How to Write a Grade 9 Modern Drama Essay (Edexcel IGCSE English Literature)

In what ways does Sheila Birling change as the play progresses?

Sheila Birling is arguably the character who changes most as the play progresses. Sheila is first described as “a pretty girl in her twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited”, which conveys her silliness and naivety. At the beginning of this act, she appears self-interested, relishing her engagement to Gerald which initially aligns her with her family’s shallow and materialistic outlook. She is enthralled by the ring Gerald gives to her: “Is it the one you wanted me to have?” However, when the Inspector arrives, Sheila begins to change and she is moved by the fate of Eva as her story is told. Priestley presents her as the first character in the play to accept responsibility for her actions, which demonstrates both her courage and empathy. She dramatically exits the stage when first shown a photograph of Eva and appears genuinely regretful of her actions. When she discovers the outcome of her complaint to Milwards about Eva, she acknowledges that she was unreasonable and is deeply apologetic: “I’ll never, never do it again”. Sheila’s language thus becomes increasingly emotional, revealing to the audience her growing maturity as a character. This is sharply contrasted with the pompous language of her father and the condescending tone of her mother. Her dialogue reveals her sensitive nature and her compassion and empathy for those less fortunate than herself. Sheila’s distress turns into anger towards her parents for their lack of responsibility and compassion: “But that’s not what I’m talking about. I don’t care about that. The point is you don’t seem to have learnt anything”. Her changing speech also demonstrates her increasing assertiveness toward her parents.

Tragedy

• A type of play involving human conflict which ends in defeat and suffering

• Often the main character has a tragic flaw that leads to their destruction

Comedy

• A genre which has a light or humorous tone

• It depicts amusing incidents in which the characters ultimately triumph over evil/adversity

Morality

• Morality plays explore moral and ethical themes, using allegory 

• They focus on the consequences of individual actions and societal attitudes towards responsibility and accountability

Farce

• Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable

Melodrama

• A sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions

• It may be interspersed with songs and orchestral music accompanying the action

Romantic

• A genre that explores the complexities of love

• The plot usually centres around an obstacle that is preventing love between two people

Tragicomedy

• A tragicomedy might be a serious drama interspersed with comedic moments that periodically lighten the mood, or a drama that has a happy ending

Morality play

An Inspector Calls can be viewed as a morality play as it explores the individual actions and societal attitudes towards responsibility and accountability. Priestley uses the character of the Inspector to confront and expose the moral hypocrisy of both the Birling family and Gerald Croft. The Inspector’s arrival disrupts the family’s celebratory dinner and his character assumes a role of moral authority throughout the play. As a morality play, Priestley aims for the play’s moral lessons to not only resonate with the characters but also with his audience in order to challenge social injustice and inequality.

Exposition (or Introduction)

• The exposition brings the audience up-to-date as quickly as possible, giving the setting (year, time of day, locale, etc.), the atmosphere (mood) and the main characters

Rising action (or complication)

• Rising action refers to all the events that happen in a story on the way to the climax

• The rising action pushes the plot along, building tension to keep us invested in the story as it moves forward

Dramatic climax

• This is the highest point of tension or drama in the plot

• Often, the climax is also when the main problem of the story is faced and solved by the main character or protagonist

Falling action (or second complication)

• Falling action is everything that takes place immediately after the climax

• The purpose of falling action is to bring the story from climax to a resolution

Denouement (or resolution)

• The final part of a play in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved

Exposition

In the opening of the play, Priestley establishes the tone and context for the events which are to unfold, by introducing all of the main characters, with the exception of the Inspector. In the exposition, Priestley immediately introduces the central characters’ backgrounds, relationships and social status which are key to the themes of the play. For example, Birling’s speech concerning the impending marriage between his daughter Sheila and Gerald Croft establishes the Birling family’s affluent status and their socially mobile aspirations. It also introduces the audience to the themes of class, responsibility and collective guilt which are explored throughout the play.

