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How Does Priestley Create Tension In An Inspector Calls

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'An Inspector Calls' was written by 'J.B Priestley' in the year 1944/45 and it was set in 1912 before the first World War and the sinking of the 'unsinkable Titanic. The play was first produced in 1946 after the war. The play is about the Birling's that are celebrating their daughter's engagement with Gerald Croft and the Inspector interrupts them with the news about a girl's suicide. The girl seems to be driven to suicide due to the actions of the family and the Inspector wants the family to know the consequences of their choices and actions. Priestley uses the Inspector to convey his socialist ideas in the capitalist setting of the play with the theme that we are all responsible for each other, i.e each character's action led to the evitable …show more content…

Priestley does not introduce Eva Smith when the events unfold and during the Inspector's interrogation. The Inspector's description of the suicide at the start of the play helps the audience empathise with her and provides imagery to her horrific death. The Inspector says that Eva Smith died in the infirmary 'two hours ago'. The time makes the death feel current and makes the characters feel and visualise Eva's death. The Inspector also says that Eva was 'burnt inside out', which again points to Priestley using imagery to make the audience as well as the characters visualising the fact that 'she was in great agony' and that the death was not painless. This makes the characters understand Eva's pain and adds to the effect of the interrogation moving ahead in the play. Priestley also expertly uses cliffhangers to entice the audience. 'An Inspector Calls' is written in three acts, all of which end in cliffhangers. During the screening of the play between each act, there would be an intermission where the audience would go the bar at the theatre to mill around. There would be excitement around as the audience would be in a hurry to get back to the play as they want to know what will happen next. This keeps the audience attentive to the play and also makes the Inspector feel more important as he is the main character leading to the

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