Stagecraft in an Inspector Calls

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Explore the ways dramatic devices are used in two central scenes or episodes in An Inspector Calls Use examples from the text? 1912 and 1946 are important dates which relate to an Inspector Calls. The play was set in 1912 but written in 1946. Between this time frame two world wars had taken place which had shocked the world, the sinking of the titanic, the Wall Street Crash, hyperinflation, Russian Revolution and rise and fall of Hitler had commenced. This all leads to effective use of dramatic irony as the whole audience are aware of what the characters don't, creating a deeper understanding and appreciation of one of the themes Priestly presents which is if we don't learn from the past we are condemned to repeat it. The themes Priestly is conscious of throughout the play are community and the individual, respectability and hypocrisy and one of the most important themes being taking responsibility for the power you hold. Hindsight of the passing time allows comments on events using dramatic irony. Time, action and place are vital in An Inspector Calls. Priestly uses the Greek unities to convey them with everything happening over a short period of time- one evening, all the action happening in one place and with one plot which the action revolves around which is used to convey Priestlys themes and messages. Priestly uses the name of the Inspector as an element of stagecraft. Although spelt Goole the audience would have immediately thought ghaul relating him to being a spectral or more appropriately the ghost of moral conscience. He is portrayed as an enigma, a metaphorical vehicle to covey Priestlys views of socialism in a powerful explanation of taking 'collective responsibility.' Priestly presents him as being ambiguous so that the audience can interpret him in different ways. Inspector Goole is a dramatic device as he does not disclose much
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