Arthur Birling Flashcards
I’m talking as a hard headed practical man of business
He is the patriarch of the family, fulfilling society’s expectations that he would provide for his family. He doesn’t identify as a caring loving father but rather a businessman. The alliteration of ‘hard headed’ has a cold tone mimicking his harsh attitude with his workers. The adjective ‘hard’ shows he has no compassion and is incapable of change. He thinks with his head not his heart
I was Lord Mayor here two years ago when Royalty visited us
He is shown to be determined to prove his value to the Crofts by emphasising how he is moving up the ranks. The personal pronoun ‘I’ shows he is not focusing on Sheila’s engagement but how it can benefit him. The semantic field of power and British hierarchy shows his desire to climb up the social ladder
So long as we behave ourselves, don’t get into the police court or start a scandal
An example of foreshadowing. Birling is an ironic character as almost everything he predicts proves to be false
As if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense
He dismisses the idea of community and expresses his disapproval of socialist ideas. Him and his family are part of the ante-bellum society which focused on individualism. The simile refers to bees which are known to work together with almost no hierarchy. A hive is an enclosed community in which all must take some responsibility. The dismissive tone he uses shows he doesn’t value socialism and feels threatened by it
If you don’t come down sharply on some of these people
A hyperbole showing that Birling doesn’t understand the working class. The phrase ‘these people’ shows he views it as an us versus them situation whilst also generalising and dehumanising them
These young people / youngsters
Highlights the generational gap and their different ways of thinking
One of the happiest nights of my life
This presents Birling as selfish and self centred as he looks at how his business can benefit from Sheila’s engagement not her happiness highlighting his capitalist viewpoint
