Mr Birling Flashcards
Describe words mr Birling
Birling is a successful and ambitious business man:
His daughter’s marriage is like a business deal hoping it will bring “lower costs and higher prices”
He is optimistic and thinks strikes won’t be a problem for his company and dismisses any fear of war as “silly little war scares”
Dramatic irony
Foolish and short sighted
Undermines his authority
He won’t accept responsibility for the death of evacuees smith
He sees other people as “cheap labour”
2) Birling didn’t just refuse higher wages for his workers — he actively makes things worse for them. He personally fired the ringleaders of the sine
3) Birling is selfish and self-centred. He’d rather pass off the Inspectors visit as a “hoax” or a joke than face up to what he’s done.
Mr Birling is selfish show how
“A man has to make his own way”
“A man has to mind his own business and look after his own”
“A man has to mind his own business and look after himself”
Here, Mr Birling speaks in the third person in an attempt to create a philosophical element to his speech.
“It’s my duty to keep labour costs down.”
Priestley uses the noun “duty” to emphasise Mr Birling’s dedication to capitalism and profit.
“Probably a socialist or some sort of crank”
The noun “crank” is an attempt by Mr Birling to condemn socialism, however, Priestley’s use of dramatic irony causes the audience to oppose Mr Birling’s views and therefore sympathise with socialists.
“I can’t accept any responsibility.”
The use of the adverb “any” reveals Mr Birling’s complete lack of morality, as he believes sacking Eva Smith had no impact on her life, which drove her to suicide.
“If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody…. it would be very awkward wouldn’t it?”
Priestley’s use of the adjective “awkward”, coupled with Mr Birling’s self-absorbed character reveals that an increased sense of responsibility for everyone would really only be “awkward” for him. This awkwardness extends to the class and ideology that he represents: capitalist middle-class.
“It’s one of the happiest nights of my life… your engagement to Shelia means a tremendous lot to me”
The selfish nature of Mr Birling is revealed by the use of the personal pronoun “me” and “my life”. The emphasis on Mr Biling’s own life is due to his own reputation and social status increasing after Sheila’s marriage to Gerald. In reality, it matters not whether Sheila and Gerald are happily married.
“(the Titanic is) unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”
The certainty shown by Mr Birling’s repetition of
“unsinkable” demonstrates his poor judgement. This is due to the Titanic sinking,
“You’ll hear some people say that war is inevitable.
And to that I say - fiddlesticks!”
The use of the noun “fiddlesticks”, alongside Priestley’s use of dramatic irony causes Mr Birling to seem overwhelmingly confident in his arrogance. This is due to Britain entering WWl soon after 1912.
