Mr Birling

Question 1

Capitalism personified

Answer 1

Living embodiment of capitalism ‘heavy looking’- reflection of capitalism symbolises greed, frequently displays his ‘portentous’ attitude, clear pompous perspective evidenced through immediate reclamation of spotlight after engagement announced ‘one of the happiest nights of my life’ toasts to ‘lower costs high prices’ rather than to daughter, values Shiela to her capacity to further family’s company therefore objectifies her as a bargaining chip ‘she’ll make you happy’ significantly he’ll have connections with ‘older and bigger businesses’, values prospect of higher profits than daughters happiness foreshadows indifference to Eva’s suicide

Question 2

Bribing inspector

Answer 2

‘(Unhappy) look, inspector- I’d give you thousands, yes thousands’ to prevent losing wealth and social status through criminal record, epitomises individualistic nature of capitalism

Question 3

Insecure of his own social position

Answer 3

‘Provincial in speech’ reveals lower class origins, his insecurity constantly causes him to remind others of his social status through bringing up old roles ‘Lord Mayor’ and revealing ‘there’s a very good chance of knighthood’ to convince Gerald of his high status ‘provincial’ speech shows lack of sophistication
Relative uncouthness (etiquette mannerisms not aligned with middle class norms)

Question 4

Insecure of his own position- Mrs B

Answer 4

Preyed upon by mrs b, his natural ‘social superior’ contrasting brought up in wealthy household, her social etiquette has been refined, mr bs insecurity revealed immediately in the play
The insecurity becomes synonymous with mr b

Question 5

‘The Titanic… unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’

Answer 5

Hyperbole illustrates how out of touch he is with society, he’s myopic, had rose tinted glasses when it comes to unhappiness of working class, dramatic irony symbolically, just as the titanic is destined to sink so are his political ideas suggests danger of capitalist hubris

Question 6

‘It’s my duty to keep labour costs down’

Answer 6

Language of economics which disguises the reality of the situation; by keeping wages down he’s condemning his workers to lives of poverty and hardship showing his arrogance
Has a defensive tone

Question 7

‘Famous younger generation who know it all’

Answer 7

Time of sarcasm, comparative adjective ‘younger’ implies lack of credibility and knowledge, ‘know it all’ creates binary opposition between ideologies of parents and children, adjective ‘famous’ creates irony as the generation later become famous due to their actions in later war
Mocking tone, hasn’t changed views