A I C - Mr Birling

Question 1

(Act 1, pg 1)

Answer 1

Mr Birling is described as “A heavy-looking, rather portentous man … but rather provincial in speech.”

• ‘Heavy-looking’ refers to his weight suggesting that he lives a life of relative luxury and excess - implies that he is relatively inactive - he bosses people around rather than doing much labour-intensive work himself.
• ‘portentous’ suggests that he is a bit pompous indicating his arrogance to the readers from the very start.
• ‘Provincial in speech’ suggests that Arthur Burling is not naturally middle-class and that he has come from a humbler background. This reflects on his working-class roots.

Question 2

(Act 1, pg 4)

Answer 2

Priestley uses Mr Birling to portray Capitalist greed as he looks forward to ‘working together - for lower costs and higher prices.”’

• He proposes to “work together” with Crofts Limited suggests that he sees Sheila’s marriage as a business negotiation and an opportunity to expand his own prospects - exemplifies his capitalist mindset as he is more concerned about money than people.
• “For lower costs and higher prices” finishes the sentence, mirroring how money is the ultimate goal for all Capitalists - presents him as parsimonious as he doesn’t have a problem with exploiting both workers and customers for more profit.
• The phrase is a microcosm for Capitalism, emphasising how money and profit motivate everything in society.

Question 3

(Act 1, pg 6)

Answer 3

“I’m talking as a hard-headed practical man of business.”

• By describing himself as a ‘hard-headed practical man of business’ which are good traits in his eyes, Priestly is presenting Mr Birling as egotistical and stubborn while lacking empathy.
• The alliteration ‘hard-headed’ implies his lack of sentiment suggesting that he doesn’t care about who has to suffer in order to get what he wants.
• ‘Practical’ also makes him seem more of a doer thinker maybe he sees himself as somebody who makes quick decisions which he apparently views as a good thing.

Question 4

(act 1 pg 15)

Answer 4

‘if you don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth’

• Birlings arrogant and hubristic tone reveals the conflict between the classes which is catalysed by the upper classes wish for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. This leads to their extreme prejudice towards the lower classes.
• e.g. ‘Some of these people’ generalises working class - classist.
• the preposition “down” implies being higher oneself expressing the superiority of the middle class to workers
• by the use of the demonstrative article “these” he distances himself recalling how he escaped the working class and emphasising the distance between them

Question 5

(act 2 pg 33)

Answer 5

‘I don’t like your tone nor the way you’re handling this inquiry’.

• As Birling progressively loses his authority over the room to the inspector, he loses his temper and resorts to insulting the inspector’s profession. The direct statement ‘I don’t’ reveals their conflict and struggle for power.

Question 6

(Act 3, pg. 56)

Answer 6

Birling says ‘(unhappily) Look, Inspector – I’d give thousands – yes, thousands’.

• Priestley uses the battle between Birling and the Inspector as an allegory for the conflict between capitalists and socialists in the real world.
• E.g. Birling says ‘(unhappily) Look, Inspector – I’d give thousands – yes, thousands’.
• Priestly uses dashes show that Mr Birling is on the back foot - shows that Birling still hasn’t learnt his lesson and tries to use money to buy his way out of the scandal.
• Repetition of ‘thousands’ shows his persistent greed towards money, and the misuse of power. Priestly uses the dramatic irony of the fact that Birling would pay little then but now he has to pay high price to push his socialist message.

Question 7

(act 3 pg 54)

Answer 7

Eric describes his father as ‘Not the kind of father a chap could go to.’

• Shows that Mr Birling’s toxic masculinity and emotional detachment has distanced the two of them from each other. Priestley highlights how pressures of masculinity cause rifts in society.
• The modal verb ‘could’ implies that going to his father for help wasn’t an option which highlights Eric’s strained relationship with his father – generational divide.

Question 8

quotes

Answer 8

initial description
* (Act 1, pg 1) - Mr Birling is described as “A heavy-looking, rather portentous man … but rather provincial in speech.”

capitalist views / exploitation / distrust of lower class
* (Act 1, pg 4) - Priestley uses Mr Birling to portray Capitalist greed as he looks forward to ‘working together - for lower costs and higher prices.”’
* (Act 1, pg 6) - “I’m talking as a hard-headed practical man of business.”
* (act 1 pg 15) - ‘if you don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth’

conflict with the inspector
* (act 2 pg 33) - ‘I don’t like your tone nor the way you’re handling this inquiry’.
* (act 3 pg 56) - Birling says ‘(unhappily) Look, Inspector – I’d give thousands – yes, thousands’.

poor relationship with son
* (Act 3, pg. 54) - Eric describes his father as ‘Not the kind of father a chap could go to.’