In this paper, we discuss gravitational collapse of spherically symmetric spacetimes. We derive a general formalism by taking two arbitrary spherically symmetric spacetimes with g00 = 1. Israel's junction conditions are used to develop this formalism. The formulas for extrinsic curvature tensor are obtained. The general form of the surface energy–momentum tensor depending on extrinsic curvature tensor components is derived. This leads us to the surface energy density and the tangential pressure. The formalism is applied to two known spherically symmetric spacetimes. The results obtained show the regions for the collapse and expansion of the shell.