How Does Priestley Create Dramatic Tension In An Inspector Calls

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For my chosen scene, I picked the scene where the reader finds out the father of the unborn baby, that perished along with 'Eva Smith'. I think that this is a key scene in this play because it follows the main theme of responsibility in the play, both individual responsibility for our own behavior and our collective responsibility to society.

This has also empathized later on in the play by the inspector's last words “We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.”. This is where the inspector warns the birling family of the coming world war one by the words “...they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish...” This is dramatic irony because the play was set in 1912 and as we all know world war one broke out in 1914, just 2 years later. We should also remember that the inspector is the voice of Priestley in this play and as such is his own opinion on the matter represented by the inspector's words. …show more content…
In the scene before that, Mrs. Birling said that the father of the child, which she didn't know was Eric, is totally responsible for Eva's death and should be made an example of by making him confess in public his involvement in the death of Eva. “...take some steps to find this young man and then make sure that he's compelled to confess in public his responsibility...”. The audience already knew that Eric is the father because of the previous clue in the play which was Sheila saying that he drinks quite heavily and the inspector says that the father of the child is a
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