Eric Birling Flashcards
P.3 - Eric suddenly guffaws. His parents look at him. “I don’t know – really. Suddenly I felt I just had to laugh.”
• Eric displays a sense of immaturity in his actions or behavior.
• Priestley brings more focus on Eric’s drinking addiction, indicating it plays a significant role in his character development.
• When Gerald comforts Sheila in response to her suspicions about his faithfulness, Eric’s sudden guffaw suggests that he might be aware of Gerald’s affairs, hinting at a potential revelation of information.
• Eric’s lack of intervention to prevent his sister from marrying someone he knows is disloyal reflects a sense of arrogance on his part, displaying a willingness to let events unfold despite his knowledge of Gerald’s infidelity.
P.5 - (rather noisily) All the best! She’s got a nasty temper sometimes – but she’s not bad really. Good old Sheila.”
• The stage direction “(rather noisily)” shows Eric being quite childish as talking ‘noisily’ is usually an action associated with excitable children. It further shows that he has been infantilised by his parents.
• Signs of typical sibling tension, however it is not usual for their age. This is a sign that they have been infantilised by their parents as they both act immaturely.
• Eric is an instigator however he does it unknowingly when he is under the influence of alcohol
“You’d think a girl had never had any clothes before she gets married. Women are potty about ‘em.”
• Sibling tension
• Supporting stereotypes at the time that women are obsessive over their appearance – ironic as men
put more of a focus on women’s appearance
• The use of the adjective “potty” emphasises how crazy and obsessive Eric perceives women to be
about clothes.
“Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices”
• A mature insight as he believes the capitalist system out to be fair to both employers and employees.
• He is aware that his family are able to try for the highest prices
• Eric seems to sympathise with Eva, trying to justify why she deserved a good pay which goes against
his father —> emphasises generational difference and socialism vs capitalism
Inspector: (coolly) “We often do on the young ones. They’re more impressionable.”
• Eric is part of the “young ones” – a representative of the younger generation
• Younger generation appear to be more open minded hence why they are increasingly more
understanding to socialist views.
Mrs Birling: “He’s just talking to my son, Eric, who seems to be in an excitable silly mood.”
• Using the term “silly” to describe a grown adult like Eric is rather childish and belittling.
• This demonstrates that Mrs. Birling is infantilizing Eric by downplaying his emotions or mood with such a dismissive term.
• Mrs. Birling’s use of euphemism for Eric’s drunken state suggests that she is trying to minimize the severity of his alcoholism. As Eric is a part of Mrs. Birling’s family, his behavior could potentially harm her reputation, leading her to employ euphemistic language to avoid tarnishing her image.
“No, not really. I intended to pay it back.”
• Eric taking money from his fathers company was likely calculated carefully, and it wasn’t an impulsive
decision.
• In the line after this Birling says, “we’ve heard that story before”, implicating that Eric has stolen from
him before and it isn’t rare for him to do so.
• Eric rejects the accusation of stealing from his father and says he would have paid it back but had no
means to do so showing his irresponsibility.
“[nearly at breaking point]: Then – you killed her.”
• Eric is now hysterical and overwhelmed by all the information he was given.
• He is still deflecting blame onto others as he still uses the pronoun ‘you’ as he refers to his mother
when talking about Eva’s death. He is also being very blunt with his language which shows how overwhelmed he is as he is no longer thinking about how he speaks to his mother while before he was more polite.
• After this he also ‘laughs rather hysterically’ which mirrors Sheila in act one when she realised the inspectors omnipresence showing how the younger generation aligns with each other
“That doesn’t matter to me. The one I knew is dead” p68
• Eric’s direct rejection of Gerald’s generalization about the lower class, stating that it “doesn’t matter” to him, demonstrates his recognition of their individuality. This is further emphasized by his use of the noun “one,” showing that he sees the lower class as individuals with unique experiences and not a homogenous group.
• The fact that Eric and Gerald speak one after another, expressing contrasting views, highlights their differences despite both being from the younger generation. This indicates that their upbringing and perspectives on societal issues are not aligned.
• Eric’s use of straightforward language, such as saying “dead,” reveals his intent to make Gerald and Mr. Birling confront the real issue directly. By using plain and direct words, he seeks to draw attention to the seriousness of the matter and prompt them to acknowledge the gravity of the situation.
P.65 - ‘And it doesn’t alter the fact that we all helped to kill her’.p65
He adds on to what Sheila says and hold the same values as they are both aligned and see, to be the only members of the family who acknowledge their role in the suicide of Eva Smith.
Eric knows that nothing they can do will change what has happened and urges his family to take
responsibility by telling them that they cannot “alter” the facts.
In this, Eric makes explicit reference to the idea of social responsibility with the collective pronoun “we” showing that he has taken in everything that the Inspector has said and understands the idea of it.
