house was set on stilts, high above a street. the height showed their separation from the rest of the town, but the stilts make the house seem unsteady, suggesting the Birlings’ high status could easily collapse.
why is the telephone important?
one of the few links between the Birlings an the outside world. the final phone call represents the intrusion of reality into the new fantasy the Birlings are creating.
what happens at the beginning of Act 2 to pace the action to build tension and create conflict:
at the beginning of A2, audience expects Gerald’s confession. Priestley delays the action by focussing on Sybil and Sheila, insisting they should be allowed to hear what Gerald says. this builds tension and increases the audience’s curiosity.
what does the Inspector do to pace the action to build tension and create conflict:
the Inspector releases information bit by bit. he shows the photos to one person at a time and positions himself so the others can’t see - the characters as well as the audience are kept on their toes.
describe the change in the family’s actions from the start to the end of the play:
- all start seated.
- by the end, they’re all standing, shouting, drinking, and crying.
- dramatic but slow change in how the stage looks and sounds as the play goes on.
- reflects the build up of ‘nervous tension’ among the Birlings.
describe the entrances and exits:
- Sheila ‘runs out’ of the room when she realises she was the reason Eva was sacked. wants to escape the tense atmosphere and is running away from telling her story.
- Inspector leaves Sheila and Gerald alone to discuss Daisy Renton, drawing information out of them.
describe the dramatic beginnings and ends to the acts:
- A1 ends with the Inspector saying ‘Well?’, and A2 opens with the same moment. the audience will wonder about the answer to his question during the interval, building the suspense.
- end of A2 is another cliff-hanger - the door slams, announcing Eric’s return - Priestley makes the audience wait until A3 for the confession.
describe about what the characters’ language reveals about them:
- words such as ‘chaps’ and ‘jingo’ show the characters’ middle and upper social class in 1912. they’re comfortable with each other.
- slang words were popular with the younger generation but not with their old fashioned parents, e.g. ‘squiffy’.
- Birling sees the world as a businessman views his company. when Birling realises the Inspector’s visit was a hoax, he uses business language to describe being fooled, ‘an elaborate sell!’. he links sales with tricks, suggesting he’s not an honest businessman.
describe how Goole uses language differently to the Birlings:
- doesn’t mess about. speaks his mind (e.g. saying Eva was burnt ‘inside out’ by disinfectant). contrasts with Birling’s long, waffly speech.
- uses plain and direct language, and only says what he needs to to prevent confusion.
- uses silence, has a ‘disconcerting habit’ of staring for a while at the person before speaking to them.
- older Birlings find him offensive because of his ‘extraordinary’ manner and language - he’s ‘rude’ and ‘impertinent’.
how does Sheila’s language change during the play?
- at the start, uses simple and childish language, ‘I’m sorry Daddy’, when admiring her ring instead of listening to her father.
- by the end, she’s confident and assertive. uses simple, plain, and sometimes blunt English, like the Inspector. ‘we drove that girl to commit suicide’.
- directly disagrees with her parents. tells them they’re wrong, when they think it’s a ‘joke’ and says they ‘began to learn something’ before they decided it’s a hoax.
how does Priestley use dramatic irony to influence the audience?
- seems as if the Inspector is omniscient.
- Priestley gives similar power to the audience. he set the play on 1912, but it was first performed in 1945. the audience know a lot of what Birling dismissed in his speech actually happened. dramatic irony. makes Birling look short-sighted.
- irony. Birling talks about getting a knighthood unless there’s a ‘scandal’. jokes as if nothing will happen, but the play’s title reveals something will happen.
how do the Birlings use euphemisms to hide what they really mean?
- Eva ‘went on the streets’ where she led ‘another kind of life’ with the ‘women of the town’. hints she became a prostitute.
- to Sybil, Eva is a ‘girl of that sort’ and is in a particular ‘condition’ (pregnant).
- the Inspector doesn’t use euphemisms, his language is more direct. part of his message is accepting the truth - using euphemisms does the opposite, covering it up.
