Stage Direction AIC Flashcards
How is Mr Birling described in the opening stage directions?
A heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech. He is a prosperous manufacturer, owner of Birling and Company
How is Mrs Birling described in the opening stage directions?
A rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior. She is about fifty, and her husband’s social superior. She is a rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior. She is about fifty, a rather plain but good-looking woman and a woman of a public men, and her husband’s social superior. She is about fifty, a rather plain but good-looking woman and a woman of a public men.
How is Sheila Birling described in the opening stage directions?
A pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited.
How is Eric Birling described in the opening stage directions?
A rather shy, awkward young man in his early twenties. He is the son of Arthur and Sybil Birling.
How is Gerald Croft described in the opening stage directions?
An attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred man-about-town.
How is Inspector Goole described in the opening stage directions?
He is in his fifties, dressed in a plain dark suit. He speaks carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking.
How are the Birlings presented as an upper class family in the opening stage directions?
They live in a ‘large suburban house’ and ‘it has good solid furniture of the period’. Edna the Birlings’ servant is ‘just clearing the table, which has no cloth, of dessert plates and champagne glasses’ and ‘replacing them with decanter of port, cigar box and cigarettes’
How is unease and tension foreshadowed in the opening stage directions?
The Birlings’ family house which is described as ‘heavily comfortable, but not cosy and homelike’ This suggests that there is an underlying sense of unease and/or tension
How does the atmosphere go from a comfortable, closed off atmosphere, to a more confrontational and harsh one?
The stage directions mention that the lighting should be “pink and intimate” at first but later becomes “brighter and harder” when the Inspector arrives. This change in lighting foreshadows the shift from a comfortable, closed-off atmosphere to a more confrontational and harsh one.
How is the Inspector foreshadowed in the opening stage directions?
The mention of the doorbell: The stage directions include a note about the doorbell ringing sharply, which signals the arrival of the Inspector. This moment foreshadows the intrusion of an outside force into the Birling family’s world and suggests that their secrets will be exposed.
How is the Inspectors disruption foreshadowed in the opening stage directions?
The opening stage directions mention that the Birlings are celebrating the engagement of their daughter, Sheila, to Gerald Croft. This celebration serves as a backdrop for the unfolding drama and foreshadows the disruption that the Inspector’s visit will bring to the family’s happiness.
What does the time period that the play is set in have to do with foreshadowing?
The play is set in 1912, just before the outbreak of World War I. This historical context foreshadows the major social and political changes that will occur in the years following the play’s events.
