Mr Birling Flashcards
“Mixed together like bees in a hive”
What is the brief meaning behind this quote
It suggests that mr birling is arrogant and selfish
“All Mixed together like bees in a hive”
Terminology and its meaning
The simile “like bees in a hive” degenerates the socialist view of responsibility and references how bees all work together for the good of the hive, much like how socialists want humanity to cooperate for the good of society
“Like bees in a hive”
Context
Jb priestley is a socialist and uses mr birling as a dramatic caricature for capitalism in order to show its key flaws.
How is birling presented as desperate
“Look inspector, i’d give thousands”
Why does mr birling say to goole “id give thousands”
By the end of the play, he is desperate to cover up his reputation and attempts to bribe the inspector.
Terminology of “id give thousands”
“Thousands” is a plural noun, it shows that he is willing to give thousands to the inspector when it benefits him, but he isn’t willing to give Eva smith and his workers 25 shillings
More quotes that show birling as arrogant
“Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”
“Hard headed man of business”
“Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”
“Hard headed man of business”
Explanation
He refers to himself as a man of business which he thinks makes him know everything, though this is simply incorrect. The metaphor hard headed shows he is practical and realistic when really he is just arrogant and stubborn.
Repition of unsinkable shows irony as the audience know the titanic does sink which makes mr birling seem stupid.
“Its my duty to keep labour costs down”
Here he argues with the inspector claiming he couldnt have raised the wages of his workers as he needs to run his business effectively. He needs to make as much money as possible. This highlights the selfishness of capitalism and that it is designed to reward the owners, not the workers
“You dont seem to care about anything”
“I was almost certain for a knighthood in the next honours list”
This is clear irony- mr birling tells eric he cares about nothing when he doesn’t care about anything himself, apart from his knighthood. Whereas eric cared about Eva smith enough that he was willing* to marry her and steal money to give to her
“Ive got to cover this up as soon as i can”
Mr birling remains a consistent character throughout the play, he constantly shows a selfish , self centred attitude. He obsesses over his reputation rather than the effect and consequences of his own actions, this is why he wishes to cover up the death of eva smith.
“This makes a difference y’know”
As far as mr birling is concerned, the most important factor in the story is that inspector goole isn’t a real police inspector. This is important for birling as now the incident of eva smiths death wont end in a scandal damaging his reputation as a businessman
“But you must understand that a lot of young men”
Birling defends Gerald here, not because he cares about their relationship, but because he wants a chance at the monopoly so he can make more money.
“Lower costs , higher prices”
Shows Capitalism as an exploitation and monopoly
Priestly’s message is that the endgame of capitalism is to make as much money as possible
Mr birling uses plural nouns like costs and prices which are more appropriate for a board meeting rather than a family celebration
“Socialist or some sort of crank”
Concrete noun crank is an attempt to condemn socialism but the dramatic irony throughout the scene causes the audience to oppose his views and sympathise with socialists
“A man has to make his own way”
Mr birling shows he is arrogant and selfish. This also highlights priestleys ideas on social responsibility- the audience will see mr birling is wrong
“Fiddlesticks! The germans dont want war”
Shows mr birling is arrogant in his views. Dramatic irony as the war does happen, makes the audience resent birling as some may have lost people because of the war.
