How Priestley Transforms The Tone In Act 1.

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It is very unlikely that one could, through reading the beginning of Act 1, make an accurate guess as to the events that follow in this very act; Priestly has achieved this by setting a rather relaxed scene, lacking any tension from any of the characters, who by this point of the evening are in what we would imagine as a resting mood, where they merely socialise with each other in a civilised manner. This general contentedness and current lack of overwhelming worry can be seen in the choice of vocabulary they use, which is rather casual, such as “jolly well think not”, “y’know, eh?” or even the occasional use of nicknames such as ‘mummy’. This casual ambiance is further reinforced by the character’s facial expressions, as it is noted that they smile on a number of occasions, indicating that they are not yet worried about anything, and are genuinely enjoying the gathering. Mr Birling somewhat confirms this in his own words, when on page 4 he admits “It’s one of the happiest nights of my life”, which provided limited knowledge of the play (The title alone suffices) can cause a sense of dramatic irony. The characters of the play are until then very cheerful and resonant; they will quiet down for the first time on page 5, when Sheila decides to raise a drink for Gerald, followed by a rather romantic moment topped with a wedding ring. I believe Priestly wrote this in order to set the relationship between Sheila and Gerald, so that although this part of the Act is still void of tense feelings, when these do eventually come, there will be more wood for the fire so to speak. The tension however only truly begins when Mr Birling decides to speak to Gerald in a way described as “Confidential” on page 8; we are instantly able to observe an uneasy reaction in Gerald which is described as “rather embarrassed” as he is unable to make a comprehensible reply to the

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