Acts and Scenes

• How does the division of the play into acts and scenes contribute to the structure and the pacing of the play?

• Do the acts and scenes mark significant shifts in time, location, character or theme?

• What is the purpose of each act or scene?

• How does the opening and ending of each act or scene contribute to the audience’s understanding and engagement with the play?

• Are there moments of climax or resolution within particular acts or scenes?

Setting

• Where is the play set?

• Does it have multiple settings which contrast each other or is the action set in one location?

• What might these settings symbolise?

• How does the playwright’s use of sound effects, lighting and staging affect the dramatic tension on stage?

Stage directions

• Has the playwright used detailed stage directions? If so, what do they tell the audience about the characters and the way they speak/act?

• Has the playwright used minimal stage directions so that the audience can judge for themselves?

• What do the stage directions tell us about the way the characters interact (entrances and exits/asides to the audience/tone and mood)?

Characterisation

• How have the characters been created and what do they represent or symbolise?

• How do they introduce and develop the main themes of the play?

• How might they represent the playwright’s views?

• Which characters do you empathise with and why?

Dialogue

• How do the characters speak and how does this affect the way the audience judges them?

• How do characters interact with each other?

• Do they use any gestures / facial expressions which tell us what they are thinking?

• What type of language do they use: formal; colloquial; with an accent/dialect (non-standard speech)?

• How does the way they speak affect the way other characters and the audience view them?

Setting

One location: the Birlings’ drawing room

The events of the play take place in the Birlings’ dining room. The single location of the play may signify the Birlings’ relative isolation and detachment from the lower classes. It also adds an element of entrapment or imprisonment with the characters seeming unable to escape the Inspector’s interrogation. The intimate location also creates a contrast between the private and public spheres of the family. The revelations explore a private family matter, yet the impending visit of the police inspector at the end of the play will threaten to expose the characters by bringing events into the public sphere.

Dialogue

Monologue, imperatives, questions, pronouns

The Inspector is the most important voice within the play. He speaks “carefully” and “weightily” and controls the events and dialogue. As his character is used for exposition and to move the plot revelations forward, much of his speech is filled with questions and commanding imperatives: “And be quiet for a moment and listen to me” and “Remember that. Never forget it.” The Inspector is also deliberately dramatic in his speech and he delivers many lengthy monologues, demonstrating the significance of his character. Ideas relating to social responsibility are repeatedly interwoven throughout his speech and he continually uses the inclusive pronoun “we” to underscore his message of social and collective responsibility.

Dramatic irony

Dramatic tension

Dramatic pauses and cliff-hanger

• When the audience knows something that the characters in a play do not

• It carries a meaning for the audience which is understood differently by other characters

• It provides a state of uncertainty / lack of knowledge

• It creates an uncertain expectation of an event

• Dramatic pauses / cliff-hangers are used to build drama

• They enable the audience to question their own actions / opinions on characters’ actions

Dramatic conflict

Soliloquy

Aside

• A situation in which characters are involved in conflicts that invite the audience's empathy

• A speech given by a character in a play when the speaker is alone

• It is used to inform the audience of what is happening in the character’s mind

• A speech made by a character directly to the audience, but seemingly to themselves

• Its function is to reveal their character

How does Priestley present the characters of Mr and Mrs Birling in the play?

In Act 1 of An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses dramatic irony to elicit the audience’s animosity towards the characters of Mr and Mrs Birling for their actions. Mr Birling is made to appear unreliable and foolish as he is pompously incorrect about the Titanic, war and labour. Priestley uses this technique to make the audience mistrust Mr Birling. The playwright also makes use of dramatic irony in Act 2 when Mrs Birling condemns Eva Smith for her decisions and for not obtaining assistance from the father of her child, when she is unknowingly criticising her own son: “I blame the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have”. This highlights her hypocrisy to the audience as they know she would not apply the same standards to her own family.