Twentieth Century Drama Essay Example for Free

Twentieth Century Drama Essay The inspector is interrogating the Birlings and Gerald Croft. He is trying to get the truth out of them without letting on that he already knows everything. I think that some of the characters have changed for instance Sheila; she knows that the inspector already knows that Mrs Birling turned Eva away when she came for help. Sheilas realisation of what the inspector is doing is quite clear when Mrs Birling is denying the fact that Eric is the father of Evas unborn baby, and Sheila says stop it mother, stop it, as Sheila already knows that the inspector knows this. Some of the most dramatic moments in the play are Sheilas obvious understanding of Mrs Birling ignorance that it was Erics baby. Sheila was horrified the Evas unborn baby was dead. Whereas Mrs Birling doesnt really care. Another dramatic point in the play is when Eric returns and the curtain falls, this causes great tension within the audience again. I believe that J. B Priestleys purpose in writing the play may be because of social injustice, he obviously had a strong belief in treating people equally and to be careful of how you treat them and he is trying to get this across to the audience. He expresses his feelings in this scene through the characters especially with Mrs Birling. It is obvious that Mrs Birling is not ashamed of what she has done, but the inspector is trying to make her aware of this. I also believe that J. B Priestley uses the inspector as a mouthpiece, the inspector is trying to communicate the same message as J. B Priestley is to the audience. I think that at that at the end of Act 2 when the curtain falls the audience would feel anxious about what is going to happen next. Priestley must be successful if the audience experiences this tension. This scene is a crucial part of the play because before now we didnt know that Eric was the father of Evas unborn baby and that Mrs Birling knew Eva Smith, but near the end this is all revealed. At the end of the play the inspector makes a speech that finally changed Eric and Sheila, it altered their perspective in ways such as, to treat people with respect and treat them fairly. This could be reflected in the audience, as the Birling family were of a high class and the majority of the play who came to see this play was also of the same standard so they could relate to the plays events. The audience may think that they have done something terrible in the past like the Birlings had done and might think more carefully next time. I think that J. B Priestley has been completely successful with this play as a piece of theatre because of the above reasons.