Character Analysis: Mr Birling Flashcards
What does Mr Birling represent ?
The negative aspects of capitalism
What is significant about the port in Act 1 ?
In the plays first line of dialogue Mr Birling discusses how the port his is drinking is the ‘same port your farther gets’ when talking to Gerald
- port itself is significant due to its cost and therefore is something that was associated with wealth and status
- Birling also seems to be keen to impress Gerald who is from a higher class family that have been ‘rivals’ of his in business for some time
Audience - see Mr Birling as a materialistic person who aims to impress those around him such as his future son in law
When talking about Mr Birling speaking to Gerald what is the important point to remember ?
Gerald is the son of Lord and Lady Croft and Mr Biriling is speaking to his social superior
The impalpable of power reduced him to name dropping ‘finchley’ in an attempt to impress him
How is Mr Birling described ?
Provincial in his speech which implies he was not born into class
Provincial implies he has an accent that is not acccocisted with class such as a more rural one
Priestly does this in the opening stage directions of the play
How can we analyze Mr Birlings speech ?
Point
- in Act 1 Birling delivers a speech to his family during there diner to congratulate Sheila and Gerald on their engagement yet he focuses on the economic future of the country and his ironic predictions for the world around them
Evidence
- ‘ the titanic is unsinkable absulute unsinkable’
How can we analyze how Mr Birling refers to himself ?
Repeatedly refers to himself as a ‘hard headed practical man of business’
- this deliberate repetition emphasizes how Mr Birling’s self perception and his perception on the world around him is built upon his own view of himself in terms of status and wealth
‘a man has to mind his own business’
- it is significant that Mr Birling placed himself at the fore front of his concerns and it implies his family comes second
How can Mr Birling be seen to represent the ideology of capitalism ?
Capitalism is a system where business is privately owned
- Mr Birling however seems content on making more money and having ‘lower cost and higher prices’
- Birlings capitalist agenda is one of the reasons for Eva Smith’s death
- this view point is in stark contrast to the message delivered by the inspector
When is the most ridiculous use of dramatic irony ?
1912-1945 audiences will know that his predictions are wrong
- he confidently states that the ‘ Germans do not want war’ he is doubly wrong as not one hit two world wars took place in the coming years
- He even uses dismissive language such as ‘fiddlesticks’ at claims of the idea of war
- further more he claims the Titian is ‘unsinkable absolutely unsinkable’ which exacerbates this
- encourages the audience to mistrust the capitalist ideology (elaborate) and his treatment of those around him
- structurally the events occur before the inspector even arrives which makes Mr Birlings idiocy a visceral idea in the audiences minds and that everything he stands for is wrong
How else can we talk about Mr Birlings initial impressions compared to our impressions of him at the end of the?
Although this initial impression is certainly not positive( talk about speech and other things)
- Birling lacks any signs of remorse or change by the end of the play and ends in the same manor he started
- This is highlighted when he finds out Eric stole money from him to help Eva Smith/ Diasy Renton
- Birling seems more annoyed by the loss of ‘fifty pounds’ rather than his sons actions
- As audience members we are suprised by the majority of his dialogue revolving around the loss of money and not the loss of his grandchild
How does Priestly compare the younger and older generations ?
He does this to make a point of capitalism vs Socialism
Unlike his children, Mr Birling fails to accept his responsibility.
He even says to Eric that ‘there is every excuse for what both your mother and I did’
This shows a complete lack of acceptance and highlights his ignorance
Birling has failed to learn the inspectors and therefore Preistlys message on how the younger generation are ‘more impressionable’
Priestly criticizes the older generation and capitalism and demonstrates the openness of the younger generations to change
