Tension is used as a very effective effect in writing, to give the audience an apprehensive view, as well as putting them in suspense, so they have a reason to continue to read.
It is especially used in mysteries or detective pieces, as it helps build up to a climax, that could shock the audience or intrigue them even more.Priestley wrote the play ‘an inspector calls’ with very effect techniques that all creates tension, through a variety of different techniques, including entrances and exits, uses in set, as well as a lot in language and dialogue, and many other pieces of stage craft that have helped to mould this play into a captivating piece of writing. Priestley uses dialogue, entrances, language and stage directions for the inspector, meaning lots of ways to create tension.Lots of the tension is usually depicted through the conversations between the inspector and his interviewees, especially with his conversations with Mr Birling, mainly due to the fact that they are both very overpowering and dominating, so when put together sparks fly as the two fight for the upper hand, this creates tension as we want to see each of their reactions of the others,. The whole inspector’s presence creates tension, from how he acts and even down to the way he interrogates throughout the investigation of the Birlings.The way that Priestley introduces the inspector is very effective at building up tension; he wrote that the inspector ‘creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.
’ This makes us want to know more about the inspector and creates tension from us wanting to know what his ‘purpose’ is. Due to the fact that the Birlings home is described as a ‘fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous manufacture’, we start to wonder why it is that a police inspector is here. We fell drawn in so we can find out what the inspectors reasoning is for being at the Birlings home.They don't seem like the sort of family that would get in trouble, judging by the description that Birling gives us; he says that ‘I gather there’s a very good chance of a knighthood. ’ And how he says that he, ‘might find his way onto the next honours list,’, this shows that Mr Birling isn’t the sort of person to get into trouble, and is too proud to allow his family to.
From the very beginning, even though the inspector has not yet been introduced to us, we still gather from the title of the play that they must have done something, so we are still waiting for the inspector’s arrival.It also may represent how we are oblivious to who the Birlings really are, just like Mr Birling is to the real world and how his thoughts that, ‘a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own’. The way in which the inspector interrogates each person one by one means that we only get a small part of the story, instead we get a big build up to how each incident fits in, which we are always intrigued to find out.As soon as he says that he needs to interview someone else, we are eagerly waiting for the reason of why he needs to talk to them, and therefore what their involvement with the girl’s death was. Priestley uses the fact that we want to know what happens to his advantage, using it to draw us in. When nearing the end, we can see that there is a pattern to the investigations – he does it in the order of when the person had met Eva Smith, so we start to think that everyone is involved in the death, so we are then waiting to know what everyone’s done, building up anticipation.
He creates tension in the interrogations by not revealing not much too much to the audience, and not necessarily telling us the information that we need. Instead, he lets the characters tell us for themselves, and lots of the time it takes a while to receive the whole story from the characters due to their refusal of answering and through their dialogue, for example with Mrs Birling, from the beginning after seeing the picture, and the inspector asking, ‘you recognise her? ’ and her replying with, ‘no.Why should I? to completely changing and admitting to her connection with the girl. This prolonged gap of her not answering allowed even longer for tension to build as we wait to find out what happened. We have to wait until the very end to completely unravel Eva's live, so we want to keep reading. Priestley also creates tension through his use of cliff hangers in the play, both at the end of acts and when he leaves the room, for example near the end of act one, he leaves after revealing the Eva Smith changed her name to Daisy Renton.
After Gerald’s reaction, we know something must have happened, but because the inspector has left, we still don't get to find out just yet due to the inspectors absence. This also leads to another cliff hanger at the end of act one, when Shelia is doing the inspectors job by questioning Gerald, this makes us think that Gerald has done something wrong, meaning that we again, are intrigued to find out what, creating tension. All the inspector then has to do is say, ‘well? ’ for our tension to climb to a climax, before the act ends.Act two also ends with a cliff hanger, through the stage directions, we see that the front door slams, which is effect sound effects, this adds tension as we want to know who has returned, and if so, why. When we find out it announces Eric’s return, but we don't find out Eric’s involvement because the scene ends with his ‘pale and distressed’ facial expression, which gives us more of a clue that he might have done something terrible, this adds tension as we want to know what he did.The actual ending contains tension as well, as in the end we don't know who the inspector really was, and even if this new inspector is a fake as well.
The previous discussion between the Birlings and Gerald releases some of the tension, as we find out that perhaps nothing has actually happened, and that everyone can continue as per normal, but the added twist at the end of the play with the twist of an inspector is coming again, it adds so much more tension as we want to find out what happens, but we can’t. This leaves a dramatic ending, and an ending that people want to read on to, but aren’t able to.Overall, Priestley stage craft to create tension is incredibly well used and thought through, and we can clearly see he thought about how he has structured the play in the best way possible to keep the readers or watchers to continue to be intrigued to what is going to happen. It can be seen that most times, the inspector has been used to portray this suspense and tension, thanks to his ominous knowledge and clever tactics for getting the information he wants. This play really keeps the reader captivated and interested, most likely due to the use of tension and anticipation of the reader.
