mr birling Flashcards
what are our first impressions of mr birling?
- physical appearance a reflection of capitalism; wears formal clothes, ‘heavy looking’ frequently displays portentous attitude (tries to impress).
- self-absorbed perspective - immediately reclaims spotlight after engagement announced. ‘one of the happiest nights of my life’ toasts to ‘lower costs and higher prices’. values prospect of increased profit over daughter’s joy in engagement. business is of greater importance to him than his family - shows individualistic nature of capitalism.
- ‘i’m a hard-headed practical man of business.
- could be seen as positive, with
connotations of strength and solidity - no
doubt exactly how he’d like to see
himself. - proud of position/social standing.
- refers to himself this way twice - shows
how much he believes it. - his excessive self-confidence leads him to make bold claims. ‘some people say that war’s inevitable. and to that i say - fiddlesticks!’. presents predictions with absolute certainty, although he’s no expert.
- priestley uses dramatic irony to express how deluded the ego of Birling was. he implies arrogance and overconfidence caused these disasters, as the capitalist men in power like Birling refused to see them coming.
what are our final impressions of mr birling?
- suicide of eva smith party blamed on birling. birling eagerly trivialises and rejects all claims that his actions began the ‘chain of events’ that led to Eva’s suicide.
- birling worked hard for societal status, and desire to dismiss Eva’s suicide catalysed by pressure of maintaining public image and ensuring not rejected from society worked so hard to enter.
- determined to reject inspector’s message, he responds dismissively to Eva’s death, with impatiently forced ‘yes, yes.’
- Mr Birling is a static character - he does not change throughout the play. after the inspector leaves, he intends to live in the same fashion as before, and this is shown in the ending of the play, where it finishes as it began: Birling offering Gerald a drink.
- priestley manipulates the audience into siding with his personal preference of socialism, as they turn to this alternative in disgust of Priestley’s presentation of birling as uncaring, self-absorbed and manipulative, all traits we come to associate with capitalism.
what are birling’s relationships like with other characters?
mrs birling: capitalism affects intimate relationships - married for her social status rather than love. marriage = transaction - birling’s finance for mrs’s social status. mrs feels unfulfilled by birling, reminds sheila she’ll ‘have to get used to it, just as i did’ highlighting unhappiness caused by capitalist system.
eric: lack of familial connection. eric opposes way his father runs business. feels ‘not quite at ease’ with privileged life, formed at expense of lower classes. father-son divide symbolic of divide between older and younger generation. instantaneous divide created when birling: ‘we try for the highest possible prices’ and eric: ‘why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?’. birling attempts to lecture eric, influence him with capitalistic and individualistic notions, but none of it resonates with eric.
