Dramatic Tension in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

Dramatic Tension in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

The play, An Inspector Calls, by J.B Priestley is full of dramatic

tension that changes throughout the play depending on the characters

involved. This tension that has been created by the arrival of the

Inspector has affected the relationships within the family and Gerald

Croft, a person soon to be married to Sheila Birling. Not only have

the relationships changed but the attitudes of certain characters have

also altered, almost completely, as their perspectives of the society

and position seems to matter no more. This is in relevance to Sheila

and Eric Birling especially. The tension mounts as each revelation is

revealed through the intense questioning by the Inspector that brings

about attitude changes within the members of the family, nervousness,

and anxiety to what happens next that leads to Eva Smith's devastating

consequences. Individual responsibilities have been laid out by the

Inspector that the members did not know they had. Although, most

important of all, the family members knows what tragedies had been

placed inside the family structure that will destroy the dynamic and

external family view.

Through the analysis of the family members, Mr and Mrs. Birling have

remained unchanged but they have faced the facts in the end that their

children were not the children they thought they knew. The time of

speech and dignity of the Birling family have changed dramatically

over the acts of the play through the demands placed on them by the

Inspector. They did not know that something sinister existed beneath

their 'upper crust appearance'. It was only brought to life by the

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... of the Inspector.

Gerald telephones the Infirmary, only to find there has been no

suicide taken in that day. This heightens the mystery surrounding the

Inspector.

Overall, the family will never be the same again. A well -to do

British family has had their complacency disrupted by the appearance

of Goole. Priestley heightens the audience's suspense by his skilful

use of climaxes within the carefully controlled plot and by ensuring

that the audience is left puzzled at the end of each conclusion at the

end of each act. The inspector is the most character in the play for

his remarkable, unique, and intimate questioning and persuasion for

the human race. These issues are put through to the 'upper crust' with

great approval by the audience for his ideas on an equal world, which

many people regard this as their utopia.