An Inspector Calls: Dramatic Effect Flashcards
How is the lighting described before the inspector enters
“Pink and intimate”
Give an example of when dramatic irony is used
For instance, the audience knows how wrong Mr Birling is when he makes confident predictions about there not being a war and is excited about the sailing of The Titanic: famously, the ship sank on her maiden voyage. This puts the audience at an advantage over the characters and makes us more involved.
How is tension created in the play
There is a lot of tension as each member of the family is found to have played a part in Eva’s death. New pieces of information contribute to the story being constructed. The audience is interested in how each character reacts to the revelations.
How does the Inspector himself add drama
The Inspector himself adds drama:
He controls the pace and tension by dealing with one line of enquiry at a time. Slowly the story of Eva’s life is unravelled, like in a ‘whodunnit’.
He is in command at the end of Act I and the start of Act 2, and the end of Act 2 and the start of Act 3. He is a brooding, inescapable presence, very much in control.
He is very mysterious and seems to know what is going to happen before it does. (To find out more about Inspector Goole, click here.)
What happens to the lighting once the inspector enters
It gets brighter and harsher
Give and example of when timing is crucial in the play
Timing of entrances and exits is crucial. For example, the Inspector arrives immediately after Birling has told Gerald about his impending knighthood and about how “a man has to look after himself and his own.”
How is the ending dramatic
The ending leaves the audience on a cliff-hanger. In Act 3 the Birlings believed themselves to be off the hook when it is discovered that the Inspector wasn’t real and that no girl had died in the infirmary. This releases some of the tension - but the final telephone call, announcing that a real inspector is on his way to ask questions about the suicide of a young girl, suddenly restores the tension very dramatically. It is an unexpected final twist.
